"Towards the end of 2015 I travelled to Myanmar and was struck by the vibrancy and beauty of a country that has gone through long periods of conflict, where the people seem to reflect an optimism and an inspirational enthusiasm for a new way of living. Rivers are the lifeblood of Burmese society, and yet coming out of years of political and economic isolation it is perhaps not surprising that the rivers are not well researched or understood. So much of Burmese culture is tied to these big rivers for transport, food and livelihoods. Many of the people live in close contact with the rivers and have a thriving boat culture, with boats and barges of all shapes and sizes navigating hundreds of kilometers up the river. With Myanmar opening up and development of its water resources occurring at a fast rate, there is an urgent need to understand the river situation and to ask questions of how best to manage these rivers so that they continue to provide services to a society that appears destined to grow. An issue that is already suggesting that things are not as good as they could be, is that the fish stocks that people are so dependent on, appear to be in serious decline. Why is this? Have the fish and the rivers themselves been used too much? Are the rivers polluted or are they suffering some other form of stress? What can be done to protect the fish stocks so that they continue to provide for the people of Myanmar? It is from questions such as these that a project was born looking at the health of the rivers in Myanmar, concentrating on the lower reaches of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy), a ?working river” at the heart of Myanmar?s national prosperity; and the Thanlwin (Salween), a near-pristine system with large potential for development, shared with China and Thailand..."