Life in and around Inlay Lake by Aung Chan Thar

One of the memorable photos was a shot of Inlay People (Inntha) fishing in the lake, with which I became the 1st Prize winner of the YOUTH EYE ON THE SILK ROAD International Photo Contest hosted by UNESCO. For photo enthusiasts like us, Inlay Lake is like a golden lake with a wealth of incredible sceneries, traditions and culture, natural resources and biodiversity.

There are 8 ASEAN Heritage Parks in Myanmar and Inlay Lake is one of them. It is located in the deepest middle part of Nyaungshwe Valley, nestled between two mountain ranges extending from south to north, near Nyaungshwe Township, Taunggyi City of Southern Shan State in Myanmar.

According to local residents, the term “Inlay” was derived from the fact that there had been only four villages—Ywar Ma Village, Nam Pan Village, Ywar Gyi Village and Naung Taw Village—in the vicinity when the place was first established.

Fishing is a major livelihood of local residents in Inlay Lake. Most of the married men there know how to fish well. Their fishing techniques and fish-traps are also famous around the world.

Unfortunately, since Inlay Lake is now polluted with trash and pesticides, it became harmful for the fishes in it. Moreover, as a result of the scarcity of alternative jobs, residents have been excessively catching the fishes in the lake, which might lead them to go extinct.

In order to prevent the extinction of fishes, we should manage the water from the lake systematically and keep it clean. It is also required to raise awareness about systematic fishing techniques among the local residents. New fish species should be bred more and Nga Phein, the original fish family of Inlay Lake, should be preserved systematically as well.

While the most common livelihood in Inlay Lake is fishing, floating garden agriculture stands as the second-most common. There are man-made floating islands in the water and residents grow vegetables on them. The most popular crop is tomatoes.

What I realized in the conversations with the local residents and on the photography tour there, is that Inntha are always willing to improve the condition of Inlay Lake. I believe they will find other appropriate ways for the farms, instead of using pesticides, and preserve the lake.

If a lotus scarf of 7 inches is to be made, you need about 4,000 lotus threads and 20 days to collect the lotus fibers.”

Since lotus textiles can only be made with Padonma lotus, we need to preserve them systematically as well. Respective people who are in charge of conserving the Padonma lotus have set up an exclusive lotus-conservation area on the lake and have been following preservation measures systematically.

Handicrafts from Inlay are mainly sold to tourists. Generally, Inlay Lake is a landmark that attracts both local and foreign tourists. Lately, the sales of Inlay handicrafts have declined due to very few tourists entering the region. Local people also expressed that they were facing challenges in operating their businesses because there are no customers buying their products.

I usually wear Inlay traditional costumes whenever I am in Inlay. I always buy souvenirs before I go back home. It is our custom in Myanmar to buy small gifts for our family after a trip. Therefore, the more tourists visit Inlay, the more their local products will be sold, and this would help the local residents’ lives get better.

The areas where migratory birds inhabit regularly in Myanmar are Indawgyi Lake and Inlay Lake.

The migratory birds that come to Inlay Lake are usually from Siberia, Russia.

“It would be better if there were youths who love to preserve these bird species in every village in Inlay. They would protect the birds in the vicinity of their villages themselves,” said a forest ranger who monitors the bird areas. They are in charge of patrolling the area for the sustainability of Inlay Lake.

Since the first two causes are associated with the weather, they are not always present when the weather is good. The third cause, waste disposal, is a challenge we are dealing with on a daily basis.

I met with Ko Nyi Nge from Thar Lay Village, Inle Lake. He has been working for 5 years as a volunteer who cleans up the trash in Inlay Lake. He mentioned the trash problem he was facing at the lake and several solutions to it.

“On average, we collect about 5 to 10 visses of wet and dry waste from a house in 5 to 7 days. Hotels, restaurants and schools produce more waste than houses. The average amount of waste generally produced in a village per week is about a ton. 

This is not a problem for houses on land. However, over 200 villages on water have been dealing with this trash problem every day. There is no specified place to burn the waste produced from houses. People dispose of the waste just randomly. Some dispose of other people’s trash by charging a fee.”

We also need to educate the local residents so that they can dispose of waste systematically. Most importantly, we, the travelers, must also dispose of waste properly while visiting Inlay Lake. This is an ethic that every citizen needs to follow.

In the previous trips to Inlay Lake, my focus was only on taking photographs. I wasn’t aware of the natural species of the lake, the lifestyles of its people, the challenges and problems they were facing at that moment. But during this trip, I became fully aware of all of them and am very grateful to all of the local residents who helped me and contributed to this trip. 

During this trip, I got a lot of valuable photographs as well as experiences. I realized the problems of Inlay Lake and figured out more about what the solutions for them could be after talking to the local residents.

The solutions include preserving the bird and fish species systematically without catching them illegally; sharing proper agricultural methods for the floating gardens with farmers and creating a market for the cultivated crops; conserving Padonma lotus plants for the production of traditional lotus textiles and extending the traditional arts and crafts businesses; 

making more tourists to be able to visit in order to create more job opportunities; building incinerators in order for almost every village to be able to destroy their daily trash systematically, etc.

The problems that Inlay Lake, one of the ASEAN Heritage Parks, is facing, is also our problem. Even if we can’t resolve all the problems, we can still brainstorm and find solutions to them together. I hope this story can make visible the challenges we are facing and find solutions to them.

"I am just a young photographer who is trying to give same feeling to all people who are different religious, nation, nationality and culture."

- Aung Chan Thar, Myanmar

Disclaimer:  The views and opinions expressed by the Young ASEAN Storytellers should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official position or opinion of the ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity, its partners, the ASEAN Member States, and the ASEAN Secretariat.