Watershed Management for Three Critical Areas >> MYA/93/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning for Watershed Management Consultant Report Volume 1: Main Text (Contract No.: DP/MYA/93/005-001/FODO) Report prepared for: Government of the Union of Myanmar, Ministry of Forestry, Forest Department UNDPIFAO: MYA/93/026 ®@ o Prepared by: Company for Applied Remote Sensing Yangon and Munich, March 1995[AVARSSIOORT = Mapping aid Land Use Planting: Volume d-aMainiTexe ona EXecuTive SUMMARY This report describes the execution and results of a subcontract undertaken as part of the ‘Watershed Management for Three Critical Areas’ project. It is one of the leading projects of a comprehensive Human Development Initiative (HDI) Programme undertaken by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Myanmar. It is a tripartite project, funded by UNDP, implemented by the Forest Department (FD) at the Ministry of Forestry (MoF) and technically supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as the executing agency. The purpose is to create sustainable living conditions and to improve the welfare for the upland communities as well as for downstream agriculturists through improved land use practices. Up to the present stage of the project an approach of multi stage planning has been adopted. Starting with a Visible and Feasible (V and F) approach it continued in the second stage with the generation of Village Resource Conservation Plans (VRCP) using Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) for planning and implementation. While the third stage concentrated on the improvement of this VRCP’s through comprehensive Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), the biophysical environment will be fully integrated in land use planning during the recent fourth stage. Planning based on socio-economic parameters and unquantified biophysical information will not lead to sound and objective land use planning. Without the aid of a land capability map, incorrect measures may be recommended and areas not having priority could be selected. To change this methodology in planning the present study has been conducted. A procedute of planning is conducted whereby the biophysical environment is fully integrated. This land use planning exercise is an attempt that assesses the capabilities of land and water resources to support a variety of uses on a sustained basis. The main purposes of the exercise are to: * improve the data and data collection technology available for land use planning in Myanmar; ‘ «strengthen the existing capabilities in the Forest Department for the use of remotely sensed data, GIS and Database Management Systems to support planning; develop a comprehensive and straight forward process for such planning; develop a concrete example of detailed planning for sustainable development at village level; + provide training necessary for those in Myanmar to use this data, technology and process to create such detailed plans throughout the three critical watersheds and then all over Myanmar, * the subcontract also covers the procurement and installation of an adequate hardware and software environment to enable the local experts to execute the technical tasks of a mapping and planning process. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page iMVA/O3/005: =" Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume Main Téa The technical specifications of the services to be performed also require compilation of existing socio-economic data and statistics as well as mapping of land use at four different levels and scales and mapping of land capability at two levels and scales. A revision of land use planning concepts is given addressing aspects directly relevant to watershed planning and management. It is essential for the achievement of sustainability of people related development to establish an integrated management approach. Planning and implementation should include all relevant sectors such as forestry, agriculture, livestock, fishery, energy, health, education, and others. Nevertheless, participatory land use planning has to will follow a bottom-up approach, i.e. it will be initiated at the local level and involves the active participation by the local community, the technical agencies and the decision-makers at all levels. The experience and local knowledge of the land users and local staff are mobilized to identify development priorities and to draw up and implement the plan. On the other side, local interests are not always in congruence with regional or national interest, and difficulties may occur in integrating local plans within a wider framework. Local efforts may even collapse because of lack of support or even obstruction from higher levels of the decision making process. However, planners must work to secure the commitment of all parties involved and must facilitate to reach a consensus. Therefore, afforestation and natural regeneration, firewood production and consumption, pasture management and improved fallow and soil fertility, agroforestry, biological and mechanical soil conservation measures, and participatory land use planning in the ‘framework for safe land use’ are balanced one against the other and implementation recommendations given. The capabilities of land and water resources to support a variety of uses ona sustained basis are appraised and balanced with the social, economic and cultural needs of the people. This study commenced at watershed level at a scale of 1:50,000 with the aid of satellite images for all three watersheds. Subsequently two smaller areas i.e. Demonstration Areas were selected. They were be mapped with the aid of aerial photography (1:25,000 or 1:10,000 scale) and presented at a scale of 1:10,000. Finally priority villages are chosen for which mapping and planning is done at a scale of 1:5,000. The main technical specifications of the services performed are: ‘+ compilation of existing socio-economic and ecological data, statistics, maps and other data available required for watershed management planning; * selection and purchase of high resolution satellite data (Landsat MSS and TM) in digital format; image processing and generation of photographic enlargements at a scale of 1:50,000 and 1:100,000; «image interpretation and ground surveys for field data collection to derive a) land use maps and b) change detection maps covering the watersheds at a scale of 1:50,000 and 1:100,000, respectively; * acquisition and processing of one SPOT stereo data set for one of the three critical watersheds for generation of a digital terrain model and contour lines for slope classification; * creation of a land use and land capability map at a scale of 1:10,000 for two Demonstration Areas; assessment of erosion and land degradation; * preparation of a treatment-oriented land capability plan at a scale of 1:5,000 for two villages (Kyong and Kyaungshe, Inle watershed); Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page ii“Mapping ahd Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text «- development of management plans at three different levels with the level of detail associated to the scales; creation of a digital database (GIS) for the three critical watersheds and the sub- areas. Since time pressure for the execution of the study was very high (6 months, lately extended for another 3 months), some of the working packages had to be done in parallel. Therefore, a more straight-forward approach had to be abandoned. Strengthening of the existing capabilities in the Forest Department tor the use of remotely sensed data and GIS techniques to support planning was conducted parallel to the mapping and planning of the three watersheds. With this approach it was possible to reach following milestones: * August 1, 1995: Commencement of Project © August 15, 1995: Inspection Visit ‘© September 4, 1995: Commencement of Field Work * October 2, 1995: Shipping of Hardware and Software October 9, 1995: October 16, 199! Installation and Testing of Hardware and Software ‘Commencement of System Training * November 15, 1995: Finalization of Field Work * November 15, 1995: Commencement of GIS and Map Production Work * December 8, 1995 Finalization of Satellite Image Interpretation « January 20, 1996: Finalization of Training » February 20, 1996; Finalization of GIS work * March 20, 1996; Delivery of Maps, Digital Database and Final Reports * April, 1996 Final Workshop Based on the satellite images (Landsat TM), a present land use map has been compiled of the survey areas, The maps are presented at a scale of 1:50,000. Apart from land use, the map also shows areas affected by erosion (gullies and badlands). Furthermore an interpretation of historic Landsat MSS images was carried out to assess changes in land use over the last two decades. Geometric reference are the cutdated topographic maps at a scale of 1:63,360. Besides mapping of actual and historic land use management recommendations for each of the three watersheds were formulated. Status of each of the three watersheds and management recommendations at watershed level can be summarized as follows: * Kinda watershed: At present the forest cover in the mountainous areas gives adequate protection against erosion. Also the good grass cover in scrubland and grassland ensures a sufficiently stable environment. However, natural regeneration of the forest cover of the present scrub- and grasslands will improve the hydrological regime, and is recommended as a long term measure. This also applies to the steep cultivated Jand in the mountainous areas where in due course annual cropping will have to be Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page ili[MYA/9S/005 1022. Mapping and Land Use Planning Volume: Main Text | GARE] changed to agroforestry farming systems. Measures to reduce further extraction of firewood from forest remnants is proposed. For the cultivated lands on the Ywangan Plateau standard erosion control measures are foreseen to prevent acceleration of sheet erosion, but the required measures do not have priority. The analysis of land use changes shows that only minor changes have taken place. For example just 2.8% (63.1km#) of the entire watershed have been changed from pure hill forest to hill forest disturbed by shifting cultivation and rotational farming or been degraded by wood extraction. 2.4% of the hill forests of Kinda Mountains degraded to scrubland over the observed period from 1973 to 1995, and 19.4kme of hill forest was flooded as Kinda dam was finalized. Furthermore, 4.6% of the entire area was transformed from hill forest with shifting cultivation/rotational farming to scrubland and/or grassland. Only 0.5% of hill forest affected by shifting cultivation and 0.8% of scrubland were changed to permanent agriculture. This figures show that population pressure is concentrated on the already cultivated lands which are usually the more or less flat regions (Ywangan Plateau), In Kinda Mountains even 16.6km? (0.7%) of hill forest were abandoned from shifting cultivation. Kinda watershed in general is considered to be relatively stable from the environmental and watershed management points of view. * Inle watershed: In Inle watershed the least stable areas are the valleys, In patticular the Thamakan Basin and the Heho Basin are environmentally unstable. These two valleys are priority areas where stabilisation measures are urgently required. Highest priority has the stabilisation of numerous very large gullies and several deeply eroded badlands. A severe constraint to implementation of control measures by the villagers, is the amount of labour and the high inputs required to stabilize these severe forms of erosion. Financial assistance will be necessary. Since the gullies comprise a major source of sediment, large scale stabilisation measures will be feasible in order to reduce the rate of siltation of the Inle Lake. Close cooperation between the population and agencies concerned with implementation is a prerequisite for the success of the recommended stabilisation measures. Successful stabilisation of a very large gully located North of Ywangan should be considered as an example. This gully was stabilized by villagers by mechanical means while stabilizing vegetation in the gully established spontaneously. Conceming the mountainous areas, the forest remnants, and also the good grass cover in scrubland and grassland ensure a sufficiently stable environment. However, natural regeneration of the actual scrub- and grasslands to forest will improve the hydrological regime, and is recommended as a long term measure. This also applies to the steep cultivated land in the mountainous areas where in due course annual cropping will have to be changed to agroforestry systems. The observed changes in land use concentrate in Heho Basin, Thamakan Plain and Nyaungshwe Valley land systems which are defined to give management recommendations in a more specified way compared to the entire watershed area. It can be stated that land degradation is most severe in these land systems Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page vMapping and Land Use Plannir (elaine te MamiteR GAR (including Lonpo Plain) and watershed management for the entire catchment region should concentrate on this units. Besides changes in dominantly agriculturally used systems, ranges are subject to forest degradation. Since ranges have a higher relief energy they carry a high risk for erosion if over- exploited. On the more gentle slopes firewood extraction leads on many areas to extensive sheet erosion. Therefore, the entire watershed area is generally affected by increased land degradation, * Phugyi watershed: In terms of watershed management the Phugyi watershed is not under threat. In fact the dense vegetation cover ensures a very low rate of soil erosion and this applies not only to the forest areas but also to scrub- and grassland. As long as ground cover exists this situation will persist. However, care is needed if larger construction activities such as road building and other construction works are involved since the soils are susceptible to surface erosion once they are exposed directly to the atmosphere. For two Demonstration Areas, ie. Nyaungshwe (Inle watershed)and Mintaingbin (Kinda watershed), land use and land capability maps had to be generated. Based on aerial photography, field survey and enlargements of the topographic maps 1:63,360 up to mapping scale of 1:10,000 information was compiled. Status of land degradation and conclusions conceming management for the two Demonstration Areas are condensed in the following: + Nyaungshwe: Although the Nyaungshwe area is not severely degraded, there are some very critical zones in which agricultural practices are highly unsustainable. The two most critical areas are: ‘* the low etoded ridge along the foothills in the East of the Demonstration Area just North-East of the town Nyaungshwe; this area is 917.1ha in extent; slopes are gentle and vegetation is scrubland with poor grass cover; « the populated areas on top of the Letmaunggwe range in the West; slopes are steep and the land use is rotational farming. These are the areas on which watershed management activities on village level in the near future should concentrate, Already one area has been selected on the Letmaunggwe mountain range for detailed planning. For the severely sheet eroded tow foothills, protection and natural regeneration would be in theory the best recommendation to rehabilitate this zone and stabilize erosion. The solution is however not considered feasible. The area is densely populated all along its lower slopes in the West and protection against overgrazing as well as extraction of fuel wood will be impossible to materialize. The only possibility to stabilize this zone, will be to plant hardy tree species for fuelwood on a participatory basis. The VFCC of villages bordering the area should have responsibility of protection. Only spot planting for enrichment is foreseen, since the locally dense scrub vegetation could potentially be very productive Version 2, March 1936 Final Report Page v Lo[Mapping and Land Use Plann provided proper regeneration techniques would be carried out. Suitable tree species for enrichment on degraded soils are pine and banyan tree. In order to promote infiltration in the most denuded sheet eroded sites, staggered percolation ditches could improve the droughty soil climate and enhance uptake of water. Around gully heads and in places on the most severely sheet eroded areas, protective non palatable shrubs and agave should be established for protection and to reduce runoff. Since initial protection of the proposed enrichment plantations will reduce the extent of grazing grounds, this reforestation exercise should be accompanied by additional fodder production. The general strategy for all the steep mountain slopes in the East and West of the Demonstration Area, should aim at measures to prevent further deforestation by firewood cutting. Forest remnants along waterways have an important function to buffer; they prolong the base flow and decrease peak flow. ‘* Mintaingbin: The recommended measures for the Mintaingbin are of corrective nature and serve to prevent escalation in degradation. Presently taken stabilisation measures can prevent the human induced accelerated erosion which features in parts of the Inle Watershed. Due to the fact that a moderate degree of sheet erosion is an overall phenomenon throughout the Demonstration Area, and since there are no severely degraded zones, no priority areas for planning in the Demonstration Areas can be indicated on the basis of biophysical features. It is recommended that implementation of soil and water conservation measures will initiate in one village in the Demonstration Area. Preferably a village in a zone where land class 2 (moderately sloping, 5-15° with deep soils) is well represented should be selected. Socio-economic considerations will also be taken into account for the selection. For the Demonstration Area as a whole one of the main measures will be the Protection of the slopes in land class 2 with contour bunds or grass strips. No measures are required in streams, since these are all well vegetated and do not show signs of erosion. Conceming the shortage of firewood, the strategy on additional production of firewood by individual farmers should also be recommended, to prevent further degradation of the remaining forest. Farmers should be stimulated to grow more trees in their homestead gardens, along plot boundaries, roads and waterways. This is an indirect form of protection of the remaining forest since most of the firewood extraction can be done from privately owned trees in stead of cutting wood in forest remnants. The “Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Plans" for Kyong Village Tract and Kyaungshe Village (Letmaunggwe Village tract), both Inle watershed, prepared show actual land use and treatment-oriented recommendations based on land capability and actual land use (land use adjustment) are show in detail at a scale of 1:5,000. Version 2, March 1956 Final Report Page vi[RrvAroa(005 = ‘Mapping and Cand UselPlannings Volumes Main Text PGAR They are the basis for planning and implementation at village level. These maps show land classes and the recommended form of sustainable land use, as well as recommendations for soil and water conservation measures. Apart from recommendations, ‘proposals’ have been included. Such proposals have less priority or are less binding than recommendations. Difficulties in preparing these maps were the old aerial photography (1980's), their scale 1:10,000 for Kyong and 1:25,000 for Kyaungshe and the absence of geo- referenced base maps (cadastral or topographic maps) at mapping scale. Therefore, a base map was generated using the aerial photography and GPS measurements for geo-referencing. Slopes, soil information and land use were transferred manually using stereoscopic interpretation and field survey information. The results of management plans can be summarized as: + Kyong Village Tract: The long term objective is the establishment of sustainable, economically viable and environmentally sound integrated land use practices. For Kyong village the emphasis will be on acceptable recommendations for sound land use in extensive areas of 173.05ha undulating to rolling arable land where sheet erosion and rill erosion remove valuable topsoil. Farmers in Kyong have made it very clear that they are strongly in favour of grass strips. In the Kyong area where strips should be established at wide intervals the loss of land is not greater than when contour bunds are constructed. Famers remarked that grass strips will supplement grazing, particularly when fodder as leguminous plants or Napier grass is grown on them. There is no doubt that the establishment of grass strips in an area will take far less time than the construction of contourbunds. It is recommended that for the coming year grass strips as well as construction of contourbunds will be established in an area totalling some 10ha. After one, at most two years the most effective method can be determined and large scale implementation can commence. Short term goals are the prevention of further loss of the valuable topsoil, reduction of runoff, and the sediment load of runoff as well as stabilisation of regressive erosion in scattered badlands in the area. Adequate supply of fire wood to prevent further deforestation is also one of the objectives, in order to prevent further degradation of the remaining plantations. It is proposed that the extensive enrichment plantings required around eroded areas are carried out as participatory forestry. If in the long run the farmers can benefit from these plantations, no additional woodiot establishment on land presently used as fallow or for grazing will be necessary. Since there is relatively litle fallow land for grazing in Kyong, the remaining land available for grazing is insufficient, Particularly the pine forests/plantations are severely overgrazed and consequently not functional to control erosion. Since proper management of grazing land with rotational grazing appears at present not to be feasible, the recommendations as made in section 2.1 of this report are of Version 2, March 1936 Final Report Page vii[M¥Aveai005 "7 "7 Mapping and Cand Use Plannings Volume t= Maln Text ia particular importance for Kyong and its surroundings. Main issues recommended are production of fodder on boundaries and contour bunds/grass strips as well as fencing of land by hedges with subsequent practice of improved fallow. Stall feeding should also be promoted. * Kyaungshe Village: For Kyaungshe village planning area the emphasis will be on acceptable recommendations for sound land use in excessively steep areas where shifting cultivation has gradually been changed to rotational farming, Short term goals are the prevention of further loss of the valuable topsoil, reduction of runoff and the sediment load of runoff as well as adequate supply of fire wood to prevent further deforestation, Farmers in Kyaungshe have made it very clear that they are strongly in favour of grass strips. They were also keen, to discuss the compensation for loss of land though. This decision is left to the agency involved in planning, but as a guideline it can be stated that on slopes of class 2 loss of land is 8%; for class 3, 10%; for class 4, 21% and for class 5, 28%. However it should also be considered that for contour bunds there is also a loss of land, Also the bunds and their uphill channels should be covered with grass as protection, and are not available for crop production. A second concept to consider is the strategy of reforestation. The requirement of fire wood and wood for construction will lead to a continuation of illegal tree felling and over-exploitation of forest remnants. It should however be bome in mind that grassland as itis found in the mountainous areas constitutes a very good protection against erosion. It can be noticed that in many open pine plantations the soil is more exposed and prone to sheet erosion due to overgrazing, than in pure grassland areas. This can be due to the shade effect and moisture competition of the trees, but also due to herdsmen who appear to favour to graze their cattle under trees. Taking into account the very poor performance of trees planted in grassland in the Kyaungshe area, and the observations described above, it is recommended to reduce plantation of trees in grassland areas and on fallow land. It will be better to concentrate on smaller areas of efficiently managed plantations, with control of grazing, possibly with agave fencing, light fertilizer applications of seedlings, and regular weeding. Conceming drinking water supply a proposal to use water harvesting techniques in sink holes should be considered. The feasibility should be studied, possibly by the Department of Irrigation, to line the bottom of these conical holes with strong veny! sheeting, and thus ensure an additional supply of drinking water. Since the entire study is aimed at institutional strengthening, development of a comprehensive and straight forward process for planning, know-how transfer and training, and participatory land use planning a voluminous Annex was compiled. It contains various data on climate, spatial statistics, economics and guidelines for socio-economic surveys, land capability classification and assessment, land use mapping, and mapping procedures for the different scales and themes. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page vil[VArO3I005' “Mapping and Land Use Planningi Voluini i-Main Text STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT The first section of this report gives a brief description of the project's background, history and aims in the framework of the UNDP HDI programme. This shows the shortage of biophysical data for watershed management and land use planning up to now, Section 1.2 summarises the Terms of Reference of contract no. DP/MYA/93/005-001/FODO. As this section shows already the complexity and high time pressure for the execution of the terms, section 2 tries to describe two different realities: a) how mapping and planning “should be done“ and b) how the consultant “did it" due to time pressure and constraints in the availability of data and mapping techniques in Myanmar. For the training aspect of the entire contract (know-how-transfer to local staff) both ways are described. Basically section 2 is subdivided in three parts: land use planning (2.1), objectives of the mission (2.2), and planning and methodology of the survey including map compilation (2.3). Section 2.1 analyses different aspects relevant to watershed management as an integrated approach to develop sustainable natural resource management systems. This includes afforestation and natural regeneration (with reference to firewood production and consumption), pasture management, agroforestry, soil conservation measures, and participatory land use planning. Compared to section 1.2 section 2.2 gives a more general description of the missions’ objectives (and purposes) embedded iin the overall structure of the ‘Watershed Management for Three Critical Areas’ project. Following section 2.3. gives a complete account on the planning strategy in the light of the ‘Framework for Safe Land Use’ (sub-section 2.3.2) and methodology of the survey. It comprises all relevant steps and information necessary to carry out a land use mapping, land capability assessment, and map compilation at different scales. It gives concrete examples and principles for the development of management strategies and identifies necessary inputs and constraints. Consequently sections 3, 4, and 5 follow the different scales and themes. For all the three watersheds land use and changes in land use over the last two decades are described, physiographic information given and land degradation analysed. Since Kinda and Inle watersheds are wide in extent and management recommendations are required, land systems are defined and_ biophysical information given for each system. The detail of management recommendations are according to the scale 1:50,000. The two Demonstration Areas for land capability mapping at a scale of 1:10,000 (one located in Kinda watershed and one in Inle catchment area) are comprised in section 4. Biophysical information including land forms, soils, vegetation, present land use, erosion and land capability besides the analysis of socio-economic conditions lead to the preparation of management plans (sections 4.1.5 and 4.2.5), subdivided in technical and socio-environmental considerations. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page ixWain Text en iAF Thereafter, section 5 covers the ‘Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Plans’ for Kyong (6.1) and Kyaungshe (5.2) villages in detail. Not only the biophysical and socio-economical backgrounds are described but also detailed management plans are developed. Finally section 6 draws conclusions and recommendations from the experience of the consultant executing this exercise and from other projects. They are grouped in managerial, implementation and technical aspects, although some of the recommendations address different topics from different aspects. Besides acknowledgements, abbreviations, references, and lists of figures, tables, plates, and maps an extensive listing of conversion factors is given at the very end of this report. Since the above mentioned contract also defines mapping activities for a mangrove area for a different FAO project (MYA/93/026), a separate report for this mission has been compiled. All information about the commissioning of the computer hardware and peripherals at the computer sections of the Forest Department and the software training is attached in the Annexes 1 to 6. All following Annexes 7 to 20 are related to the mapping and planning described in this report. Besides spatial statistics on land use and climatic data they provide descriptions and material for the execution of a land use planning project for watershed management. (Some of these Annexes are specially requested by the field staff of the project.) Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page xMYA/93/005, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF] TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Executive Summary i Structure of the Report x Table of Contents xi 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1 Background and Justification 1 : Terms of Reference 3 2. CONCEPTS, OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGIES 6 Land Use Planning Concepts 6 Afforestation and Natural Regeneration 6 Pasture Management 8 Agroforestry 10 Biological versus Mechanical Conservation Measures 1" Participatory Land Use Planning 12 Objectives of the Mission 13 Methodology of the Survey and Map Compilation 15 Planning Strategy 15 The Framework for Safe Land Use 18 Survey and Map Compilation 2 1 Available Maps, Photography and Satellite Imagery 21 2 Generation of Base Maps and Slope Class Maps 23 .3 Compilation of Land Use Maps and Soil Information 25 4 Compilation of Change Detection Maps 31 5 — Compilation of Land Capability Maps 35 6 — Generation of Land Use Adjustment Map 37 7 ‘Compilation of the Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Map 40 Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page xiMYA/93/005. Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAFI Page 3. LAND USE MAPPING AT WATERSHED LEVEL 42 Kinda Watershed 44 Location and Physiography 44 Land Degradation and Erosion 45 Socio-economic Conditions 45 Land Systems and Management Recommendations 47 Ywangan Plateau 47 Kinda Mountains 47 Palaung Ridge 48 Summary of Management Recommendations 48 Inle Watershed 49 Location and Physiography 49 Land Degradation and Erosion 51 Socio-economic Conditions 52 Land Systems and Management Recommendations 53 Thamakan Plain 53 Heho Basin 55 Thikhaung Ridge 55 Taunglaylon Ridge 56 Nyaungshwe Valley 56 Mobye Valley 57 Taunggyi Ridge 58 Kyaukthalon Ridge 58 Pinlaung Ridge 58 Kalaw South Mountains 59 Lonpo Plain 59 ‘Summary of Management Recommendations 60 Phugyi Watershed 61 Location and Physiography 61 Land Degradation and Erosion 63 Management Recommendations 65 Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page xiiMYA/93/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF Page 4. LAND CAPABILITY MAPPING 66 Demonstration Area Mintaingbin (Kinda Watershed) 66 Location and Physiography 66 Vegetation and Present Land Use 67 Land Capability and Erosion 68 Socio-Economic Conditions 69 Management Plan and Recommendations 74 Technical Considerations 74 Socio-Environmental Considerations 76 Demonstration Area Nyaungshwe (Inle Watershed) 7 Location and Physiography 7 Vegetation and Present Land Use 78 Land Capability and Erosion 79 Socio-Economic Conditions 80 Management Plan and Recommendations 85 Technical Considerations 85 Socio-Environmental Considerations 86 5. ‘TREATMENT-ORIENTED LAND CAPABILITY PLANNING 88 Kyong Village Tract (Pindaya Township, Inle Watershed) 88 Location and Physiography 88 Vegetation, Present Land Use Systems 89 Land Capability and Erosion 90 Socio-Economic Conditions 90 Management Plan and Recommendations 97 Long-Term and Short-Term Goals 97 Management Strategies 97 Treatment-Oriented Land Use Recommendations 98 Social, Economic and Managerial Implications 107 Kyaungshe Village (Letmaunggwe Village Tract, Nyaungshwe Township, Inle Watershed) 109 Location and Physiography 109 Vegetation, Present Land Use Systems 110 Land Capability and Erosion 4 ‘Socio-Economic Conditions 414 Management Plan and Recommendations 119 Long-Term and Short-Term Goals 119 Management Strategies 119 Treatment-Oriented Land Use Recommendations 121 Social, Economic and Managerial Implications 427 Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page xii[MYA/93/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF Page 6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 130 Acknowledgements 136 Abbreviations 137 Conversion Factors 138 References 144 List of Figures 145 List of Tables 146 List of Maps 148 Colour Plates (Field Images) 149 Four Scaled Down Examples (DIN A3) of the Maps Generated 157 Following Annexes are Bound in the Second Volume of this Final Report: Annex 1: Project Report No. 1: Inspection and Project Preparation Report Annex 2: — Project Report No. 2: Supply of the System Annex 3: — Project Report No. 2: Installation of the System and Performance Tests Annex 4: — Site Preparation Document Annex 5: — Legend / Explanations for the Error / Malfunction Form Sheet Annex 6: — Hard- and Software Training Participants and Topics Trained Annex 7: — Land Capability Classification and Framework for Safe Land Use Annex 8: 2 Articles on Stall Feeding of Life Stock Annex 9: Article on Hedgerows and Grass Strips Annex 10: Questionnaire for Baseline Survey Annex 11: Important Issues on Socio-Economic Conditions and Economic Status for Land Use Classification Annex 12: Slope Analysis Diagram for Topographic Maps 1:63,360 Annex 13: Description for Land Use Classification of Forest Department Annex 14: Methods of Survey and Site Description for Field Staff Annex 15: Statistics of Land Use in Kinda and Inle Watersheds Annex 16: Statistics of Land Use Changes in Kinda and Inle Watersheds Annex 17: Village Profiles Annex 18: Climatic Data Annex 19: Soil Baking Annex 20: Spatial Statistics for Kyong Village Tract including Pawnu and Kywephyu Dam Catchment Areas Annex 21: _ Lists of Codes for the Digital Database (GIS) Version 2, March 1986 Final Report Page xvMYA/S3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text TGA 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Background and Justi ion The Watershed Management for Three Critical Areas (MYA/99/005) is one of the leading projects of a comprehensive Human Development initiative (HDI) Programme undertaken by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Goverment of Myanmar. It is a tripartite project, funded by UNDP, implemented by the Forest Department (FD) at the Ministry of Forestry (MoF) and technically supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAQ) as the executing agenoy. It is based on the positive results achieved by UNDP/FAO: MYA/81/003 Pilot Watershed Management Project for Kinda Dam Watershed, which later was expanded to include Phugyi and Inle Lake watersheds situated North of Yangon and in the South-West of Shan State, respectively. The main thrust of the project is to identify and address causes for the emerging breakdown of the watershed ecosystems in the uplands of Myanmar. The purpose is to create sustainable living conditions and to improve the welfare for the upland communities as well as for downstream agriculturists through improved land use practices and to secure drinking water supply for metropolitan centres. Over the past years, in selected pilot Demonstration Areas new methods and techniques have been developed and are increasingly being adopted by village communities. Thanks to these successes, they have become an integral part of the Forest Department's development strategy for the highland. The role of the UNDP and the FAO is to assist the MoF in order to enable them to provide self-reliant, improved support services to the communities in the uplands of Myanmar. The accelerating degradation of the environment of the three critical watersheds are manifested by siltation of the Inle Lake, deposition of sediments in the valleys, periodic flooding of large areas in some of the valleys, accelerated severe gully erosion in localized but extensive areas and sheet erosion causing a decline in fertility on all sloping cultivated lands and some scrubland areas. This erosion is the result of unsustainable land use. Deforestation is an important cause of degradation, but subsequent over-exploitation of the remaining scrubland and forests causes the acceleration in erosion. Over-exploitation includes firewood extraction, overgrazing and regular bumning in the dry season. The most damaging practice leading to erosion is however mismanagement of the arable land. Cultivation practices on sloping land are not sustainable without soil and water conservation practices and soil losses on sloping cultivated land are above tolerable limits. Action to curb the present development of accelerated degradation justify the measures which are proposed in the present study. If no action is undertaken acceleration will further increase until a stage is reached where no retum is possible. Version 2, March 1986 Final Report Page 7MYARSIO05 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR] The overall goal of the Project ,Watershed Management for Tree Critical Areas" is to. improve the overall quality of life of an estimated 120,000 inhabitants and to reverse the environmental degradation trend in the three critical areas (Inle Lake, Phugyi and Kinda Watersheds) through the promotion of self-sustained growth by establishing improved (sustainable, economically viable and environmentally sound) land use practices. The purpose of the Project can thus be summed up as follows: 1.) to assist the inhabitants of the three critical watershed areas to successfully establish community and on-farm based conservation measures, 2.) including reforestation and wasteland rehabilitation activities, which result 3.) in improved and sustainable upland agricultural production, increased income, conserved soil and water conditions and an alleviated fuelwood situation. Regarding the conceptual framework and implementation strategy the Project operates with the setting of the HD! Programme with its three main objectives: (1) to create direct, visible and immediate impacts of development at the grass-root level, (2) to establish a participatory development approach, and (3) to strengthen capacity the grass-root communities and institutions to manage local development iatives, Thus, Project activities focus on: + environmental stability through more sustainable and efficient land use, forest rehabilitation, promotion of upland conservation farming, soil and water conservation, controlled livestock grazing and improved pasture management, erosion control and conservation of bio-diversity; * food security through improved food production, enhancement of food quality, improved marketing, and promotion of home industries; + local capacity building through participatory planning and implementation of VRCP, encouragement of local organisations and group formation, involving women in community development decision-making, and enhancement of awareness and knowledge. ce required information, methodologies and capacities were not in place when the project started participatory planning, the Project's outlined approach was realised in stages. During a first stage, based on the Visible and Feasible (V & F) approach the Project continued to implement field activities in continuation of the implementation strategy developed during the first phase of Kinda Watershed Project. A more participatory approach was adopted during the second stage, when Interim Village Resource Conservation Plans (VRCP) were prepared and implemented using Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) techniques. Later (third stage) the interim VRCP were improved through comprehensive Participatory Rapid Appraisals (PRA). During the present forth and last stage, necessary biophysical data, i.e. data from land use and land capability surveys, will be integrated into the VRCPs. Sheng (1990) writes that “initial efforts have often been ‘fire-fighting’ in nature, Le. an immediate but isolated response to a perceived problem. However, in many if not most developing countries, the nature and magnitude of the problem of watershed degradation, and the scarce availability of resources mandate a comprehensive long- term approach. The keys to successful implementation of any such effort are accurate and appropriate survey and planning" (Sheng 1990: 3). Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 2MYA/SS/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF Li Terms of Reference The Terms of Reference as defined in contract no. DP/MYA/93/005-001/FODO (dated July 25, 1995), the contract Amendment no. 1 (December 13, 1995), the ‘Inspection and Project Preparation Report’ (Annex 1) and its various modifications are divided in three parts: Mapping and Digital Database System to be Commissioned and Specifications of its Performance Preparations of Management Plans For all these parts intensive training of local staff was incorporated. The mapping and consecutive preparation of a digital data base concems a number of maps in different areas, 1:50,000 Land Use Maps have to be prepared for Kinda, Inle, and Phugyi watersheds plus a key area in the Ayeyarwady mangroves. 4:100,000 or 1:50,000 Land Use Change Maps have to be produced for all of the above mentioned areas. Inle watershed/catchment area is extended down to Mobye dam. Further, two Demonstration Areas within the Inle watershed had to be mapped at 4:10,000 and the Land Capability shown for these areas. For two specific villages, Kyong and Kyaungshe 1:5,000 Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Maps plus an associate management plan had to be developed. For the mapping tasks existing thematic maps, recent and historical satellite data (Landsat MSS and TM), aerial photography, and topographic maps have to be used. A total of 35 different maps (including 4 maps for the Mangrove area) had to be produced (see List of Maps). In parallel a hard- and software system had to be designed, procured and installed at the computer section of the Forestry Department. This system should enable all processing steps of remote sensing and geographic data necessary to support any watershed mapping and preparation of management plans. A major element in this task was the execution of a condensed training programme for software specialists, foresters and other staff involved in watershed management. Finally, based on the maps produced, and the digital analysis performed, concrete management plans shall be developed for the three watersheds, the Demonstration Areas and the two selected villages. Planning should be more detailed the larger the working scales are, Detailed management plans are expected for the village level, they should serve as a recommendation for implementing improved and sustainable methods of land use through the local population. Due to the obvious land degradation problems of Inle and Kinda watersheds they had to be treated with higher priority than Phugyi watershed. Furthermore Phugyi watershed will not be included in the follow-up programme. ‘A number of activities which were not required according to the Terms of Reference have been additionally performed. These activities include: Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 3MYA/@3/005, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF * The area belonging to the village Kyong does not include the catchments of two dams which both are in need of soil and water conservation works. These areas have been mapped additionally and recommendations for their management have been given, since protection is essential to prevent siltation of the two reservoirs. + The pre-selected village Kyong is not situated in one of the Demonstration Areas. The client requested for an additional village for planning which was situated in a Demonstration Area. Accordingly an additional village was mapped and planned, i.e. Kyaungshe village in Letmaunggwe Village Tract, * For mapping and planning at a scale of 1:50,000 only a land use and vegetation map was required according to alterations in the ToR. Already a slope map of both catchments had been compiled at a scale of the topographic maps 1:63,360. This map can now be used now for the generation of a Land Use Adjustment Map as a training component. The hand-drawn transparency maps showing the slope classes were given to the counterpart and NPPP Land Use Planning U Maung Maung Than. * Since for mapping and planning at a scale of 1:50,000 only a land use and vegetation map was required, it was nobpossible to prepare a management plan at that scale. It was therefore decided to compile a Land System Map for Kinda and Inle catchments, in order to describe the biophysical environment. With this description it was possible to give guidelines for management and to select priority zones for Demonstration Areas and villages for project inplementation based primarily on environmental problems. * For the Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Plans for Kyong and Kyaungshe villages an additional legend in Myanmar was produced which can be overlaid to the original legend in English. Since there were only 6 months time for the execution of the entire contract, several working packages had to be done in parallel. The logical sequence should have started with the commissioning of the hardware and software followed by the associated hard- and software training and finalized with the land use mapping and planning (again including training). For the high time pressure the work was splitted in two parts and executed in parallel: Commissioning of hard- and software plus associated training (see Annexes 1-6) and mapping and planning including training. Therefore, the mapping and planning exercise could not work with data generated by the computer section at the Forest Department (FD) with its new equipmenttechnology and trained staff. Mapping and planning was therefore done in a somehow traditional/conventional way, i.e. with analogue techniques like the generation of slope maps applying visual map interpretation and production of base maps with enlarged topographic maps. Also the combination of different thematic information (like slopes and actual land use) was done using analogue techniques instead of using a Geographical Information System (GIS) GPS technique was applied to obtain exact location measurements to geo-reference the spatial information. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 4Mapping and Land Use Pianning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF MYAPSS/005 The time pressure (6 months for the entire contract) leds to the execution of parts | to MI in parallel. Therefore, the project team of the consultant had to consists of 12 experts in total in order to fulfill the ToR in time. Their positions and names are: Project Manager: Team Leader Mapping and Planning: Team Leader Hardware and Software: Mapping and Planning Team: System Implementation and Training Team: GIS Team Home Office: Dr. Peter Volk Johannes Heymann Dr. Stefan Saradeth Dr. Hans D. Bechstedt (Socio-Economy) Johannes Heymann (Mapping & Planning) Prof, Dr. Emst Léffler (Mapping & Planning) Willem Stuurman (Mapping and Planning) Sebastian Aiblinger (GPS) Sebastian Carl (Image Processing) Antje Kipper (GIS) ‘Sdren Lamprecht (Installation) Dr. Stefan Saradeth (System Design) Johannes Heymann Horst Ringenberg Andreas Schénberg Version 2, March 199 Finai Report Page 5IMYAI@S/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| 2. CONCEPTS, OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGIES 1 Land Use Planning Concepts The Government's policy conceming management of natural resources is to support ‘the development of sustainable natural resource management systems that will ensure a continual supply of renewable resources and related products for future generations. Although there is no land use or watershed management government policy as such, the Myanmar Forest Policy of 1995 covers aspects of land use and environment which are in full agreement with the concepts of the present study. Some of the aspects regarding environment and land use in the 1995 paper are: * to discourage shifting cultivation practices causing extensive damage to the forests, through adoption of improved practices for better food production and better quality of life for shifting cultivators; + to pursue sound programmes of forest development through regeneration and rehabilitation operations to optimize productivity from natural forest; * to encourage planting of fast growing multi-purpose tree species in degraded forests and farmlands, to meet industrial and domestic demand, and restore ecological balance; * to enlist people's participation in forest sector development activities in order to provide ‘people-based development’ as also create public awareness and mass motivation for protection and conservation of forests; * to promote community forestry plantation on state lands through plantation cooperatives; + to prepare a land use plan to specify the ultimate purpose for which the areas should be used and to provide the kind of security that is badly needed for catchment protection and nature conservation, since changes or loss of these areas are irreversible. Although the emphasis of these aspects is mostly on forestry, the present study aims on an integrated management approach which is essential to achieve sustainability of people related development interventions. Planning and implementation should include all relevant sectors such as agriculture, forestry, livestock, health, education and others. Following Sheng (1990) ,"land use planning is the process of evaluating land use patterns, together with other physical, social and economic considerations for selecting or suggesting the best alternative uses" (Sheng 1990: 116). Aspects which are directly relevant to watershed planning and management are described in the following sections. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 6MYAIS3I005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] 21.41 Afforestation and Natural Regeneration Past logging and shifting cultivation as well as present firewood exploitation and frequent burning to promote grazing have changed most forest in secondary scrubland or grassland. Although also under a good grass cover runoff is retarded and infiltration adequate, overgrazing and buming practices leave the soil unprotected in the dry season and prone to erosion and high runoff coefficients. The same applies to plantations were overgrazing and buming occur. Here trees do not protect the soil, Only very dense plantations and natural forest where no fire occurs have a micro. climate with a moist dense litter layer that gives optimum protection against erosion and promotes infiltration. In this respect it should be stated that particularly plantations are areas which are overgrazed. The reason is that herdsmen purposely select plantations to let their cattle graze: they find shade to sleep and they can let the cattle roam without the worry that it will enter cropped land. During the study no plantations were noticed without herds of cattle, A strategy of protection to prevent the continuation of wood extraction and to promote natural regeneration is therefore the most efficient way to ensure environmental stability. Legislation is usually not the most effective means to achieve protection. A Participatory approach and incentive mechanisms for the people to produce their own wood will be more effective. Involvement of the local population has been initiated by the project through the establishment of Village Forest Conservation Committees (VFCC) in a number of villages. So far this initiative has been successful. The VFCC is responsible for the demarcation, protection and utilization of village forests after rules and regulations have been agreed upon by the T/LORC, the Township Forest Officer (TFO) and the project. The project assists in the formulation of rules and regulations. Enrichment planting and natural regeneration activities (trimming, cleaning etc.) are presently stil carried by the FD or the project, but could in future also be done by the VFCC. Presently it has already the responsibility for protection, with control of illegal cutting, firebreak maintenance, etc. Another task of VFCC is the establishment and management of the village woodlot and self-reliance nursery. The project supplies polythene bags, fertlizer and seed and technical assistance in the initial stage. Fuelwood from these village woodlot can to a large extent replace fuelwood cutting in the forest. Hills near villages are often degraded and subject to severe sheet erosion. In principle protection forest or natural regeneration is a good solution there. But it will be much more effective to involve the population through the VFCC with enrichment planting of firewood. This will lead to better protection during the initial years of regeneration. Since initial protection of the such enrichment plantations will reduce the extent of grazing grounds, this reforestation exercise should be accompanied by additional fodder production. The concept for increased fodder production is given in section Version 2, March 1886 Final Report Page 7MYAIS3(005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| 2.1.2. and particularly involves leguminous fodder on fallow land protected by live fencing. itis well possible that reforestation will accelerate the trend of ‘cut and carry’ of fodder for cattle once the farmers notice that afforestation is financially sufficiently attractive. Systems of so-called ‘forest farming’ on individual (household) basis, joint family basis or collective basis are developing rapidly in the tropics and are used to encourage farmers to broaden their farming practices and include also forestry. Apart from firewood production near the villages, the project indirect activities to preserve natural forest resources include promotion of the improved stoves as well as fire wood production in homestead gardens, along boundaries, on bunds and grass strips as well as along roads and waterways. The strategy of this study is in full agreement with the project strategy of promotion of tree establishment on the land of individual farmers, in particularly on boundaries etc. Competition of moisture, nutrients but in particular light during the long rainy season are a constraint to planting of trees near crops. Promotion of the use of crabapple could to a large extent reduce this constraint, since this tree can stand heavy pruning and thereby reduce its competitive effect. According to the villagers, five fully grown trees can supply wood for a household during a year. Firewood consumption is on average 0.5 tons/year/person. (Myint Han: Fuelwood Substitution in Myanmar, Ministry of Industry (ll). Annual firewood production, or annual increment of a plantation averages about 12 tons/ha. Consequently an area of ‘ha firewood plantation meets the requirements of 24 persons per year. A mean sized village with 300 inhabitants will require a woodlot of 12ha. When the villagers can be convinced to grow more trees privately, the size of the village woodlot can be reduced by to 50%. If a strategy is accepted whereby enrichment planting of degraded forest/scrubland on marginal land near villages can be managed and also used by the villagers, there will be relatively few villages where establishment of actual village woodlots is still necessary. Technical proposals on afforestation, natural regeneration, recommended species etc. are given in Annex 7 under ‘Forestry and Natural Regeneration’ 24.2 Pasture Management The dominant part of Kinda and Inle watershed, grassland and fallow: 2088.5km? (37.3% for Inlae watershed and 483.4km? (21.4%) of Kinda watershed area. Under the favourable climatic conditions most of these areas have a good grass cover, but where the cattle population is high, or where most of the land is cultivated, the land is overgrazed. This phenomenen is particularly serious around the more densely Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 6MYA/93/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF populated areas. Here the over-exploited scrubland is partly devoid of grass in the dry season and sheet erosion or sometimes also gully erosion are irreversible if the present grazing system is allowed to continue. Also tree plantations, established to control erosion in marginal lands are often subject to overgrazing. The poor grass cover in many plantations causes sometimes more erosion than in the land without trees. Itis not clear how Downing can state that ‘On rocky slopes rough grazing is available, and increased livestock production whether cattle, sheep or goats(!) could be a supplement for income generation (Downing 1995a). Followed by dense forest, good grassland is next in providing sufficient protection of the land against erosion. Adequate control of grazing should therefore rank high in management of the watersheds. Overgrazing as well as almost annual buming are however practices which are according to local management staff and personnel of line agencies, almost impossible to change. If a particular village would initiate a rotational grazing system or a method to enrich its grasslands, this would attract the cattle of surrounding villages. The same applies to individual farmers in a village who would improve their pastures; communal use would concentrate the village cattle on his land. This also applies to fire. Buming of the grassland in the dry season is an ingrained custom which is only possible to control with a very strict top down system, heavy penalties, and a large staff of field guards. The only remaining way to control grazing would be to supplement grazing with protected and improved pasture or by tethering or cut and carry methods i.e. stall feeding. Buffalo and bulls which are used for draught power are partly stall fed already, but cows are mainly used for manure and to produce calves. There is litle milk production and equally litte interest for meat production. Consequently there is little interest in stall feeding or establishment of pasture land or introduction of rotational grazing. A strategy to find a way to reduce pressure on the grazing lands could be combined with a strategy to increase fertility of the arable land to make the proposal more attractive for the farmer. Maintenance of organic matter and fertility levels are to a large extent determined by the amount of manure and fertilizer applied, Generally all nutrients applied, (or more) are used by the crops. Organic matter levels will lower due to intensive tillage and mineralization. In particular also sheet erosion lowers the organic matter content due to removal of the topsoil. So apart from chemical degradation, soils deteriorate also physically; they become more dense and infiltration rates decrease. This provokes more runoff, more sheet erosion and less moisture available for the crops. Present fallow practices of up to three years under spontaneously growing grasses and weeds are by no means sufficient to restore the fertility of the soil. Improved fallow with Version2, March 1996 Final Report Page 9MYAI@3i005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] leguminous crops can raise fertility levels and organic matter content in the soil. With improved fallow practices it will also be possible to reduce the duration of the presently practiced fallow. The main constraint to improved fallow is according to the farmers that they can not control cattle from grazing, and that required fencing is too costly. There are however lands which are very effectively protected by hedges with agave, shrubs and thomy branches. A strategy is therefore proposed to stimulate farmers to plant such live fences on the boundaries of their least fertile lands. They know the system of live fencing, it fits in their pattern. This will enable combined production of fodder and improvement of the soil. Recommendations for live fences, improved fallow and fodder are given in Annex 7 under the same title as this section. Some articles on stall feeding of cattle are given in Annex 8. 21.3 Agroforestry ‘As mentioned in the two sections above, shifting cultivation, firewood cutting, and frequent burning to promote grazing have changed most forest in secondary open scrubland or grassland, Scattered cultivated lands occupy a few to over 15% of steeply sloping land in most mountainous areas, with the exception of forest reserves. These cultivated lands have a very high erosion hazard. Losses of valuable topsoil are high not only due to sheet erosion, but also due to ploughing and hosing, whereby the topsoil is annually transported down-slope, exposing the almost sterile subsoil. When slopes are very steep, it would be best to discontinue this form of land use. But since the population is permanently settled and practising a system of rotational farming, a farming system with minimum or no tillage is also a feasible option. Thus, agroforestry would be the best form of land use for land with slope gradients of 47-58% (25-30 degrees). A permanent soil cover is the only way to protect these erosion prone gradients. Shifting cultivators and farmers using arable land on these slopes permanently, should be persuaded to change their farming system to perennial cropping including trees and minimum tillage. It should be emphasized though, that contrary to the opinion of foresters, establishment of trees as such does not provide adequate protection against erosion. A perennial ground cover crop or pasture is necessary to protect land on steep slopes under trees. Inputs for agroforestry being limited to one year only in stead of annually retuming inputs with the present cropping system, counts strongly in favour of agroforestry. Another form of agroforestry would be suited for less steep areas. Hereby annual ‘cropping could be permitted between the trees, provided the control measures required according to the Framework in Annex 7 are installed. Agroforestry on such Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 10_ [Mvaveai005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] lower lying less steep land would either be practiced because the soils are degraded or because certain trees or horticultural crops are more profitable than annual crops. Farmers should be well advised though before they are recommended to plant trees ‘on gently sloping land. Within a few years the shading effect of the trees will reduce the yield of annual crops. As stated in section 3.2.1 on climate, sunshine duration during the months June, July and August is very low and light competition from trees are certain to reduce yields of crops undemeath. Technical recommendations are given in Annex 7 under Agroforestry. 214 Biological versus Mechanical Conservation Measures In recent years biological methods of erosion control ate gaining more and more over mechanical methods. Vegetative measures are less costly to install. They increase infiltration or form a permeable barrier through which runoff can flow at a strongly reduced velocity while sediments are filtered and remain behind, There is no risk of concentration of runoff and breach as is the case with mechanical structures. It is therefore astonishing that in humid and sub-humid climates mechanical methods ate so often still considered although at present vegetative measures as agroforestry and SALT are gaining field, In the project area as general in SE Asia, the climatic conditions for establishment of protective plants as well as natural regeneration are near ideal. In many areas a dense vegetation in gullies establishes itself spontaneously. And it can be observed anywhere that natural vegetation on uncultivated plot boundaries filters and reduces runoff, thus creating terraces within a relatively short period. A strategy promoting vegetative control measures will therefore feature prominently in the present study; recommendation of easy to apply methodology is also mentioned in the terms of reference. Particularly given the vast areas to manage, simple methods should have preference, In many previous studies it was remarked that farmers do not see the importance of erosion control. If the worst comes to the worst they can even abandon the land and move elsewhere. This is another factor in favour of vegetative simple methods. ‘As mentioned, runoff concentration and breach of structures is eliminated for vegetative measures. Lay-out of mechanical methods requires far mote accuracy; already a small mistake in a horizontal contour bund can lead to breach followed by breach of lower lying structures with ever increasing rill (or gully) erosion. Contrarily a grass strip not exactly on the contour will not concentrate runoff. Marking of grass strips along the contour can be done quickly and less accurately. In particular grass strips are very easy to establish and in fact can develop spontaneously when strips are Ieft without tillage for one season. They also require less maintenance than mechanical structures. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 11MYAIS3/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| An article on grass strips in the Philippines is given Annex 9. Methodology is explained in Annex 7 When farmers were explained the system in the study area, they were very much in favour of it. Also staff concemed with implementation favours the system. Within a short period and with far less effort they can implement vast areas. Conceming mechanical measures it should be considered that for rainfed agriculture, bench terraces usually require too high inputs. They have the constraint that fertile topsoil is removed from the cut which leaves the sterile unproductive topsoil on the terrace to be used for the crops. Additionally intensive maintenance is required. When water for irigation on sloping land is available, bench terracing could be considered as a feasible proposition though. For one hectare bench terracing 400 man-days are required for land at a gradient of 30% compared to 20 days for contour bunds and almost no time for spontaneously established grass strips. 218 Participatory Land Use Planning Land use planning will follow a bottom-up approach, i.e. it will be initiated at the local level and involves the active participation by the local community, the technical agencies and the decision-makers at all levels. The experience and local knowledge of the land users and local staff are mobilized to identify development priorities and to draw up and implement the plan. Their participation has to be built into the planning process for the following reasons: « people ate more enthusiastic about a plan seen as their own, when they were allowed in setting the targets, organising the management and sharing the benefits; * awareness is created about land use problems and conflicts, resource use bottlenecks and opportunities; * plans developed with the participation of the people have a higher chance to address the true and most important local constraints, and are better able to identify sometimes conflicting perceptions and attitudes of different groups of people towards land use, its problems as well as its opportunities; * information derived at the grass root serve as a more appropriate data base for higher levels of planning; «local knowledge of the land use situation are documented and important gaps in that knowledge are identified; at the same time planning builds on the use of local knowledge regarding land use and resource conservation and draws on the inventiveness of local people, technical staff and administrators. Also locally developed solutions will be accepted and implemented more quickly than external technology, as they are more appropriate. On the other side, local interests are not always in congruence with regional or national interest, and difficulties may occur in integrating local plans within a wider framework, Local efforts may even collapse because of lack of support or even Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 12MYAISSIO05 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| ‘obstruction from higher levels of the decision making process. However, planners must work to secure the commitment of all parties involved and must facilitate to reach a consensus. Regarding participation, community involvement seems to be fully in line with the present forestry policy guidelines of the Myanmar Government, which outline as one of its six imperatives: “Enlisting people's participation in forestry, wildlife and national park activities so that the community becomes actively involved in appropriate ways in national and local efforts towards forest conservation and development, and in raising trees for meeting their needs and increasing non-farm incomes through adoption of community forestry/agroforestry practices‘ (Government of the Union of Myanmar, 1994: 3-4). New legislation is presently prepared dealing with village forests and woodlots, watershed and fuelwood plantations. Village forests and woodlots are to be handed over for control, management and sustainable usage to community-based organisations, such as a VECC, under the supervision of the Forestry Department. The State will remain owner of all land, but the community will receive well-defined user rights for tree growing and harvesting. Watershed and fuelwood plantations, on the other hand, will remain in the hand of the Forestry Department. They will be the responsible agency for the operation and management of replanting, reforestation efforts and fuelwood growing through hired labour recruited from among the villagers. To sum up, the involvement of all land users in the planning is essential. Ultimately, they have to put the plan into effect and must therefore believe in its potential benefits as well as in the faimess of the planning process. Without there support the plan is not likely to succeed. Achieving effective public participation in planning is a challenge. Planners have to invest in time and resources needed to secure participation - through local discussions, by the use of public media, through workshops, training and extension services. 2.2 Objectives of the Mission Up to the present stage of the project an approach of multi stage planning has been adopted. Starting with a Visible and Feasible (V and F) approach it continued in the second stage with the generation of Village Resource Conservation Plans (VRCP) using Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) for planning and implementation. While the third stage concentrated on the improvement of this VRCP's through comprehensive Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), the biophysical environment will be fully integrated in land use planning during the recent fourth stage. Planning based on socio-economic parameters and unquantified biophysical information will not lead to sound and objective land use planning. Without the aid of a land capability map, incorrect measures may be recommended and areas not Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 13MYASIOOS, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR] having priority could be selected. To change this methodology in planning the present study has been conducted. Rural development depends to a large extent on the accuracy and quantification of biophysical information. Without understanding and quantification of biophysical data development investments could be wasted. The present study is conducted to introduce a procedure of planning whereby the biophysical environment is fully integrated. It is an attempt that assesses the capabilities of land and water resources to support a variety of uses on a sustained basis. The main purposes of the exercise are to: ‘+ improve the data and data collection technology available for land use planning in Myanmar; + strengthen the existing capabilities in the Forest Department for the use of remotely sensed data, GIS and Database Management Systems to support planning: develop a comprehensive and straight forward process for such planning; develop a concrete example of detailed planning for sustainable development at village level; * provide training necessaty for those in Myanmar to use this data, technology and process to create such detailed plans throughout the three critical watersheds and then all over Myanmar. The technical specifications of the services to be performed also require compilation of existing socio-economic data and statistics as well as mapping of land use at four different levels and scales and mapping of land capability at two levels and scales. The main technical specifications of the services to be performed are: * compilation of existing socio-economic and ecological data, statistics, maps and other data available required for watershed management planning; + selection and purchase of high resolution satellite data (Landsat MSS and TM) in digital format; image processing and generation of photographic enlargements at a scale of 1:50,000; ‘* image interpretation and ground surveys for field data collection to derive a) land use and erosion and b) change detection maps covering the watersheds at a scale of 1:50,000; * acquisition and processing of one SPOT stereo data set for one of the three critical watersheds for generation of a digital terrain model and contour lines for slope classification; * creation of a land use and land capability map at a scale of 1:10,000 for two Demonstration Areas; assessment of erosion and tand degradation; * preparation of a treatment-oriented land capability classification plan at a scale of (000 for two villages; Version 2, March 1966 Final Report Page 14mVAvea/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volumie 4: Main Text GAF| * development of management plans at three different levels with the level of detail associated to the scales; * creation of a digital database (GIS) for the three critical watersheds and the sub- areas. The mapping part of the mission resulted finally in 31 different maps at four scales for the project (see List of Maps). 23 Methodology of the Survey and Ma my ion Due to restricted time, the present study and mapping had to be carried out prior to installation of the GIS. Consequently much improvisation and conventional mapping activities were applied. The following description of activities is a general description of recommended mapping procedures once the GIS has been installed according to a correct and straight-forward methodology. Furthermore, the improvisations applied are explained. 231 Planning Strategy Sustainable development in watersheds relies on the way the population uses its land and water resources. Integrated planning of these resources is necessary to ensure sustainable development through environmental stability, food security and local capacity building, The main objective of this land use planning exercise is an attempt to assess the capabilities of land and water resources to support a variety of uses on a sustained basis and balance those capabliities with the social, economic and cultural needs of the people. Since personnel, funds and information are limited, a process of planning that is easy to implement is required. It should allow efficient planning to be accomplished ina short time span. Map compilation using new technologies such as satellite image interpretation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and data base management systems (DBMS) are means to ensure feasible and efficient planning. Although survey and mapping gives the impression of a top down approach to improve watershed management and land use practices, this is a false impression. Maps can support planning and show the actual situation, its hazards as well as the potential for improvement, Maps are therefore a basic tool for objective planning with the target groups, their representatives and their advisors at all levels. Maps will augment participatory approach and involvement at grass root level. The use of new technology in map production such as remote sensing and GIS enable more cost effective and much quicker mapping. In particular the following advantages of satellite imagery over conventional aerial photography can be mentioned: Version 2, March 1896 Final Report Page 15MYA/SS/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] + synoptic view over large areas (e.g. Landsat TM 180 x180 km); * acquisition of such imagery at one time, virtually identical acquisition conditions over a large area; + fewer geometric distortions through platform height of about 800 km above ground and fast rectification and geo-referencing through digital image processing; availability of digital data ideal for image enhancement for problematic areas; availability of several infrared bands for detailed assessment of vegetation types; relatively low price per area; data availability since 1972 allows to detect changes in land use over time. The Geographic Information System (GIS) with its digital processing capabilities enables storage of data and presentation of particular information at various scales. It has the following advantage: adaptation of the digitized information to a wide range of scales; updating is easy due to digital storage; powerful assistance in cartographic Works and later modifications; easy to perform transformation of geometry of any geo-information; geographic combination of different kind of information, like points, lines and polygons; digital interpolation from point information to spatial information; * several digital analysis steps (overlay, spatial buffer, statistical analysis, spreadsheet operations on attribute data, etc.), many complex data layers; © efficient generation of plots of working maps; * establishment of digital data bases for future monitoring purposes and proof-of- ‘success studies. Since funds for implementation are limited it will be impossible to correct all watershed problems in a watershed directly by an overall approach of planning and implementation activities. A problem solving approach oriented towards the main objectives and major problems is recommended. Plans and recommendations should be centered on solving or alleviating these problems, although the overall situation in the watershed should not be neglected. Because the people, through incorrect land use, are responsible for the problems in watersheds it will have to be the people to protect their land and water resources and to create sustained land use. Without participation of the people the necessary changes can not be realized. Due to limited availability of resources the recommended strategy for efficient watershed management is to involve only selected villages. These villages will be a nucleus for further development throughout the watershed using the accomplishments and knowledge gained in these areas. Survey and planning of a region Is therefore conducted at three levels. Studies commence at watershed level at a scale of 1:50,000 with the aid of satellite images. Subsequently a smaller area i.e. a Demonstration Area will be selected. This will be mapped with the aid of aerial photography at available scales and presented at a scale of 1:10,000. Finally priority villages will be chosen for which mapping and planning will be done at a scale of 1:5,000. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 16MYAISSI005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| Three basic maps required for watershed management planning are the Present Land Use Map, the Land Capability Map, and the Land Use Adjustment Map. Since the emphasis of the present study is in particular on village level planning, it has been decided that at the highest level i.e. watershed level, only the present land use map will be used, and no other maps. The Present Land Use Map shows actual land use distinguishing agricultural land, shifting cultivation, grass land, scrubland and forest. The Land Capability Map shows a number of classes related to slope, soil depth and soil type. With the aid of this map the safest form of sustained land use can be determined. The Land Use Adjustment Map is an overlay of the first two maps, and indicates in which areas present land use is not sustainable and should be changed. A detailed description of the methodology for survey and/or map compilation is given in section 2.3.3. For scales of 1:10,000 and 15,000 stope maps are generated in a traditional , semi- quantitative way using stereoscopes. Slopes are interpreted from the stereoscopic image pairs according to their steepness. A few known field aspects are sufficient to calibrate the estimation of critical slope classes, The land capability maps are compiled with the aid of the slope maps and information gathered during field surveys. The present land use maps are compiled with the aid of satellite images for 1:50,000 cartography and with aerial photography for 1:10,000 and 1:5,000 mapping, Usually only old 1:25,000 photography is available and some corrections in land use or vegetation can be made with the aid of recent satellite images. The extent of the watersheds will generally range from 2000 to 6000km®, The land use maps are a basic tool to provide broad management guidelines and to select a number of candidate Demonstration Areas in the watershed. The topographic maps at a scale of 1:63,360 will also be consulted during these activities. For the pre-selection an important criterion is where land use is unsustainable and must be adjusted. (example: arable land on steep areas) A second criterion of pre- selection is the present stage of degradation; extent and severity of erosion is shown on the maps. Three to four candidate Demonstration Areas will be demarcated on the basis of the criteria mentioned above. The selection of the priority Demonstration Area is done by the land use planners in collaboration with agencies involved in planning; possibly representatives of T/LORC, the Forest Department and other line agencies. This priority Demonstration Area will now be mapped with the aid of aerial photography and maps will be presented at a scale of 1:10,000. The general extent of a Demonstration Area should be 200-300km?, Maps of the Demonstration Area serve to determine a strategy for different forms of land use and for the selection of priority villages. A pre-selection is made of the areas requiring most adjustments according to the land use adjustment map with as second criterion the present stage of degradation mapped as erosion. Subsequently a second pre-selection will be carried out by the planning staff on poverty and demonstration value; the willingness of the population to cooperate in watershed management activities. Some five to ten villages will be pre-selected in one Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 17MYA/OS/005 ‘Wapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF) Demonstration Area. During this process the planners have become acquainted with the local leaders, members of the Law and Order Restoration Council and prominent farmers of all villages. Decision has to be made on sampling techniques for the socio-economic and infrastructural survey, i.e. random, stratified and cluster. Thereafter questionnaires need carefully to be designed (see Annex 10). They should be concise, relevant to the main topics and constructed in a logical order. Ambitious questions should be avoided. Questionnaires should include a double checking system so that if the enumerator detects an inconsistency in the responses, the uncertainty can be resolved immediately. Data collection and questionnaire could be organised along a checklist of important socio-economic, infrastructural and resource utilization issues. An example for such a checklist for social conditions, economic status, resource utilization, long- and short-term problems, constraints and potentials is given in Annex 11. For each land class, the Framework for Safe Land Use will give several options to the farmer to select from. In most cases the farming system will not change: only conservation measures will be necessary (see section 2.3.2). Such areas can be directly mapped without consultation of the farmer. Only prior to implementation, the farm will be visited together with the farmer to select from the options for implementation the best way the farmer agrees to implement conservation measures. Areas were recommendations do not fall within the system e.g. eroded land, exceptional soils, communal land etc. will be visited by the occupants of the land or community representatives to discuss the best form of land use and conservation measures if these are required. After this procedure a final Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Map is produced which will be the basic document for implementation. Itis strongly recommended that for village planning and implementation the 1:25,000 photography is enlarged to a scale of 1:10,000. It is almost impossible to map at a scale of 1:25,000 and to enlarge this to a scale of 1:5,000 i.e. an area of 10xt0cm becomes 50x50cm. Very much small detail required for the 1:5,000 map simply is not mappable at 1:25,000 scale. From participatory point of view enlargements of 4:10,000 photography also create much interest during planning and implementation with the local population. One or two copies should remain with the villagers for intemal discussion and planning. 2.3.2 The Framework for Safe Land Use ‘The Framework for safe land use gives for each land class the most feasible form of land use which guarantees sustained utilization and losses of topsoil and erosion rates within tolerable limits. The needed soil and water conservation measures for each class are also given, with a number of options to select from by the farmer. Simple mechanical measures are given as a first choice with as option entirely biological methods. As second option also very costly measures such as bench terraces are given for the most dedicated farmers for whom cost benefit is not a first priority, or where irrigation is possible. Version 2, March 1936 Final Report Page 18MYA/93/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| For the steepest slopes permanent soil cover is necessary; under agroforestry without tillage or under protection forest for the very steep slopes. For eroded areas. there are no standard remedies, but some generalized methods will be recommended for different forms and intensities of erosion. This safe land use framework does not exclude extensive forms of land use on classes lower than the recommendation; e.g. when necessary, afforestation for fuelwood near villages can be recommended on flat class 1 land, These more extensive forms of land use can be considered as options to chose from. They can then be adjusted accordingly. For example agroforestry selected by the farmer on gently sloping land, does not require ground cover or minimum tillage as is the case on class 5 land, As described in section 2.1.4 grass strips in stead of contour bunds will be preferred by many farmers. In the Framework below, bunds have been given as first recommendation, since the project so far has no experience with grass strips. Apart from recommendations, ‘proposals’ have made for some land classes. Such proposals have less priority or are less binding than recommendations. For land with contour bunds, a diversion drain will always be required above the field in case the area receives runoff from higher ground. Recommendations are given below while technical detail of the measures is given in Annex 7 Class # | Safe Land Use Recommendations and Options Class 1 |Cultivable; contour ploughing is sufficient for safe land use; but contour bunds at 20m are proposed when slopes are very long (> 150m) or when soils show signs of erosion Option: grass strips of 1m width at 20m interval, only for very long slopes Class 2 | Cultivable; needing contour bunds at 13m interval Option 1: grass strips of 1m width at 13m interval Trees on bunds or grass strips are proposed but optional Option 2: bench terracing; very suited from conservation point of view, but requires high inputs Class 3 | Cultivable; needing contour bunds at 10m interval Option 1: grass strips of 1m width at 10m interval, preferably with improved fallow/cover crops or trees every third alley Trees on bunds or grass strips are proposed but optional Option 2: bench terracing when soils are deep; very suited from conservation point of view, but requires high inputs Version 2, March 1856 Final Report Page 15MYA/93/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] Class 4 |Cultivable; needing contour bunds at Sm interval and improved fallow/cover crops of trees every third alley Option: grass strips of 1.5m width at Sm interval and improved fallow/cover crops or trees every third alley 4 is marginal for cultivation; agroforestry with annual crops and contour bunds or grass strips at 5m interval would be a second option Class 5 | Agroforestry; with ground cover and minimum tillage. If farmers do not agree with permanent ground cover, this class could be set aside for grazing or reforestation Option: If farmers do neither agree with agroforestry and permanent ground cover nor with grazing/reforestation, the following far less sustainable recommendation could be made: cultivation with contourbunds of grass strips of 2 m width at Sm interval Class 6 _| Protection forest Class 18] Grazing/pasture -48 Class 5s | Natural regeneration; optional forestry -6s Class _ | Not mapped in the study area. For other regions where moderately deep 1m- 6m |soils are common these classes will be mapped, but in most cases the recommended land use will be similar as for the deep soils, Particular recommendations for these classes can not be generalized or standardized. For gully erosion, stabilisation by measures such as low thomy shrubs and weeds with agave is recommended; around the gully as wall as on the slopes and in the bed. Bamboo checkdams are recommended in case of regressive erosion. Usually diversion drains will be required. Slope easing to 45 degrees is proposed but optional and only for irregular slopes. High vertical banks should not be reshaped. Runoff from the sub-watershed above the gully should be reduced by percolation ditches or contour bunds or afforestation. For over-arazed sheet eroded non cultivated areas, staggered short percolation ditches will increase infiltration and reduce runoff, but controlled grazing and fodder production on fallow land and plot boundaries or on contour bunds/grass strips for the dry season will indirectly be more beneficial. Version 2, March 1896 Final Report Page 20MYA/SSIOO5: Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAFI For severely sheet eroded non cultivated areas protection forest or natural regeneration will be the best remedy in theory, but in practice a village foresvwoodlot managed by the VFCC will be more effective as a re-greening action. Protection for several years and subsequent controlled grazing is a prerequisite. Water harvesting through staggered short percolation ditches will change the droughty soil climate. For small plots with the upper and lower boundary not on the contour, recommended contour bunds will create triangular parcels difficult to cultivate, Farmers will not cooperate. In such case, grass strips parallel to the plot boundary which are not on the contour are recommended to reduce runoff. Detail is given in Annex 7. 2.3.3 Survey and Map Compilation 2.3.3.1 Available Maps, Photography and Satellite Imagery At intervals of 20 to 30 years most aerial photography is updated in Myanmar. Most parts of the watersheds of the Three Critical Area project is covered by aerial photography of 1:25,000 scale of 1982 - 1987; (the extreme South around Mobye Lake is not covered) and the Kinda Pilot Project area is covered by 1:10,000 aerial photography of 1988. The TM satellite images have been acquired during the dry season of 1995 and therefore represent the most recent information available for this, particular mapping task. According to the ToR maps had to be produced at three scales i.e. for the entire Inle and Kinda watersheds at a scale of 1:50,000; for two Demonstration Areas at a scale of 1:10,000 and for detailed planning of a village at a scale of 1:5,000. Mapping would be done with the aid of Landsat TM images at a scale of 1:50,000, topographic maps at a scale of 1:63,360 and aerial photography at scales of 1:28,000, partly at scales of 1:10,000 and 1:50,000. The maps, including a report and management plans had to be prepared within a period of three months for the Kinda and Inle watersheds. Only one member of the assisting personnel was experienced in the use of aerial photography and mapping. There were no base maps and contour maps available for the 1:10,000 and 1:5,000 areas and the topographic maps were not at the same scale as the satellite images which made localisation on the satellite images difficult. Due to these constraints the maps which were compiled could still be improved by updating and some additional mapping, once the personnel is properly trained, when the GIS has been installed and when there are good base maps available. It was proposed to conduct the present survey prior to installation of the GIS in the conventional way but in fact is was less than conventional with much improvisation. Figure 1 shows available aerial photography (1:25,000 and 1:10,000 scale) and topographic map numbers covering Kinda and Inle watersheds. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 21MYAVSS/005, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Tet GAF aa 93-C7 1:63,360 Topographic Map Reference Number of 1:10,000 and 1:25,000 Aerial Photography with Reference to the Topographic Maps -D1T | 93-015 |) ea-Hs a Hi a Aerial Photography 1:10,000 Aerial Photography 1:25,000 Mintaingbin Demonstration Ares (gray shaded) Nyaungshwe Demonstration Area (gray shaded) Kyong Village Tract Kyaungshe Villag ao noe Figure 1: Availability of 1:10,000 and 1:25,000 aerial photography with reference to topographic maps, superimposed on the watershed boundaries of Kinda and Inle. Grey shaded are the locations of the Demonstration Areas. Furthermore, the location of the two villages Kyong and Kyaungshe is shown. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 22MYA/OS/O05 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 4: Main Text GAF| 2.3.3.2 Generation of Base Maps and Slope Class Maps Prior to mapping a layout diagram was prepared indicating all 1:63,360 topographic sheets and the eight satellite images. Due to their large overlap the images were cut to reduce their size, covering two to three toposheets each, a size still manageable for fieldwork. The boundaries where the images match were carefully determined coinciding where possible with the approximate boundaries of the toposheets. Several overlapping sheets were spread on a large table to determine the most suitable boundaries and demarcate these on adjacent maps. For later map generation in the GIS four pass points were demarcated near the comers of each satellite image and on the topographic maps. All available aerial photography was subsequently checked. One set of photographs for each toposheet. Due to limited time no flight strips were marked on the toposheets. The cartographers remarked that photographs could easily be found without flight plan. As appeared later this has caused much loss in time in search for particular photographs. For the two Demonstration Areas the 1:63,360 topographic maps were handed to the Survey Department (MoF) for photographic enlargement to 1:10,000 scale on film. For land classification a map of slope gradient classes is a basic requirement. The slope classes for the entire watersheds Inle and Kinda were determined manually on the 1:63,360 topomaps. Entities with uniform slope gradients were demarcated manually and classified with the aid of the slope analyses diagram in Annex 12 showing contour intervals and six slope classes. This exercise required 18 man-days. At a later stage the Client decided that no capability map was required at 150,000 scale. However, since the slope map was already compiled, it was decided to present this draft map for later training purposes and the future mapping work in other areas of the watershed. Slope classes for the 1:10,000 Demonstration Areas were determined by stereoscopic photo interpretation, mapping 6 slope classes with slopes of <5m, 5- 15m, 15-20m, 20-25m, 25-30m, >30m and coded on the map with numbers as classes 1 to 6. To familiarize himself with slope classes on the photography, the cartographer went one day in the field for the 1:25,000 photographs covering the Nyaungshwe Demonstration Area and one day to Mintaingbin covered by 1:10,000 photography. Typical slopes were measured in the field with an inclinometer. Slope class interpretation of the 1:25,000 for Nyaungshwe and the 1:10,000 photographs for Mintaingbin was the carried out and transferred manually to the base maps. Photo interpretation and transfer to the base maps required 15 man-days. Stereoscopic determination of slope classes is less accurate than the method by generating a DTM and slope map once the digital orthoimage module is used. To compute the differences in altitude for various points on the earth surface it is Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 23MYA/SS/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF necessary to calculate the parallax of this points in two images acquired with different viewing angles. The images can either be gathered by satellite sensors or aerial cameras, The ratio between basis and height of the image pair should as well exceed 0.5 to achieve an acceptable accuracy. In principle it is possible to use the overlapping zone of each kind of satellite data, but it is most appropriate to profit by the high ground resolution and the stereo capabilities of the SPOT system. In the case of aerial cameras exposing overlapping photographs parallaxes are caused by changing the camera position from one photograph to the next. Two methods have been implemented and trained: 1. DTM extraction from SPOT stereoscopic image data, and 2. DTM extraction from scanned stereoscopic aerial photography. 1. In comparison to aerial photographs the satellite data are gathered by a system which viewing condition in particular altitude and attitude parameters nearly remain constant. This parameters are recorded and can be extracted from the delivered data set. The lower ground resolution of the SPOT satellite data (SPOT Pan = 10 meter) determines the maximal accuracy in x and y coordinates and limits their application to a scale of 1:25000. The accuracy in z direction (altitude values) depends on the recor- ding conditions (viewing angels, basis/height ratio) the radiometric comparability of the two images and the accuracy of the ground control points (x,y,2). If the corresponding points are determined correctly in both images, the resulting altitude accuracy should be at least between 5 and 20 m. 2, __ In comparison to satellite data the aerial photographs are taken from a platform under permanent oscillating recording conditions. Beyond that the altitude and attitude parameters are normally not recorded. For the calculation of the mathematical model it is therefore absolutely necessary to keep to very accurate ground control points (x,y,2- coordinate) which should be well spread over both images. If the accuracy of the GCPs is not sufficient neither a good mathematical model nor a accurate epipolar projection can be established. If available maps cannot provide this accurate location and altitude information, the GCPs should be measured with the help of a Global Positioning System (GPS). If the Availabilty of usable GCPs can be guaranteed the accuracy in altitude to be expected should be below 5 meters. The from aerial photographs derived DEM's should be usable to a scale of 1:10,000 depending on the ground resolution, the recording parameters and the accuracy of the ground control points. Both methods yield detailed DTM information, which is subject to further slope processing before being used in the compilation of the capability maps. For the detailed village planning of Kyong the 16 inch/1 mile cadastral maps were manually copied and used as base maps. Compilation of the slope class map was carried out by stereo photo interpretation as in the same way as for the 1:10,000 maps and transferred manually to the base map. This exercise required 2 man-days contour map of the area was also generated by the Settlement and Land Records Department of the MoA. This map was however less accurate than the slope map based on photo interpretation, since it was generated with 1:25,000 photography. For the area around the village Kyaungshe a similar procedure was followed but as a basemap an enlargement of infrastructure and the drainage hydrographic system of Version 2, March 1956 Final Report Page 24| | MYA/93/005, Mapping and Land Use Pianning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF the 1:25,000 photography was used. Mapping at a scale of 1:25,000 is however not considered sufficiently accurate for a map of 1:5,000 and some detail was consequently not mappable. The exercise required 2 man-days. The interpreted elements and classes have been digitized manually and introduced in the GIS for further analysis and cartographic work. 2.3.3.3 Compilation of the Land Use Maps and Soil Information - Land Use Maps The process how the land use maps have to be generated in future does not differ basically from the method applied in this project. However, the preparation of satellite imagery is different. The digital satellite data will have to be georeferenced beforehand using the 1:63,360 scale topographic maps. This procedure has been trained extensively during the image processing training. After successful geocoding the relevant area covering the entire watershed will be displayed either colourplotted on paper or filmwritten to a laserfilm recorder and then displayed on photo paper as done in this. project. Filmwriting and hardcopy generation have to be sub-contracted to specialized service centers, since the establishment of such procedures in Myanmar cannot be recommended right now for economic reasons. The collection of field information and subsequent mapping, digitization and map generation using the available GIS equipment follows exactly the method applied in the project. For mapping the standard legend used by the FD (a short description is given in Annex 13) is used with some minor modifications (e.g. no crown density classes or heights of trees). These modifications are made since the objective of the study for watershed management is not on mapping forest types. Mapping focuses more on erosion and degradation. For all the watersheds vegetation maps have been produced recently by the FO with the aid of aerial photography. Mapping of land use with colour enhanced satellite images is an exercise requiring far less time then conventional photography mapping. Particularly the overall view of very large areas allows for efficient mapping. To certain extent mapping with the aid of satellite images is also more accurate. The distinctly red colour of forest allows very detailed mapping of this land use type. The almost white colour of severely sheet eroded areas (‘marginal lands’) show up clearly and is easy to map accurately. On the other hand, such forest characteristics as crown density and height do not show up clearly on satellite images and have therefore been ignored for the present land use survey. They are not relevant for the purpose of the study and complicate map reading and symbolisation. Mapping of land use on the satellite images will start with the preparation of an interpretation key. All different colours and pattems will be checked on a limited number of aerial photographs. In case also these photographs do not clearly indicate Version 2, March 1956 Final Report Page 25MYASS/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF the land use or vegetation, these sites will be visited for actual observation in the field, For the interpretation of satellite imagery it is of utmost importancy to incorporate local and regional context while interpreting. It is not only the colour defining a land use class. Especially for classes with a wide variety of appearances like scrublands and grasslands with or without shifting cultivation (or rotational farming) and/or sheet erosion this holds true. Patten, local and regional context have to be considered before delineating classes in order to avoid wrong interpretations. But even using all information (texture, pattem, context, and colour) it was not possible to map e.g. Horticulture accurately. The areas known from the field survey being covered with long term crops (two areas around Taungayi carrying fruit trees and one area East of Payagyion in Kinda watershed carrying tea) could not be clearly differentiated from scrublands. Therefore, they were mapped as scrubland which corresponds not only to the colour on the imagery but also to the height and density of plants growing. Interpretation was carried out on transparencies on top of the satellite Images. The used Landsat TM data sets were only system-corrected but not geo-referenced since there were no topographic maps available in Germany at the time of image processing, Therefore, geomettic rectification of the interpretations to the geometry of the topographic maps had to be done in the GIS using passpoints identifiable on the imagery and on the topographic maps. All interpreted units were manually digitized, labelled, and checked for digitization errors. The cutting of the 1:50,000 scaled land use maps was optimized to cover the entire watershed areas with a minimum number of single mapsheets. Furthermore, the size of the maps should not exceed 80x80cm to be still handable also in the field. Figure 2 shows the mapsheet references for the land use maps (Kinda and Inle watersheds) with reference to the topographic maps (1:63,360). Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 26MYA/S3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] Mapsheet Reference for 1 : 50,000 Land Use Maps ‘Superimposed on 1 : 63,360 Topographic Mapsheet Reference a + _ ; eye ie 1 Peale 2 B 3 } [1 _ Mapshest Reference of Topographic Maps 1: 63,360 [1_ Mapsheet Reference of Land Use Maps 1 : 50,000: INLE-Watershed (11_ Mapsheet Reference of Land Use Maps 1 : 50,000: KINDA-Watershed (The extentions of the topographic maps are defined in geographic coordinates; ‘map limits for the land use maps are defined in Indian GridIIIB coordinates, and therefore rectangular in shape) Figure 2: Mapsheet reference for 1:50,000 land use maps; superimposed on 1:63,360 topographic map reference. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 27MY AS37005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF The land use classes mapped are: hill forest hill forest affected by shifting cultivation and/or wood extraction riparian and spring forest mixed deciduous forest mixed deciduous forest with degraded canopy scrubland scrubland affected by sheet erosion scrubland affected by shifting cultivation scrubland affected by shifting cultivation and sheet erosion grassland grassland affected by sheet erosion grassland affected by shifting cultivation grassland affected by shifting cultivation and sheet erosion scrubland and grassland sorubland and grassland affected by sheet erosion agricultural land and fallow agricultural land and fallow affected by sheet erosion swamp floating gardens badland village waterbody © gullies (linear feature) Gullies as mapped on the land use maps 1:50,000 may be in some parts stabilized with vegetation cover. Since some of the very old gullies are reactivated and new ones developed all of them identifiable on the TM imagery were mapped. Gullies may have developed next to pre-existing river courses or even in river courses. This is partly a human induced so to speak “natural development" since river courses are the base for accumulation of sediments and surface runoff and partly due to geometric inaccuracies of the topographic maps the rivers were digitized from. Additional features digitized from the topographic maps (with all its geometric and thematic inaccuracies) for orientation on the prepared maps are: Rivers, railroads, roads, tracks, watershed boundaries and township boundaries. Names for villages, townships and rivers were also taken from the topographic maps. Since the topographic maps have been generated in the 1920's and revisions undertaken in the 1940's, some names and infrastructural features may be out-dated, but they are the only available spatial source for this kind of information. Furthermore, adjacent mapsheets sometimes have a different layout, naming conventions, hierarchical coding, and topologies, i.e. some rivers and roads simply disappear from one mapsheet to another, or are offsetted. The offsets were Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 28MYASSI005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text > GAR corrected interactively when possible while digitization, but names had to be taken from the maps as indicated. Also rivers and roads were taken as they are on the topographic maps. Especially roads and tracks are subject to have changed since compilation of the topographic maps they were taken from. This applies to the land use maps 1:50,000, the land use changes maps 1:100,000 and land capability maps 1:10,000. Figures 3 and 4 show the location and mapsheet references of the land use maps 1:50,000 for Inle and Kinda watersheds. For land use mapping in 1:10,000 and 1:5,000 scales aerial photography is used for stereoscopic interpretation. Since land use and soil information was assembled in parallel from aerial photography the procedure is described in the following sub- section ‘soil information’. Location Map Mapsheet Reference ( ag) £ Shan State Inle Watershed | Figure 3; Location and mapsheet reference of land use maps 1:50,000 for Inle watershed. Version 2, March 1956 Final Report Page 29MYA/S3I005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text z GAR Location Map Mapsheet Reference ‘Shan State Kinda Wotershed | A Figure 4: Location and mapsheet reference of land use maps 1:50,000 for Kinda watershed. - Soil Information For the 1:10,000 and 1:5,000 mapping, standard aerial photography is used for stereoscopic interpretation. During field checking not only land use is described but also slope and soil information for the capability map. This is done on the basis of data to be recorded according to form 'Site Description’ shown in Annex 14. This Annex also gives a detailed description of survey activities for field staff. Field work is carried out with the aid of pre-selected aerial photographs on which sites to visit are to be demarcated and with the 1:63,360 toposheets for localization. Observation density is highly variable according to the complexity of the soil and soil depth pattern. (For the present study these patterns are not complex and relatively few field observation have been required.) It is not possible to give a standard observation density. Boundaries of land use and vegetation of the 1:10,000 mapping should be transferred to the basemap by Bausch & Lomb Zoom Stereo Transfer Scope and digitized manually using the GIS equipment and the methods implemented during the GIS training. Land use was updated with recent information of the satellite images and by field observations. Photo interpretation for the two Demonstration Areas took § man-days and field checking 18 man-days. For the 1:5,000 detailed maps this was 4 man-days for photo interpretation and 12 man-days field work. During field checking not only Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 30MYAISSIO05 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR land use was described but also slope and soil information for the capability map. in many cases no soil augering was required, since it was clear from road cuttings, that the soils were deep. Field work was carried out with the aid of pre-selected aerial photographs on which sites to visit were demarcated and with the 1:63,360 toposheets for localization, When personnel with little experience is used for mapping and when also the soil pattern is more complex than in the areas mapped for the present study, then time required for mapping could easily be two times or three times more than the time of survey during this rushed contract mapping. For the 1:10,000 cartography the boundaries of land use and vegetation were manually transferred from the photography and digitized. 2.3.3.4 Compilation of Change Detection Maps ‘Change detection is a general term used in satellite image analysis. In the context of land use mapping and land use planning it means the delineation of spatial variations for important land use classes of an observed period of time. If land use mapping does provide a monotemporal, recent view on the land conditions only, change classes refer to a change from one land use class to a new one. This gives the unique possibility to obtain spatially correct statistics of degradation features and improvements occurted through the past. This technique can only be applied as far as back as the availability of old, so called ‘historical’ satellite images. In case of Landsat MSS (the first operational earth observation system) it can theoretically reach as far back as 1972. Changes before that data must be derived from aerial photographs which induce a different working procedure. It shall be mentioned that certain restrictions apply to a change detection based on two different satellite sensors as used in this exercise. Landsat TM allows much more precise mapping compared to the historical Landsat MSS having a lower spatial and radiometric resolution. However, no TM data are available before 1984 and analysing even two different sensor data, the change trends in the critical land use classes can still be precisely determined. The mapping procedure for change detection as used classically shall be described shortly: For the first step both digital image data sets shall be selected in the catalogues of the data providers. Both shall be cloudfree (or cloudfree in the important areas) and preferably acquired in the same season. The data will be purchased and ingested into a digital image processing system. The most recent (and more precise) data set will be rectified and geo-referenced using topographic maps at the most detailed scale available, e.g. 1:63,360 or GPS measurements. The historical data set will be subsequently image-to-image registered on the recent data set. Both images do now have a common map geometry. A low Root-Mean-Square (RMS) error between both data sets is of utmost importance for the quality of the change information later on. The images will be transformed to analogue material (photos, high-quality paper plots) using a contract enhancement procedure for the bands which separate land Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 31MYAI93/005, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF classes best. For TM bands 2,3,4 or 3,5,4 in the order blue,green,red are standard. If TM bands are hazy a 7,5,4 combination can be more advantageous. For MSS scenes a 1,2,4 band combination is regarded standard. Based on the analogue imagery which shall be preferably displayed at 1:100,000 scale for larger watersheds, the interpretation of land use classes starts. In cases of smaller watersheds 1:50,000 may be used also. If the recent land use is already interpreted, a reduction of classes may be considered. All important classes must be analysed using identical criteria, as far as possible. Onee the image interpretation has been performed on transparent overlays, all information will be digitized along with passpoints for geometric adjustment. The following step consist of an overlay analysis for all classes. Typically geometric problems which occur even with excellently georeferenced data sets, will appear in form of ‘slivers’ resulting from slight over- or undershoots of identical geometries. These problems shall be eradicated within the GIS if they are only few and small in size. In case of omnipresent problems, an overlay of the two interpretation transparencies and a manual shifting and interpretation is recommended. Altematively, the interpretation of the historic images can be performed on transparencies showing the boundaries of the recent land use classes and only areas are delineated where changes occurred. However, after having executed the correction of geometric problems such change combinations shall be selected for further cartographic work which display the important trends in land use development (e.g. hill forest changed to degraded forest). For the change detection conducted in the scope of this project interpretations of recent and historic land use had to be done on non-georeferenced hardcopies. The used Landsat MSS and TM data sets were only system-corrected but not geo- referenced since there were no topographic maps available in Germany at the time of image processing, Therefore, geometric rectification of both interpretations to the geometry of the topographic maps had to be done in the GIS. The eradication of ‘sliver polygons’ was done interactively and interpretation results checked twice (forward and backward between TM and MSS). An overview of the procedure is depicted in Figure 5. The classes mapped in the change detection had to reduced to a 4x4 matrix due to two reasons: 1. the interpretability of certain classes in the MSS data set and 2. the clarity of the maps. The interpretability of shifting cultivation combined with scrubland was sometimes good and sometimes very vague in the MSS imagery. Furthermore, it was not possible to verify this category in the field. It was decided not to map shifting cultivation in combination with scrubland. Also grassland and scrubland could not be clearly differentiated over the entire catchment areas. Both are not critical classes from the watershed management point of view (both keep the soil usually under good cover and protect against rain-drop energy). Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 52IMYAIOSIO0S Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text "GAR, Work Flow for Change Detection in Land Use (Using Landsat MSS and ‘TM Data) ¥ acquisition of data (Historic and recent) Interpretation of historic imagery ¥ ¥ rectification of recent data (image-to-map) field check / cross check with Interpretation of recent data + + digitization of interpretation rectification of historic data, (image-to-image or image-to-map) ¥ ¥ check for interpretation- and digitization errors digital image processing for band selection and optimal stretch (both data sets) | J overlay of data layers in GIS (historic and recent land use) production of enlargements J ¥ interpretation of recent imagery| correction of slivering polygons, (rubber sheeting) | ¥ field check / verification digitization of additional information necessary for map layout ¥ digitization of interpretation | | check for interpretation- and digitization errors production of maps and spatial statistics | Figure 5: Work flow for change detection. generation of report Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 33, boo(MYAIOSI005. Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAE The 4x4 matrix applied for the detection of land use changes include the following classes: hill forest (including riparian, spring and mixed deciduous forest); hill forest affected by shitting cultivation and/or wood extraction; scrubland or grassland (including areas with shifting cultivation); agricultural land and fallow. In the plotted maps additionally information from the interpretation of the Landsat TM data was added (assuming that their extend did not change). The classes included are: Floating gardens, swamps, waterbodies, and villages. Linear features digitized from the topographic maps ‘are: Rivers, railroads, roads, tracks, watershed boundaries and township boundaries. Names for villages, townships and rivers were also taken from the topographic maps. The areas of Kinda and Phugyi watersheds fits on one map at a scale of 1:100,000. For Phugyi watershed actual land use and changes were combined in one single plot. For Inle watershed extending down to Mobye Lake two maps had to be produced. An overview of the location and mapsheet reference for Inle watershed is given in Figure 6. The Tables in Annex 15 gives the spatial statistics for changes in Inle and Kinda watersheds. Location Map Mapsheet Reference ‘Shan State \ eae A Figure 6: _ Mapsheet reference for Map of Land Use Changes 1:100,000 between 1973/75 and 1995 for Inle Watershed. Version2, March 1986 Final Report Page 34[MYA/S3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] 2.3.3.5 Compilation of Land Capability Maps - General Land Capability Classification Principles The land capability classification will be the basis to decide which is the most intensive form of sustained land use without the risk of soil erosion, and which are the necessary protection measures. This type of classification should not be considered as a suitability classification which gives a productivity rating. For land capability classification only safe land use and erosion control are relevant and not production. A modified version of the Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Classification of Sheng will be applied (Sheng, 1990). Modifications are in the number of depth classes and for the slope class 1 which goes up to 8% in stead of 12%. The system is the most practical and easy to use method of classification. The criteria required are the slope gradient, the soil depth and the soil type. For 1:10,000 mapping of slope and depth determine the land class. For 1:5,000 mapping, slope, depth as well as soil type will be considered. Only soils with unfavourable characteristics which will change land use will be mapped such as rocky, sandy, or wet soils. They will be demarcated and symbolized with a suffix e.g. rfor rocky, ffor very low fertility. The recommended safe land use will then be adjusted accordingly. For such soils there is no standard recommendation. (Example a class {sr is flat land but with shallow soil and rocky; land use is very restricted), More detail is given in the following section. For all levels of mapping actual erosion will always be taken into account. Erosion will be mapped with a signature over the land class symbol of small dots for severe sheet erosion and large dots for badlands. An additional suffix such as ‘e' can also be used, but will never replace the dotted signature on the map, since this focuses attention on eroded areas. The classification is depicted below. gently mod. strong | verystrong| steep sloping | sloping | sloping | sloping <5° 5-15° 15-20° 20-25° 25-30° <8% 827% | 27-36% | 36-47% | 47-56% depth deep>90cm 1 2 3 4 5 mod. deep im 2m 3m 4m 5m 30-90cm shallow 1s 2s 3s 4s 5s <30.cm Table 1: Land Capability Classification. Since no ‘moderate deep soils, 30-90cm’ occur in the Demonstration Areas, this category is not shown on the maps. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 35(MYAI@SI005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF + Selection of the Demonstration Areas for 1 : 10,000 Scale Mapping One of the Demonstration Areas had been selected prior to the survey. It was the Southem half of the Kinda Pilot Project selected because the area has been the center of watershed planning since the project started. The area will be referred to as the Mintaingbin Demonstration Area and is 203.94km? in extent. A second Demonstration Area for the Inle watershed was selected around the Northem part of the lake. It will be referred to as the Nyaungshwe Demonstration Area and is 296.31km® in extent (see Figure 1). The selection was done by the project staff and the consultant. Due to time restriction it was not possible to select this area as it should, with representatives of agencies concemed with planning of the watershed and on the basis of the 1:50,000 watershed maps. These were not yet compiled at this stage and enlarging of the base map of the 1:10,000 Demonstration Areas had to be carried out to start mapping timely. Criteria for selection were: inclusion of all types of land use and flat as well as mountainous terrain; inclusion of eroded terrain; medium population density; good access since time for the survey is very restricted; close proximity to the lake; availability of photographs. The description of the socio-economic conditions in the survey area (see section 3.1.3 and 3.2.3) is based on interviews with Township Law and Order Restoration Committee (T/LORC) Members and representatives of the various goverment line agencies as well as on data provided by them collected in 1994 (Bechstedt, 1995). For the analysis of the two Demonstration Areas Mintaingbin and Nyaungshwe (section 4.1.4 and 4.2.4) various information sources have been used, among them: * reports and other secondary sources; * discussions with Township/LORC officials, with representatives of relevant Government line agencies, such as MAS, Forestry and Livestock Department, with members of the local Township Assistant Units (UNDP, HDI Programme) and local Project Staff Members in Ywangan and Nyaungshwe Town and at Mintaingbin and Aungban Forestry Base Camy * field visits to altogether 11 villages and application of ‘Questionnaire for Baseline Survey’ (Annex 16): Kinda Watershed: Inle Watershe Payagyikon Village Sebyu Village Myinkyado Village Tilaw Sakham Gyi Village Alegyaung Village Taungbogyi Village Lu Village Kandaw Village Mepyo Village Taungbogyi Village Yeipe Village Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 36MYAIB37005, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| The villages were selected on the basis of the present stage of land degradation mapped as erosion (see section 2.3.1). Due to lack of time no needs assessment and no analysis of farmers’ willingness to co-operate with the project could be conducted beforehand. Likewise, no sampling or ranking along socio-economic criteria had been carried out. 2.3.3.6 Generation of Land Use Adjustment Map According to the ToR no land use adjustment maps had to be prepared in the scope of this contract. Nevertheless, land use adjustment maps should be prepared in the land use planning process to identify land which is seriously over-used or degraded according to the capability identified. Therefore, the generation of land use adjustment maps is described in the following and a figure presented to give an overview of the procedure (Figure 7). The Land Use Adjustment Map will be produced for 1:10,000 mapping only, For detailed mapping at 1:5,000 scale this map is not required, The to be adjusted form of land use will be given in legend to the Land Capability Map, which is called ‘Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Map. The land use adjustment map will be generated through overlay of the present land use map and the land capability map. Land which is seriously over-used or degraded should receive immediate attention; land which is under used according to its potential could be used more intensively. Land which is used according to its potential, but which is in need of conservation measures will also be demarcated on the map. The system of Sheng (Sheng, 1990) recognizes the following classes: Wt land use within capability but in need of conservation treatment; w land use within capability; no soil conservation treatment required; o+ seriously over-used; ° over-used; u+ —_under-used public lands which can be adjusted for better use; u under-used. The following Table 2 shows the key to determine the required adjustments of land use. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page a7MYA/S3/005, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| 2 3 4 5 6 1s-4s | 5s-6s Sc_Sh w We we w+ ° OF oF O+ Se_Gr u u u w w ° w w Gr u u u we ° w w Gr_Sh u u u we ° w w At we w+ we w+ ° O+ OF O+ Erosion OF O+ OF O+ OF O+ o+ OF Table 2: Key to land use adjustment. (Land use: H: Hill forest; H_Sh: Hill forest affected by shifting cultivation; D: Mixed deciduous forest; Sc: Scrubland; Sc_Sh: Scrubland affected by shifting cultivation; Sc_Gr: Scrubland and Grassland; Gr_Sh: Grassland affected by shifting cultivation; Af: Agricultural land and fallow. Land classes are described in section 2.3.2.) With the information layers ‘recent land use’ and ‘land capability’ an overlay analysis can be performed in the GIS. A matrix for the combined information (Table 2) can be defined and an additional item introduced into the digital database. With this information Land Use Adjustment Maps can be produced and statistics generated. Figure 7 on the following page shows the generalized work flow to generate Land Capability and Land Use Adjustment Maps. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 38MYAIS3/005 = Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume t: Main Text ia GAR Generalized work flow for land capability mapping and land | use adjustment plans [ere ery generation of ® Gis overlay @ slope maps operations | | : Gorrection of mapping of actual | atwvering polygons | © (rubber sheeting) | | mapping of oa Gis analysis tor |@ soil depth land capability | I mapping of @ ais anatyeistor “1 @ olhypes | jaesae-aejostinoris data entry in digitization of additional He @ information ormap | ‘avout l | cock for ; interpretation an | @ generation ot maps | @ digitization errors end epetet ee @ = done parailel in the field (including generation of a base map) ® @ = done sequentiely in Munich at GAF headquarters 1 GIS analysis includes definition of parameters for proper land use to identify critical areas where adjustments are necessary. This is usuaily done applying a decision matrix (Table 2). @ _ ot relevant according tothe ToFl for mapping at 110,000 scale: land use adjustment recommendations are given ion the Treatment Oriented Land Capability Plans. Figure 7: Generalized work flow for land capability mapping and land use adjustment plans. Version 2, March 1896 Final Report Page 39[MYA/93/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR 2.3.3.7 Compilation of the Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Map For the detailed 1:5,000 scale village map which will be the basis of physical planning, much more data will be given then for the Land Capability Map at 1:10,000 scale. At 1:5,000 scale all three maps i.e. land use map, land capability map and land use adjustment map, are presented as one map, the Treatment-Oriented Land Capability Map. This map will also give the safe land use recommendation for each mapping unit. In principle the mapping units have a land class symbol as described in the table above: class 1,2,3 or 1s, 2s etc. Then an additional suffix symbol is given for soils which deviate’ from then general soil pattern, and a fourth suffix symbol to differentiate further if necessary. For each unit the symbol is always explained in the legend. Two examples will clarify the symbol: + class 2sr 1 is land sloping 5-15 degrees, shallow soil, rocky, and in this case the last suffix 1 means private ownership; * class 2sr 2 is land sloping 5-15 degrees, shallow soil, rocky and in this case the last suffix 2 means communal land. The last suffix can also be used for a difference in land use i.e. the same soil under forest (1) or grazing (2). Each mapping compartment is not unique. Certain common units like for example class 1 for flat land, will occur many times on the map, when the physical features and the safe land use recommendations are the same. Transfer from the 1:10,000 enlarged photographs to the basemap will be done by Stereo Zoom Transfer Scope. The following information will be given for each unit: + slope, soil depth when not deep, type of soil when deviating from normal pattem e.g. erosion, rock, sand; present land use and ownership when not privately owned; recommendation are given according to the Framework for safe land use described in section 2.3.2 with several options for the farmer to chose from and with special recommendations for particular cases such as severe gully erosion. For such particular cases the proposal has already been discussed with the ‘community involved and is in most cases based on recommendations of this ‘community; + a priority rating; high, moderately high, moderate and low. The digitizing of the land capability maps is necessary only for the production- process applied in this project. It follows the principles already described. For the future procedure it will not be necessary, because the input data have been already digitized and the overlay analysis will substitute the manual procedure. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 40MYA/3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR Since there are no topographic maps at a scale of 1:10,000 or 1:5,000 available, GPS measurements for geomettic rectification was necessary for the present survey and will be necessary for the future work at these scales. - Selection of Villages for 1 ; 5,000 Scale Mapping The selection of the village for detailed planning at a scale of 1: done prior to the study due to restricted survey time. The village was therefore not situated in one of the Demonstration Areas which had not yet been selected. The village had been selected on the basis of need assessment and demonstration value; the population was very cooperative and eager to participate in watershed protection. Moreover it is located in a good demonstration location where traffic from three directions meet, It is called Kyong and is 1804,7tha in extent (administrative boundary). The boundary of the village was demarcated with the aid of cadastral maps of 16 inch /mile obtained from the Settlement and Land Records Department in Pindaya. In an advanced stage of the study the consultant was informed that according to the contract the village should be situated in one of the 1:10,000 Demonstration Areas. Consequently the consultant proposed to map a second area at a scale of 1:5,000. A micro-catchment surrounding the village Kyaungshe in the Nyaungshwe Demonstration Area was selected. The selection was primarily based on the fact that this area is known for its rotational farming on very steep slopes. Other factors determining selection of this area where: * many sub-catchments start from this very elevated surrounding; the mountain range is the immediate catchment of the Inle Lake; the S/LORC have laid down a policy of Long Term Maintenance and Greening of Inle Lake in 1992; + living conditions are very hard; the population is poor and there is an acute water shortage. The socio-economic and environmental data for the treatment-oriented land capability planning in Kyong and Kyaungshe Village, selected by the Project on the basis of previous activities and the area’s demonstration value, were put together as a result of: ‘+ baseline survey, needs assessment and a Village Resource Development Plan (in the case of Kyaungshe Village), conducted in November 1994; ‘application of the ‘Questionnaire for Baseline Survey’; * extensive talks with farmer's leaders and the village community (village meetings) about the necessity and acceptance of land, water and forest conservation measures; * visit together with farmer leaders of areas most critical in terms of soil erosion, overgrazing, and forest destruction as well as of demonstration plots in the ‘community's surrounding. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 41MYA/SS/O05. ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR] 3. LAND USE MAPPING AT WATERSHED LEVEL Based on the satellite images, a present land use map has been compiled of the survey area, The map is presented at a scale of 1:50,000. Apart from land use, the map also shows areas affected by erosion (gullies and badlands). According to Sheng (1990) “a watershed is a topological delineated area that is drained by a stream system, ie. the total land area that is drained to some point on a stream or river. A watershed is a hydrological that has been described and used as a physical-biological unit and also, on many occasions, as a socio-economic-poltical unit for planning and management of natural resources. Catchment is often used as a synonym for watershed. There is no definite size for a watershed; it may be as large as several thousand square kilometres os as small as only a few square kilometres" (Sheng, 1990: 3). The survey area comprises the three watersheds Kinda, Inle and Phugyi. For this study Inle watershed is defined down to Mobye dam. They will be described separately. After general description of each watershed, a description of individual land systems in each watershed is given, except for the very small catchment of the Phugyi reservoir. These land systems have been distinguished to give a clear overall view of the watersheds. A land system is an area of land with a recurring pattem of landforms, soils and vegetation and having a uniform climate. The description of land systems is given in section 3.1.4 and 3.2.4. The map is depicted in Figure 8 and Table 9 lists the extents of each unit. Recommendations conceming management based on biophysical conditions are given for each land system, and a summary of these recommendations is given in section 3.1.5 and 3. “To make use of limited manpower, resources and time, watershed survey and planning should be carried out in as practical a manner as possible. Surveys should be oriented towards identifying main objectives and major problems, and plans and recommendadtions should be centered on solving or alleviating these problems, although the overall potential of the watershed should not be neglected." (Sheng 1990: 7) The emphasis of this study is on grassroot level activities and not on management of extensive areas. Therefore the recommendations for the entire catchments, for which according to the revised ToR only a vegetation cartography was required, have been held brief. They mainly constitute a priority rating for further action required to ensure ‘sustained land use. Furthermore, the results of the change detection are described and analyzed for the land systems. The maps are presented at a scale of 1:100,000. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 42MYABSIOOS ‘Mapping and Land Use Pianni folume 4: Main Text GAF Figure 8 Land Systems of Kinda and Inle Watersheds Legend Land Systems Kinda Watershed: PALAUNG RIDGE ‘YWANGAN PLATEAU IB Kina wountains. Inle Watershed: [ HeHo Basin TB kataw sour MOUNTAINS [Bo KYAUKTHALON RIDGE LONPO PLAIN MOBYE VALLEY NYAUNGSHWE VALLEY PINLAUNG RIDGE TAUNGGY! RDGE ‘TAUNGLAYLON RIDGE ‘THAMAKAN PLAIN, THIKHAUNG RIDGE Mapr Cities HB Wistorbodios 200000 70000 __40030_60000 Yards Map of land systems for Kinda and Inle watersheds. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 43MY AS37005. ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR 34 (inda Watershed 344 Location, Physiography and Climate The Kinda Watershed is located between 20:30'-21"18'N and 96°14'-96°50'E. The total watershed is 2251.5km® in extent, It owes its landform with NNW-SSE striking ridges to faulting, It comprises a very extensive relatively low-lying mountainous area in the West and South-West, a smaller plateau with undulating to rolling topography in the East at an elevation of about 1100m a.s.l. and a mountain range in the extreme East which rises up to 2200m a.s.l. The geology comprises mostly Upper Palaeozoic Plateau Limestone. Ordovician limestone, shales, mudstone and mari form the mountains in the East, while the extreme North-East comprises sandstone and quartzite of the Molohein Group. Rock outcrops in the mountains indicate past cycles of natural erosion. The soils are very uniform throughout the catchment. They are deep red brown loams and clay loams with high structural stability, but low fertility. Having a pH of 6-7 these soils do not require liming, According to the FAO classification they are Acrisols. Almost the entire mountainous area in the South-East is occupied by forest reserves with mixed deciduous forest; in places the forest is degraded to scrubland. The undulating to rolling plateau is mostly cultivated, while the mountains in the East are occupied by scrubland and grassland and towards the North by Hill Forest disturbed by rotational farming and shifting cultivation, The rainy season lasts from the middle of April to the middle of November. Mean rainfall data from 1988 - 1991 for Mintaingbin in mm are: [JTFIMTA TMT STSTATS TON] DY tot 2] 6 | 100 | 296 [315 [287 | 330 | 237 | 194 | 118 | 36 | 1924 Table 3: Mean monthly rainfall data for Mintaingbin (mm]; 1988 - 1991 Mean annual potential evapotranspiration (potET) is 1036 mm. Assuming the growing period to be the months that rainfall exceeds 0.5 potET, the growing period lasts 9 months from April to December. JtFI]MIlTA[TM] J] s).,ATS )]O)]N]D [is | i6 | 20 | 22 | 22 [ 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 18 | to Table 4; Mean monthly temperature data for Mintaingbin [°C]; 1989 - 1990. The climate is subtropical. Mean maximum temperatures are 29°C and mean minimum 7°C. The temperatures are suitable for most tropical crops, although frosts ‘occur during the months December and January. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 44(MYAISS/005. ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF Reduced radiation resulting from almost continual cloud cover in June, July and August will restrict growth of crops. More detail on radiation is given in section’3.2.1. More data on maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall and evapotranspiration are given in Annex 17, More climatic and hydrologic data can be found in the consultant report of Mr. Robert de Chancenotte. Furthermore this report should provide data on surface runoff and erosion. Since the report of Mr. Chancenotte was not available at the time this report was compiled, his data could not be incorporated and used here as it was planned and promised by Mr. Chancenotte. 3.1.2 Land Degradation and Erosion Environmentally the Kinda Watershed is relatively stable. The forest cover in the Westem forest reserves provides adequate protection against erosion and transport of sediment to the Kinda Lake. Also the well grassed mountains in the East are sufficiently stable with a soil loss within the tolerable limits. Data on a project runoff plot in Taungmyintgyi on a slope of 60% (81m) show in 1991, a year with 200mm rainfall, the following soil loss: Vegetation scrubland/grassland: 7.5 tonnes/ha Tea plantation, clean weeded: 32 tonnes/ha The soil loss on the grassland plot is within sustainable limits but in the clean weeded tea, loss is three times the tolerable quantity, and clearly indicates that annual cropping or plantations without adequate soil cover have a very high erosion hazard on very steep slopes. Rotational farming systems in the mountains are not sustainable. Loss of topsoil will reduce organic matter content and thus the fertility and the capacity to hold nutrients. In the long term it will also endanger the Kinda Lake through siltation. To some extent also all arable land of undulating to rolling topography Is subject to soll loss through sheet and rill erosion. Farmers notice the decline in fertility due to loss of topsoil. Concerning some quantitative statements on erosion, section 3.2.2 for Inle Watershed will show more data. 3.1.3 Socio-economic Conditions Kinda watershed is covered by Ywangan, Thazi, Pindaya and Kalaw townships. From the total area of 2251.5 km? Ywangan covers 1106.7 km?, Thazi 927.5 km?, Pindaya 21.1 km? and Kalaw 196.2 km?, Since Pindaya (0.9%) and Kalaw (8.7%) townships cover only minor areas and Thazi (41.2%) township is mainly covered by mixed deciduous forest, Ywangan (49.1%) is the most important township with approximately 90% of the population living in Kinda watershed. It is said to be the most backward Township in Taunggyi Division, has a total population of 53,560 (27,218 men, 26,342 women), living in 28 village tracts, 125 villages and 10,189 Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 45MYA/93/005. ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF| households (5.3 persons per household). 89% of Ywangan Township's population are ethnic Dhanu, 9% Pa-O, and the remaining 2%s are Shan, Burmese, Palaung and Taungyoe people. The average size of a holding is 3 acre per family. Landlessness and tenancy are not widespread. The yield of paddy in the lowlands goes up to 52 baskets per acre, if high-yield varieties are used and fertilizer applied. Average yield for lowland paddy is 40 baskets per acre. Upland paddy achieves 37-38 baskets per acre for improved varieties, 30-35 baskets per acre for traditional varieties. Upland paddy cultivated through slash-and-bum practices has an average yield of 20 baskets per acre. Farmers are obliged to contribute 1 basket of either lowland or upland paddy per acre to the Government. The Government pays 70 Kyats per basket of paddy, while the farmers receive 230 Kyats for the same amount at the market. Thus, in the eyes of many farmers cash crop production is more lucrative than growing paddy. Most families suffer from rice shortage. Surplus paddy can be produced in only two small areas in the North-West and South-West of the Township along river banks. Main crops grown beside paddy are wheat, maize, peanut, potato, soya bean, rice bean, niger, various vegetables, sugar-cane, chicken pea, orange, coffee and tea. Ywangan in recent years, before the Govemment-sponsored eradication programmes started, was a region notorious for its poppy production. Major socio-economic problems, according to the T/LORC are: (1.) Rice deficiency, particularly among the upland population, (2.) lack of health facilities, with malaria, goitre (due to iodine insufficiencies) and dysentery as the main diseases, (3.) lack of proper educational facilities and difficult road conditions, again particularly for the upland people, who live in remote areas far away from the valley's main all weather road connecting Aungban with Mandalay. The major socio-economic problems of the Project area in Kinda Watershed region can be summarized as follows: * Although people from ethnic Dhanu and Pa-O who are living mostly in the lower upland areas, appear to be slightly better off than the Palaung and Taungyoe people in the in the more remote uplands, all four groups can be considered as living at subsistence level with only a few families able to produce enough rice for home consumption. + With the nearly total removal of the forest cover on the Ywangan Plateau (see section 3.1.4.1) and its adverse effects to the water cycle, people have to go longer distances year after year to fetch water and fuelwood. Moreover, forest products which in the past constituted a considerable part of the household's subsistence production are no longer available. ‘+ Due to a poor road system, accessibility for basic social services regarding health and education and access to market facilities are difficult. * Although farmers grow a wide range of upland cash and plantation crops, they lack the capital for further investments in crop and livestock production. * Many young girls are prevented from attending school regularly to reach at least primary level education. Eventually, their drop-out rate is fairly high in primary and middle school. Version 2, March 1896 Finai Report Page 46MYA/83/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF 3.1.4 Land Systems and Management Recommendations 31.441 Ywangan Plateau This plateau is located in the North-East of the Kinda Watershed at an altitude of about 1100m a. It is 321.0km? (14.2%) in extent and has an undulating to rolling topography. It is typified by scattered hillocks, isolated, low but steep limestone hills. The dominant part of the plateau is cultivated: 61.5% permanent agriculture and 11.3% scrubland with shifting cultivation or rotational farming. The hillocks are vegetated with grass. Typical of the Kinda villages is the tree growth which is more abundant than in villages in the Inle Watershed; this shows up very distinctly on the satellite images. Also narrow strips of riparian forests is a typical phenomenon on the plateau (5.7km?, see Annex 1 and associated land use maps 1:50,000). The environment on the Ywangan Plateau is relatively stable. There are very few gullies; all waterways are stable and vegetated. A very large gully 12km North of Ywangan has been stabilized spontaneously by dense vegetation, after the local villagers constructed a diversion ditch near its head, when a road was endangered. The success of this effort should be studied an example how to stabilize similar large gullies in the Inle Watershed, Sheet erosion takes place on all cultivated lands with rolling topography, Rill erosion is also common when the soil is exposed after ploughing, but soil losses and transport of sediment to the Kinda lake are stil within acceptable limits. ‘The plateau is an area which requires corrective measures in order to prevent human induced acceleration of erosion which could endanger the Kinda reservoir with siltation ‘on the long term. But it is not a priority area for implementation. 3.1.4.2 Kinda Mountains The land system referred to as the Kinda mountains constitutes an extensive area of 1726.7km2 (76.7% of the entire watershed area). It is typified by NNW-SSE striking mountain ridges. Only minor valleys have gently sloping gradients. It is located below the Ywangan Plateau, in the South and in the West of the watershed. The altitude is 600m a.s.l. in the East and about 300m a.s.|. near Kinda lake in the West. The Panlaung Chaung is the main river. It flows in Northem direction to the Kinda Lake. Almost the whole mountainous area is forest reserve, The dominant part is occupied by dry deciduous forest, sometimes in mosaic with moist deciduous forest occupying the valleys (49.4% of the land system). In some places the forest has been degraded to scrubland by cultivation in the past (7.1%, 169.2km?). Some of the valleys are presently cultivated. 158.9km? (9.2%) is still covered by hill forest and 164.2km? (9.5%) are hill forests affected by shifting cultivation/rotational farming. The Kinda lake covers 19.4kim? (0.9% of the entire watershed area). Only 2.3% of the land system is used as agricultural land. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 47MYA/S3/005 Mapping and Land Use Pianning: Volume 1; Main Text GAR Since the area is a forest reserve, no particular recommendations conceming management are required. Only mixed deciduous forests with degraded canopy (99.8km?, 5.8%), due to wood extraction/logging, should be monitored for the risk of erosion caused by the removed protective coverage of the soil. This holds specially true for steeper slopes. 3.1.4.3 Palaung Ridge The mountain range referred to as Palaung Ridge occupies 203.8km? (9.1%) along the North Easter fringe of the Kinda Watershed. The summits reach an altitude of 2200m a.s.|. The Southem part is characterized by Karst features in highly soluble limestone. Most of the streams here end in sink holes. The vegetation is mostly hill forest often disturbed by shifting cultivation and rotational farming (18.1% hill forest, 61.3% hill forest affected by shifting cultivation). Since there is no gully formation on the land below the Palaung range, the grassland and scrubland vegetation appears to give sufficient protection against high runoff and erosion, No priority measures are foreseen for this area. Improved natural regeneration of the mountain scrubland and grassland would enhance the hydrological regime. 315 Summary of Management Recommendations At present the forest cover in the mountainous areas gives adequate protection against erosion. Also the good grass cover in scrubland and grassland ensures a sufficiently stable environment. However, natural regeneration of the forest cover of the present scrub and grasslands will improve the hydrological regime, and is recommended as a long term measure. This also applies to the steep cultivated land in the mountainous areas Where in due course annual cropping will have to be changed to agroforestry farming systems. Measures to reduce further extraction of firewood from forest remnants will be proposed for the Demonstration Area Mintaingbin in section 4.1.5. For the cultivated lands on the Ywangan Plateau standard erosion control measures are foreseen to prevent acceleration of sheet erosion, but the required measures do not have priority. ‘The analysis of land use changes shows that only minor changes have taken place. For example just 2.2% (50,1km?) of the entire watershed have been changed from pure hill forest to hill forest disturbed by shifting cultivation and rotational farming or been degraded by wood extraction. 2.4% of the hill forest of Kinda Mountains degraded to scrubland over the observed period from 1973 to 1995, and 19.4km? of hill forest was flooded as Kinda dam was built. Furthermore, 4.6% of the entire area was transformed from hill forest with shifting cuttivation/rotational farming to scrubland and/or grassland. Only 6.7km? of hill forest affected by shiftings cultivation and 8.7km? of scrubland were changed to permanent agriculture. This figures show that population pressure is concentrated on the already cultivated lands which are usually the more or Version 2, March 1986 Final Report Page 48IMYA/S3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF less flat regions (Ywangan Plateau). In Kinda Mountains even 16.6km2 (0.7%) of hill forest were abandonned from shifting cultivation. 3.2 Inle Watershed 3.2.1 Location, Physiography and Climate The Inle Watershed is located between 20°50-21°15'N and 96°45'-97°05' an area of 5618.5km?. The watershed owes its landform to tectonic acti comprises a series of structurally controlled North-South striking ridges and altemate valleys. The ridges reach altitudes of 1600-1800m a.s.l, and the altitude of the valleys is around 1800-1350m a.s.l. with the exception of the valley in which the Inle and Mobye Lakes are situated and which are much lower, with an altitude of 900m a.s.|. The valleys are mostly flat, but many of the valleys also have an undulating to rolling topography. The valleys with flat to gentle slopes are cultivated and often also irrigated. The areas with more rolling topography are mostly grassland The mountain ranges have a vegetation which mostly consists of scrubland, Grassland is less common. At higher altitudes and along steams in the mountains hill forest occurs. All these vegetation types are in places disturbed by rotational farming. The geology comprises mostly Upper Palaeozoic Plateau Limestone. Ordovician limestone, shales, mudstone and marl forms the solid geology of some of the mountain ranges in'the North. Rock outcrops in the mountains indicate past cycles of natural erosion. The soils are very uniform throughout the catchment. They are deep red brown loams and clay loams with high structural stability, but low fertility. According to the FAO classification they are Acrisols. In many of the valleys the colour is dark grey brown with mottles in the subsoil indicating a periodic water table. The pH is 6-7. Rainfall in the valleys is much lower than for mountainous areas. This is clear when rainfall figures for Aungban are compared with those of the Kinda Watershed. Although the rainfall is less and the growing period shorter, the climate is still sub-humid. 11 year mean rainfall data (mm) for Aungban are: fe{tmM~tatTw{y [su Tats Tot n To | Tot Lo [2 [is [31 | ios | 122 [94 [221 [ies [219 [26 [3 [1029 Table 5: 11 year mean monthly rainfall data (mm] for Aungban. (435 [15.0 [79.0 [24.0 Table 6: Mean monthly temperature data over 5 year period for Aungban [°C]. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 49MYA/SSI005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| The climate is tropical to subtropical. For Heho maximum temperatures are 31°C and the minimum 4°C, The temperatures drop marginally below the critical mean daily figure of 15°C which is the level that tropical crops stop growing. Frosts occur during the months December and January. Data on sunshine duration are given in the Table below. It should be considered that figures in the valleys, like Heho, will compare favourably with the mountains where cloud cover is generally greater. Month 1991 1992 | 1993 | 1904 | 1995 | Mean van. [2970 [2800 [2740 [aio |s0a0 | esa2 Feb. 282.1 280.0 272.3 251.8 257.8 268.8 Mar. 299.2 295.0 289.5 293.8 313.7 298.2 Apr. 275.7, 287.6 290.0 295.1 324.1 294.5 May [2023 | 2625 |2249 | 2209 | 1976 | 2306 Jun. 1409 [1778 1442 | 58 |aa72 | 127.2 Jul. 98.5 108.4 143.7 136.1 125.9 122.5 Aug. 980 (1404 | 032 | e24 i999 | 1064 sep. [2000 1486 1754 [1410 [1739 | 167.8 Oct. 1400 [1424 [1565 | 226.8 166.2 Nov. 165.9 202.4 258.2 244.6 217.8 Dec. [235.0 [2364 [2098 _| 2763 261.8 Table 7: Hours of bright sunshine; Heho airport (source: Cloutier 1995). Reduced radiation resulting from almost continual cloud cover in June, July and August will restrict growth of crops. Light competition will be one of the reasons that there are farmers which are not in favour of tree planting. Comparing the figures for June, July and August with a mean of 120 hours/month with those of a wet country like Holland (well over 200 hours/month), itis to be understood why farmers have their reservations to plant trees on their land. Sunshine duration is an important factor determining yields. It is interesting to state that even though sunshine duration is almost twice as high in Holland compared to Myanmar in summer, dutch farmers use artificial light during non- sunshine hours to increase production of some valuable crops. More data on maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall and evapotranspiration are given in Annex 17. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 50MYA/S3/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF 3.2.2 Land Degradation and Erosion The environment of the Inle Watershed is much more unstable than that of Kinda. Past deforestation of the mountains has resulted in higher runoff coefficients causing increased peak flows and periodic flooding in areas with a flat valley bottom. ‘Subsequent overgrazing and burning in some of these mountains have caused severe gully formation in certain valleys with gullies of up to 100m wide and 30m in depth. Sometimes gullies have combined to form extensive badlands presently still very active, Thus the valleys South of the road Aungban-Heho where these gullies and badlands are typical, constitute the most unstable zone in the Inle Watershed. Other zones in the Aungban Heho area, mostly Noith of the road are subject to sheet erosion caused by overgrazing and buming and unsustained agricultural practices in cultivated sloping areas. In most mountainous areas, the grass cover still gives reasonable protection against erosion, although runoff is higher than it is the case of dense natural forest. Rotational farming practices on steep slopes in the mountains are not sustainable though. As shown in the Kinda area (section 3.1.2) soil loss measured on a steep runoff plot in a clean weeded tea plantation was 32 tonnes/ha/year, when measured in 1991. In all areas with undulating to rolling topography Where the land is used for arable cropping, soil loss also occurs. Farmers complain about the decline of productivity. This is due to loss in fertility because the topsoil is washed down-slope. Sheet erosion is common on undulating to rolling ploughed land (Plates 1 and 2), and rill erosion there is evident after rain when the soil is unprotected after ploughing (‘dry soil mulching’). Itis indicated in several publications that annually 800.000 cubic meter of sediment is transported into the Inle Lake (Forestry Consultancy Group, 1993b). The three deltas on the Westem shore of the lake shown on the satelite images, where rivers debouch in the Inle Lake, in particular the deltas formed in alluvial deposits near Thandaung (East of Taunggya) and Indein (Southern part of the lake), clearly reveal the evidence of siltation caused by erosion. A third former delta in the Northem part of the lake near Honan is nowadays covered with swamp and agriculture, Besides the Nyaungshwe valley (section 3.2.4.5) itself with its catchment to the North (Nanlit Chaung), the land systems feeding the deltas with sediments are the most areas with the utmost intensive agriculture: Heho Basin (section 3.2.4.2) debouching near Honan, Thamakan Plain (section 3.2.4.1) debouching near Thandaung and Lonpo Plain (section 3.2.4.11) near Indein. Downing mentions an annual siltation rate determined by the Irrigation Department of 1.6 acre feet per square mile of catchment, equalling 10 tonnes/halyear. Taking into account that only a part of the sediment will end up in the streams, actual soil loss will be higher than measured by the Department. Furthermore Downing states that the sediments are trapped in streams with small catchments close to the lake and that this seems highly biased towards some of the most densely populated and disturbed areas in the catchment. The estimates should therefore be over-estimated (Downing, 199b). Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 57MYA/S3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| As stated in the beginning of this section, the highly eroded parts of the catchment are the valleys near Aungban and Heho and certainly not the immediate surrounding of the Inle Lake (with exception of ridge mentioned in section 4.2.3). This will probably mean that the calculations of the Department have under-estimated soil loss in stead of over- estimated and that the actual soil loss elsewhere in the watershed is well above the tolerable limits. 3.2.3 Socio-economic Conditions Inle watershed (5618.5km?) is situated in the following townships: [Township ‘% of watershed Nyaungshwe 1420.6 25.3 Kalaw 1291.3 23.0 Pinlaung 934.4 16.6 Taunggyi 843.8 15.0 Pekon 412.6 73 Lawksawk 346.3 62 Pindaya 256.2 46 Seisang 66.7 1.2 Hopon 26.0 05 Ywangan 147 03 Thazi 6.0 0.4 (Sum Area (inle watershe Table 8: Townships and their percentage of Inle watershed area. The Inle Lake itself, the second largest lake in the country, is only 17 miles by road from Heho airport, which again is just one hour flight from Yangon. It is reached by road about 7 miles off the Kalaw/Aungban - Taunggyi road, There are tens of motor out-boats plying in the lake each day serving the dotted villages around the lake and those located up on the hills as well as the tourists visiting the famous Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda and enjoying the scenic beauty of the lake. Nyaungshwe, located at the lake's North-Eastem end, is a booming town for trade and a transacting station for the merchandise brought in from around the lake. Inle Lake plays a pivotal role in the economy of the area as there are a variety of agricultural goods produced here that are send all over the places in the Shan State, and even further to Mandalay, Yangon or exported to Bangladesh and India. Inle Lake is also famous for its unique life-style of its residents, the ethnic minority of the Inthas, with their floating island cultivation practices, formed by the decomposed weeds, grasses and hyacinth plants in the shallow water, where fruits, flowers, vegetables and other cash crops are grown. Inthas are also famous for their leg- rowing of boats and their handicrafts (hand weaving, blacktin/silver smith, lacquerware, and pottery). 80% of the inhabitants of the lake live off the lake. Version 2, March 1886 Final Report Page 52[MYA/S3/005. Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAR Nyaungshwe Township has 35 village tracts, 435 villages with 22,360 family households and a total population of estimated 121,280 people, consisting mainly of ethic Inthas (70%), living around the lake, and Pa-O (20%), Dhanu and Taungyoe people (together 10%) inhabiting the surrounding hills. Degraded forests, covering between 10 and 15% of the total area, fuelwood shortage and the continuing unsustainable traditional cultivation practices (shifting cultivation, ‘soil-baking’- methods), still applied by approximately 20,000 villagers from Pa-O and Taungyoe ethnic groups were singled out by the Township/LORC Officials as the most pressing problems of Nyaungshwe Township. Local authorities have no means to address these issues. Other difficulties mentioned by the local officials aro a lack of willingness for co-operation on the side of the villagers, particularly those living in the hills, who until recently have been under the control and influence of a Pa-O rebel army. Only 5 acres of fuelwood lot could so far be established on the Eastern bank of the lake, although seedlings of fast-growing tree species were distributed free of charge. The Souther Part of Pindaya Township falls into Inle watershed area. Pindaya has 28 village tracts with 145 villages and a total population of 58,000 people. 55% of its population are ethnic Dhanu, 15% each Pa-O and Taungyoe, 6% Burmese, 5% Palang, 3% Nepali and only 1% are Shan. Just 10-18 years ago the mountain range between Pindaya and Ywangan was notorious for its poppy production. Main agricultural crops today are: (1.) upland rice, (2.) niger crop, (3.) potato, (4.) wheat, (6.) maize, (6.) tomato. The average crop land size by household is around acres. Landlessness only rarely occurs. Pindaya Township is a tice deficit area. Almost all families are not able to produce enough rice for own household consumption due to only small plots, low yields resulting from soll infertility and lack of access to fertilizer, and labour shortage. Most farmland is situated along sloping hills. Soil erosions, sediments clogging up water reservoirs and destroying lowland areas, and gully formations are the major problem of the Township. 3.24 Land Systems and Management Recommendations 3.2.4.1 Thamakan Plain The Thamakan Valley is a continuation of the Ywangan Plateau located North-East and South-East of Kalaw. It covers 458.0kme (8.1%). The elevation is 100m as.l. The valley is drained by the Thamakan Chaung which joins the Kalaw Chaung, and becomes the Ngot Chaung before disappearing in subterranean channels and debouching eventually in a delta in the Inle Lake near the village Thandaung (East of Taunggya). The topography is undulating to rolling becoming hilly in the South. The area is mostly cultivated, but the steeper Southern parts are occupied by grassland. These two different land uses and topographies (North and South) might be separated in two sub- units, but for the reason of clarity they are combined in one land system. Especially for the following description of stability and erosion it is referred to the Northem and Central part of the Thamakan Plain, Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 53| MYAV93/005, ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] This land system is the most unstable zone of the Inle watershed. Locally scattered badlands in the form of deep gullies occur (see land use maps 1:50,000 for inle watershed, maps number 2 and 4). Generally these are presently fairly stabilized by vegetation. The change detection also reveals this instability in terms of land conversion from scrubland/grassland to permanent agriculture: 80.6km? (17.6%). An extensive area South-East of Kyong is characterized by sheet erosion as shown on Plates 1 and 2 (51.2km®, 11.2% of the system). This area has been mapped with a signature of small red arrows on the vegetation map. The soils in this area are more sity or fine sandy compared to the general soils in the watershed. Although the topography is not steeper than elsewhere, rill erosion is also a common phenomena. In total 72.0% are used by agriculture and fallow and 22.9% by scrubland and grassland. Apart from water erosion, also wind erosion is widespread in this area. It is mainly caused by the practice of ploughing in the beginning of the dry season. This saves energy during ploughing because the soils are still moist and friable. it also conserves subsoil moisture by interrupting the capillary rise. South-East of Kalaw widespread gully erosion occurs near the transition from cultivated land in the North to grassiand in the South. In several areas gullies join to form extensive badlands. Typical of the gullies and badlands is, that they appear to be reactivated. They are devoid of any vegetation, and according to the local Population, they are actively cutting back and annual land loss is considerable. In spite of this, the farmers do not appear very concerned about this loss of land. They are ploughing up to the edge of the badlands, and are sometimes even cultivating in the badlands. The most actively eroding badiand is located near the village Aingya. Plates 2 and 3 show aspects of this gullies. The delta formation where the river debouches in the Inle Lake clearly reveals the evidence of siltation caused by erosion of this particular land unit. Although it is not clear whether siltation is caused by sediments from gullies or from sheet erosion, the actively regressive gullies appear to be the main source of sediment. The Thamakan Plain clearly comprises the most unstable land unit of the Inle watershed. This zone is to be ranked as the first priority zone for rehabilitation in the entire watershed. The main constraint is however, that erosion phenomena in the Center are of such dimensions, that stabilisation is beyond the means of the villagers in that area. Involvement and participation of the population for measures to be implemented by an agency, probably the Department of Forestry or an NGO, will be a prerequisite for the success of any large scale operation. In the North of the valley, where sheet erosion constitutes the main source of sediment, the implementation of measures can be undertaken by the farmers. Large scale layout of grass strips or contour bunds will be required as well as measures to improve the fertility and physical characteristics of the soil. Green manuring with legumes is one of the proposed measures. Some research is recommended to decide whether ploughing at the end of the dry season/gebinning of the rainy season will be feasible in order to reduce soil loss by wind erosion. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 54(MYA/O3/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF 3.2.4.2 Heho Basin This relatively small valley is located West of Heho at an elevation of 1200m a.sil. Its extent is 159.0km? (2.8%). The topography of this valley is flat, and flooding during the rainy season is consequently one of the constraints in this valley. The area is drained by the Uthakan Chaung and the Negya Chaung which traverse the Letmaunggwe Ridge just South of Heho town to the Nyaungshwe Valley and the Inle Lake. Here it has formed a historic delta which is nowadays already swamp or used as agricultural land for rice production (82.5%). The area is cultivated, and large portions are irrigated. The land use shows no major changes since 1973/75. Due to its flat topography and degradation of the surrounding catchment, the area is not only subject to flooding, but also to deposition of sediment. Annually large quantities of sediment, which have a low fertility according to the farmers, have to be removed from the paddy fields. The Southem part of the valley is characterized by some very large gullies in almost flat terrain, These gullies are up to 100m wide and up to 30m deep. They are partly stabilized by vegetation but appear to be reactivated due to overgrazing and burning in the catchment as well as cultivation up to the edge of the gullies in the valley. Sediment load is periodically very high, with deposition in the Northem part of the Inle Lake (very old delta, as mentioned above). In the North the topography of the Heho Basin is rolling to hilly. The land use is mostly grassland but with rotational farming. A large portion of these low hills are subject to sheet erosion (Plate 5) due to overgrazing and burning as well as the lack of erosion control measures in cultivated lands. After the Thamankan Valley, the Heho Basin and its adjacent mountainous catchment in the West constitute the second priority area requiring urgent implementation of protective measures. The deep gullies in the South need immediate attention since they are a source of large quantities of sediment. Gully stabilisation measures will however require high inputs and can not be left to the local population only. The state or NGOs will have to share the cost. But without active participation, stabilisation measures will be doomed to fail, Stabilisation of the large gully North of Ywangan (see section 3.1.4.1) was carried out by the local population. Its success should be taken as an example of stabilisation works in the Heho Basin. The low hills with sheet erosion in the North as well as the mountains in the West Tequire protection in the form of rotational grazing or reforestation/natural regeneration. 3.2.4.3 Thikhaung Ridge The Thikhaung Ridge is located between the Thamakan Valley and Heho Basin. It rises up to 1600m a.s.l. and covers an area 145.7km? (2.6%) in extent, It is mostly covered by scrubland and grassland with scattered areas of rotational farming (62.6%). Due to overgrazing and burning some parts are prone to sheet erosion and Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 55MYAISSIOO5 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] high runoff rates have resulted in the gully erosion in the Heho Basin described above. 61.5km? (42.2%) are used for permanent agriculture. Scattered old and presently degraded plantations do not supply adequate protection against erosion. In conjunction with the Heho Basin, this ridge constitutes the second priority area in the Inle Watershed. Reforestation or natural regeneration should be promoted in close collaboration with the local population. Although only 34.1km? of scrubland/grassiand have been converted to agricultural land it comprises 23.4% of the land system. Like the Heho Basin hill forested areas did not change in the last two decades. 3.2.4.4 Taunglaylon Ridge The mountains West of the Inle Lake and the Nyaungshwe valley will be referred to as the Taunglaylon Ridge, although this includes the Moemakha Ridge to the North and the Letmaunggwe Range in the South overlooking Inle Lake. The extent is 634. 0km? (11.3%). The elevation is 1350m a.s.1. on the ridge. The vegetation is mostly scrubland and grassland (62.2%) with minor forest remnants (9.4% hill forest, 1.5% hill forest affected by shifting cultivation). In some areas such as near Letmaunggwe rotational farming is practiced and occupies a Portion of 10-30% of the land, 24.3% (153.7km#) are agricultural land, In general there is little erosion on the slopes, this is partly due to karst features with a drainage system discharging in sink holes on top of the mountain range; but also partly owing to a fairly good grass cover and forest remnants along the descending streams on steep slopes which act as a buffer on peak runoff. 7.5% of the land system are scrublands and grasslands affected by shifting cultivation. Although the area has no priority for direct watershed protection, the farming systems on the steep mountain slopes must be adapted to its environment. Agroforestry with a permanent ground cover and without tillage is recommended, The Taunglaylon Ridge shows the highest figure for the conversion from closed hill forest to scrubland/grassland (18.7km?, 3.0% of the land system and 0.3% of the entire Inle watershed) and the second highest percentage for the change from hill forest with shifting cultivation to permanent agriculture (7.1km?, 1.1% of the system and 0.1% of the watershed area). 3.2.4.5 Nyaungshwe Valley The Nyaungshwe Valley is the very extensive area extending from the Inle Lake to the Northem border of the watershed. Its extent is 1262.1km? (22.5%). The elevation is around 900m a.s.l. The valley is drained by the Nanlet Chaung. Version 2, March 1896 Final Report Page 56MYAIS3/005. Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF The major part of the valley is flat but the East features a low long ridge with an elevation of 100m a.s.l. and fairly gentle slopes. The low ridge has a scrubland vegetation, but most of the valley bottom is used for annual cropping (66.2%, 835.8km2), with a high portion being irrigated. Owing to past deforestation of the mountain slopes and burning during the dry season as well as the flat topography of the valley bottom, large parts of the valley are subject to periodic flooding. The low long ridge in the East as well as some parts of the lower slopes of the mountains in the West are severely degraded due to overgrazing and extraction of fire wood. Sheet erosion (Plate 6) but also gullies are widespread on these slopes. The grass cover is poor and almost absent in the dry season. The high population density along the main road to Taunggyi and in the valley in general has caused this ‘over-exploitation of the grazing areas and remaining scrubland 8.7% of the area is affected by sheet erosion (109.8km?). Already covered by the highest percentage of agricultural land, also the highest rates of changes from hill forest with shifting cultivation (8.6km2, 0.2% of the entire Inle watershed area) and from scrubland/grassland to permanent agriculture (241.3km?, 4.3% of the entire watershed area and 19.1% of the land system). Measures to curb the present situation are urgently required. It will be difficult to involve the population in protection of the degraded areas, since most of the people extracting firewood do not come from the immediate surrounding and will therefore lack any interest to change their practice of over-exploitation. Large scale plantation of firewood, preferably as enrichment planting on the degraded ridges and controlled by VFCCs' of local villages is the most feasible approach. Rotational grazing and supplementary production of fodder crops has to be considered to improve grass cover on the degraded slopes. 3. .6 Mobye Valley Mobye Valley comprises the land surrounding the lake with a total extent of 506.0km? (9.0%). The elevation is 900m a.s.l. The topography is undulating to rolling and in places flat with a vegetation mostly of scrubland. Some places are cultivated and North-West of the lake part of the valley is irrigated (East of Mezalun). The environment is relatively stable and erosion does not constitute a problem due to the relatively low population density and irrigation practices. 33.3% (168.6km2) is covered by the Mobye lake, 36.6% by shrubland or grassland with or without shifting cultivation, and 24.9% by permanent agriculture. The few changes over the last two decades due to low population pressure reveal the stable environmental situation. Only 13.2km? (2.6%) of hill forests affected by shifting cultivation have been transformed to scrubland or grassland. Furthermore, 41.9km? of scrubland/grassland were changed to agricultural land. Version 2, March 1936 Final Report Page 57[MYA/oS7005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF In the two major valleys on the Eastern side of the Mobye Lake, drained by Nam Mai Chaung from the North and Nan Nao Chaung from South-East, there might be some gullies. On the Landsat TM imagery colour, pattern and context show up as there are gullies, but a field verification was not possible due to security reasons. These possible gullies were not mapped because of a missing ground check. Furthermore they are more or less surrounded by grassland. 3.2.4.7 Taunggyi Ridge This is the mountain range on the North-Eastem fringe of the watershed. Its elevation rises to 1800m a.s.|. Taunggyi is situated at 1400m a.s.I. The extent of this range is 349.7km? (6.2%). The vegetation dominantly consists of hill forest (13.0%) disturbed by shifting cultivation and rotational farming (28.4%); but scrubland also occupies extensive areas on this mountain range, particularly on the lower slopes (9.9% scrubland, 5.5% scrubland affected by sheet erosion and 35.6% scrubland with shifting cultivationa dn rotational farming). The environment is relatively stable and erosion does not constitute a problem, although in areas where cultivation is practiced on steep slopes, annual cropping will have to be changed to agroforestry. 38.6km? were changed from hill forest disturbed by shifting cultivation and rotational farming to scrubland or grassland with or without rotational farming. 3.2.4.8 Kyaukthalon Ridge This is the mountain range on the South-Eastem fringe of the watershed. Its elevation rises to 1400m a.s.l. It covers an area of 625.0km? (11.1%). The vegetation dominantly consists of hill forest disturbed by shifting cultivation and rotational farming (249.8km?, 40.0%); but scrubland also occupies extensive areas on this mountain range, particularly on the lower slopes (33.5%). The environment is relatively stable and erosion does not constitute a problem, although in areas where cultivation is practiced on steep slopes, annual cropping will have to be changed to agroforestry (28.1km? of scrubland and grassland are affected by sheet erosion). Only 43.7kme? (7.0%) of scrubland/grassland have been altered to agricultural land during the last two decades. 3.2.4.9 Pinlaung Ridge The mountain range West of Mobye are referred to as the Pinlaung Ridge. Its extent is 742.8km? (13.2%) and the elevation is up to 1350m a.s.. Version 2, March 1836 Final Report Page 58_ [MYAG3I005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF ‘The vegetation is mostly scrubland with rotational farming (157.8km?) but Hill Forest also occurs (37.2km?), although also in association with rotational farming (94.5km?), The environment is relatively stable and erosion does not constitute a problem, although in areas where cultivation is practiced on steep slopes, annual cropping will have to be changed to agroforestry. 3.2.4.10 Kalaw South Mountains The mountainous areas in the extreme South-West of the catchment will be referred to as the Kalaw South Mountains. It covers 435.7km? (7.7%) and its peaks rise up to an altitude of 1500m a.sl. It is drained by the Kalaw Chaung in the North (see section 3.2.4.1) and the Balu Chaung which runs from the South in Northern direction and then turns East traversing the Lonpo Plain (section 3.2.4.11) and the Kyaukthalon Ridge (section 3.2.4.8) to debouch in the inle Lake near the village Indein where a delta has been formed in the Lake by sediments. Since none of the three land systems drained by the Balu Chaung is clearly instable, there is no indication what is the origin of the sediments of the delta. Possibly this is a relict phenomenon, but most probably the area of origin is the Lonpo Plain (see below). The area is well covered by hill forest (21%) and partly by a forest and rotational farming mosaic (25.4%). In the North a small valley is occupied by cultivated land (in total 12.5%). 34.1% are covered by scrubland, mostly disturbed by shifting cultivation and rotational farming. The environment is relatively stable, which is also shown in the unimportant changes (Annex 16). Erosion does not constitute a problem, although in areas where cultivation is practiced on steep slopes, annual cropping will have to be changed to agroforestry. 3.2.4.11 Lonpo Plain The Lonpo Plain is a relatively small elongated land system in the South West of the Inle Watershed. It occupies 300.5km? (5.3%) and has an elevation of 1350m a.s.l. It is drained by the Lonpo Chaung which runs in Norther direction and joins the Balu Chaung to debouch in the Inle Lake (see section 3.2.4.10) The topography is undulating becoming hilly in the North. The central parts are cultivated while the North is occupied by grassland. In the South grassland also increases, although cultivated land dominates and 34.5km? of scrubland/grassland were converted to agricultural land since 1979/75. Cultivated lands are subject to sheet erosion and cover 73.1% (219.8km?) of the system. Although this land system is not subject to severe erosion, it is recommended for implementation of control measures in cultivated areas on the long term. Especially in the Eastern part of the system extensive sheet erosion takes place (6.3km?, 2.1%) Version 2, March 1998 Final Report Page 59MYAIS3IO05 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| and washes the material into the Lonpo Chaung which joins the Balu Chaung and deposits its sediments in the most Southern delta of the Inle Lake near Indein (see sections 3.2.4.1. and 3.24.10 and Plates 7 and 8). 3.25 Summary of Management Recommendations Of the Inle Watershed the least stable areas are the valleys. In particular the Thamankan Basin and the Heho Basin are environmentally unstable. These two valleys are priority areas where stabilisation measures are urgently required. Highest priority has the stabilisation of numerous very large gullies and several deeply eroded badlands. A severe constraint to implementation of control measures by the villagers, is the amount of labour and the high inputs required to stabilize these severe forms of erosion. Financial assistance will be necessary. Since the gullies comprise a major source of sediment, large scale stabilisation measures will be feasible in order to reduce the rate of siltation of the Inle Lake. Close cooperation between the population and agencies concemed with implementation is a prerequisite for the success of the recommended stabilisation measures. Successful stabilisation of a very large gully located North of Ywangan should be considered as an example. This gully was stabilized by villagers by mechanical means while stabilizing vegetation in the gully established spontaneously (see section 3.1.4.1). Conceming the mountainous areas, the forest remnants, and also the good grass cover in scrubland and grassland ensure a sufficiently stable environment. However, natural regeneration of the actual scrub- and grasslands to forest will improve the hydrological regime, and is recommended as a long term measure. This also applies to the steep cultivated land in the mountainous areas where in due course annual cropping will have to be changed to agroforestry systems. Measures to reduce extraction of firewood from forest remnants have been suggested in section 2.1.1 and Annex 7. The observed changes in land use concentrate in Heho Basin, Thamakan Plain and Nyaungshwe Valley. It can be stated that land degradation is most severe in these land systems (including Lonpo Plain) and watershed management for the entire catchment region should concentrate on this units. Besides changes in dominantely agriculturally used systems, ranges are subject to forest degradation. Since ranges have a higher relief energy they carry a high risk for eosion if over-exploited. On the more gentle slopes firewood extraction leads on many areas to extensive sheet erosion. Therefore, the entire watershed area is generally affected by increased land degradation. In the densely populated Nyaungshwe valley, firewood plantations are needed to prevent further deterioration of over exploited areas, which are presently already in a far state of degradation. Enrichment for the eventual use for firewood is foreseen under the supervision of local village forest conservation committees. Low input standard erosion control measures in all moderately sloping cultivated lands of the Inle Watershed will have to be implemented in the long term by the local population Version 2, March 1956 Final Report Page 60MYA/93/005, ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| Kinda Watershed Land System km? % Kinda Mountains 1726.7 767 Ywangan Plateau 321.0 14.2 Palaung Ridge 203.8 94 Kinda Watershed 2251.5 100.0 Inle Watershed Land System km? Nyaungshwe Valley 1262.1 Pinlaung Ridge 742.7 ‘Taunglaylon Ridge 634.0 Kyaukthalon Ridge 625.0 Mobye Valley 506.0 Thamakan Plain 458.0 Kalaw South Mountains 435.7 ‘Taunggyi Ridge 349.7 Lonpo Plain 300.5 Heho Basin 159.0 Thikhaung Ridge 145.7 Inle Watershed 5618.5 L Table 9: Spatial summary statistics for the land systems of Kinda and Inle watersheds. 33. Phuayi Watershed 3.3.4 Location and Physiography The Phugyi Watershed is situated some 40 km NNW of Yangon and is part of the township Talkkyi, Inside the catchment area there are no settlements. The watershed area amounts to slightly less than 7,500ha of which the Phugyi lake makes up 22,3%. The lake is surrounded by low hilly terrain that is becoming steeper and higher with increasing distance from the dam. However, the relief rarely exceeds 40m and the maximum height difference between the lake site at 75m above sea level and the Northem part of the catchment with 152m is 77m. Geologically the area belongs to the ‘Westem Trough’ of the Central Lowlands an area of weakly consolidated Tertiary sediments that extends right through Myanmar from the Northem mountain ranges to the Ayeyarwady delta. In the Phugyi catchment these Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 61MYA/SS/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF| sediments are partly sandstones and partly shales that crop out occasionally near the lake site. Generally they are weathered and covered by a sandy soil (sandy clay loam) with a lateritic horizon at 0.5 to 0.7m depth. Lateritic concretions are invariably found along the eroded tracks in the forest. The presence of the lateritic layer presents one of the limitations for agricultural use as it inhibits root penetration of tree seedlings. ‘Chemical analyses of the soils show that they are relatively poor in most nutrients especially in N and available P but this seems to be enough to sustain tree growth under natural and slightly disturbed condition as most of the nutrients will be directly supplied by the decomposing leaf litter. Problems will ocour when the forest cover is removed and organic matter decreases as can be observed in the neighbouring area where orchards had to be abandoned because of the soil nutrient deficiency in combination with the laterite, The original vegetation consisted of a semi-evergreen to deciduous forest with a great variety of trees amongst them teak and other valuable timber trees. Timber extraction has been going on for a long time but agricultural encroachment is relatively recent. These activities resulted in degradation of the original forest in the upper and more remote parts of the catchment and conversion of forest to scrubland and agricultural land in the lower parts. The agricultural activity concentrated on the establishment of orchards with citrus and bananas but other trees such as Anacardium occidentale (cashew) are increasingly grown. However soil degradation has led to the abandonment of many orchards which either converted into scrubland or were used for growing flowers (outside the watershed). The recent occupation of the lower watershed area by the military has led to the abandonment of most agricultural activities and a general conversion of the former orchards to grass- and scrubland will occur. Location Map Yangon Division @) os ee Version 2, March 1956 Final Report Page 62MYAISS/005, ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF Figure 9: Location Map of Phugyi watershed. Following classes were mapped in the Landsat imagery dated March 07, 1995: Class #: Class description: Hilly terrain with moist mixed deciduous forest, medium high canopy Low hilly terrain with degraded forest, emergents form very open canopy Low hilly terrain with degraded forest, low and open canopy Low hilly terrain with degraded forest, dominated by bamboo Undulating terrain with scrubland, interspersed with grassy patches Undulating terrain with grassland Low hilly terrain with mixture of orchards, flower gardens and bush fallow Waterbody (Phugyi reservoir OVOORODS The recent land use with its spatial statistic is listed in Table 10. Class # Hectares 818.1 2080.2 671.8 351.3 908.3 500.4 484.9 1665.0 Kinda Watershed 7480.1 Table 10: Spatial land use statistics for Phugyi watershed (1995). Rainfall and temperatures are comparable to Yangon. There is a strong seasonally in the rainfall regime with the total annual rainfall being concentrated on the wet season between May and October. Temperatures are uniformly high throughout the year with a slight reduction in the “winter" months December-February. 3.3.2 Land Degradation and Erosion Agricultural encroachment (grazing), timber extraction and fuel wood cutting have led to a significant reduction in the expanse and composition of the original forest. In 1991 the area of dense (moderately degraded) forest was estimated at 1350ha or 17% of the watershed as against 3050ha or 39% of shrub (severely degraded forest). Grassland and orchards make up approximately 1200ha and the water surface itself some 1750ha (figures from Lwin et al. 1992). Version 2, March 1986 Final Report Page 63 | |MYAPOS/O05 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF Even though the sandy soil is highly susceptible to surface erosion no significant erosion features were observed. This is partly due to the low relief and lack of steep slopes in the areas most severely disturbed. Partly this also reflects the dense ground cover of the area be it forest, shrub- or grassland which protects the soil cover from the direct impact of the rain drops. The generally good permeability of the soil also favours rapid infiltration (except in areas of extensive laterite) so that the general danger of soil erosion can be considered small. This is also clearly shown by the fact that sediment transport into the lake is negligible. There are no signs of delta formation at the mouths of the small rivers and creeks entering the lake and the lake water is clear even after rain. The relatively poor quality and low resolution of the available Landsat MSS scenes does not allow detailed comparison with the new TM scene and hence a change detection within the period 1973 to 1995 is difficult. A further complication arises from the recent abandonment of most agricultural activities in the Westem part of the watershed due to the establishment of a military camp. In general terms, however very little change has taken place in the period under consideration. The forest area has remained almost constant as has the area under sctubs. Degradation due to wood extraction has increased specially in the Eastern parts of the catchment, There may have been slight changes in the agricultural areas but it was not possible to verify in the field due to the fact that access into the areas under question was not permitted by the military. Classes differentiated in the MSS imagery are: Class # Class description: Moist mixed deciduous forest, medium high canopy Degraded forest, emergents form open canopy Degraded forest, low but closed canopy Mixture of orchards, flower gardens and bush fallow Rons Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 64MYAIS3/005, Mapping arid Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF| Table 11: Spatial statistics of land use changes for Phugyi watershed. Class # are the same as in the associated map. (Read Code: o.g. 14: Change from class 1 in 1973 to class 4 in 1995, First digit represents land use class 1973 and second digit land cover class 1995.) 3.3.3 Management Recommendations In terms of watershed management the Phugyi watershed is not under threat. In fact the dense vegetation cover ensures a very low rate of soil erosion and this applies not only to the forest areas but also to scrub- and grassland. As long as ground cover exists this situation will persist. However, care is needed if larger construction activities such as road building or military traffic are involved since the soils are susceptible to surface erosion ones they are exposed directly to the atmosphere. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 65IMYA/O3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1 Main Text GAF 4, LAND CAPABILITY MAPPING 44 Demonstration Area Mintaingbin (Kinda Watershed) Two Demonstration Areas have been selected for mapping and a study in more detail. The selection has been described in section 2.3.3.5. A proposed strategy concerning sustainable use of the land classes and recommendations for management is based on technical as well as socio-economic considerations. The two maps are presented at a scale of 1:10,000 and show the present land use as well as a land capability classification. 444 Location and Physiography The Demonstration Area comprises the Southern part of the Kinda Pilot Project. It is 203.94km? in extent and is located between 20°52'-21°02'N and 96°28'-96°37'E. 6 maps are necessary to cover the extend of the Demonstration Area at a scale of 1:10,000 (see Figure 10). The road from Kyong to Ywangan traverses the area from South to North. Location Map Mapsheet Reference Mintaingbin Demonstrati Ao Figure 10: Location Map and Mapsheet Reference for Mintaingbin Demonstration Area. Version 2, March 1886 Final Report Page 66MYA/OS/O05: Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] Three distinct landforms can be distinguished in the Mintaingbin area ie. mountainous topography in the East with an elevation of about 1800m a.s.l. a gently sloping to rolling plain at an elevation about 1300m a.s.. in the central parts. This plain was referred to as ‘plateau’ during the Kinda Pilot Project and for the present study this designation will not be altered. The plateau is characterized by numerous steep hillocks of limestone. West of the plateau precipitous slopes descend to a low lying rolling plain which gives rise to mountains further West and outside the Demonstration Area. The soils are deep red loams and clay loams of low fertility as common in the watershed. Contrary, the steep hillocks on the plateau are occupied by shallow almost black soils which directly overlie the hard but weathering limestone. 441.2 Vegetation and Present Land Use As a result of logging and shifting cultivation in the past, the mountains in the East are at present neatly all occupied by secondary scrubland and grassland. Few forest remnants remain. Near villages the woody vegetation in the mountains is over exploited by cutting of firewood. This in spite of the fact that in the villages of Kinda, more trees are grown than in Inle Watershed villages. The Eastern part of the Demonstration Area is a forest reserve with dense forest. Extraction of wood occurs along the fringe. The plateau central parts are mostly cultivated but some rocky or steeper parts are left to grazing and are covered with forest remnants and scrubland. Soil baking as soil preparation after fallow is still practiced in this region. Details on this practice are given in Annex 18 and spatial statistics for the land use classes in Table 12. acres ha 9021.0 3650.7 hill forest affected by shifting cultivation 820.2 331.9 scrubland 6357.7 2572.9 crubland affected by sheet erosion 33.3 13.5 scrubland affected by shifting cultivation 7835.5 3170.9 grassland 662.1 268.0 grassland affected by sheet erosion 1414.1 572.3 grassland affected by shifting cultivation 1809.7 732.4 Iscrubland and grassland 2936.7 1188.4 iscrubland and grassland affected by sheet 718.0 290.6 jagricultural land and fallow 16665.2 6744.2 2121.4 858.5 50394.9 20394,1 Table 12: Land use statistics for Mintaingbin Demonstration Area. Version 2, March 1896 Final Report Page 67MYA/9S/005 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAFI 41.3 Land Capability and Erosion The mountainous areas in the East are dominated by classes 4 and 5. As demonstrated on a runoff plot in the area, soil loss is within tolerable limits tor grassland and scrubland. Grass provides sufficient protection if there is no overgrazing and excessive buming. When land is used for annual cropping and without conservation measures, soil losses are such that within a few years most of the valuable topsoil is lost by sheet erosion and tillage, moving soil downslope. To a lesser extent this is also applicable to the undulating and rolling cultivated land of the plateau. This land belongs to class 2 and is subject to a gradual loss of topsoil and a decline in fertility and productivity. Sheet erosion causes most soil loss, but rill erosion can also be noticed when the land is unprotected after ploughing. The larger part of the land on the plateau belongs to class 1 though; i.e. land of which soil losses are negligible under cultivation. The hillocks on the plateau are overgrazed and degraded, also as a result of almost annual burning. The grass cover is very short and sheet erosion has removed much of the topsoil. The area in the East of the forest reserve is not subject to erosion, due to its protective forest cover. The precipitous slope belongs to class 6 while the low-lying areas are class 2 and class 3 land. Table 13 summarizes the spatial statistics for the land capability classes. acres % 4 14463.0 5853.0 28.7 ‘4s! 324.0 131.1 0.6 ed 10012.6 4052.0 19.9 ‘2s! 214.0 86.6 0.4 3 6003.5 2429.5 11.9 3s! 60.6 24.5 0.1 ‘4 4335.0 1754.3 8.6 ‘4s! 969.9 302.5 1.9 s 12287.7 4972.6 24.4 ‘Ss! 511.8 207.1 1.0 ‘e 1163.7 470.9 23 ‘6s! 49.1 19.9 O41 sum area 50394.9 20394.1 100.0 Table 13: Land capability statistics for Mintaingbin Demonstration Area. (Classes are described in section 2.3.3.5.) Version 2, March 1956 Final Report Page 68MYAIS3/005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAR 414 Socio-Economic Conditions The Demonstration Area Mintaingbin covers the Southem parts of Ywangan Township, namely the eight village tracts of Nankhon, Yagyi, Myindwin, Payagyigon, Myinkyado, Alegyaung, Leywa and Satchan, The great majority of the population are ethnically Dhanu people, with only a few Pa-O, Palaung (particularly at the Eastern side) and Shan. Average annual rate of population growth is 1.14%, far below the 1990 national average of 2.09%. If cut-off points of working ages or rural people is thought to fall between 10 and 65 years of age, the demographic dependency ratio of the population of ages under 10 years and above 65 years comes to 31% of the total. Thus, the potential labour force stands around 69%. The average family size is estimated to be 5.8 persons per household. This size exceeds the national average of around 5. According to the 1988 study, nearly 40% of the total area is agriculturally land used for upland crops and rotationally farmed for paddy, niger, potatoes or wheat with fallow periods ranging from 2-6 years. Degradad hill forests, scrub forest and grass lands account for 17, 14 and 11%, respectively. Only 1.5% of the total area is covered by lowland paddy fields. The present farming system is characterized by a diversified, commercial upland farming system. Villagers in the valley living at both sides of the road, mostly Dhanu, usually grow rice permanently in low-lying paddy fields in combination with rotational upland farming of a variety of different cash crops along the sloping hills. Some small-scale irrigation facilities around Mintaingbin and Tawgye Village allow for a dry- season paddy crop. Shifting cultivation in the sense of slash-and-burn occurs only rarely in the Eastem parts of the Demonstrations Area, which is inhabited by Palaung people and where still some forest is left. In the surrounding of Mintaingbin and Myinkyado land is more fertile, more water, even for irrigation purposes, is available, allowing permanent agriculture in certain areas. On the other hand, in the vicinity of Leywa, Alegyaung and Myaing land is less fertile with more sloping land and less water available. Here, upland agriculture is dominant with fallow periods of around three years on average, depending on the size of land available. Farmers usually start the cropping cycle preparing their plots using ‘soil-baking’ methods for rainfed upland paddy production. During the second year they first grow ground-nut, later the year they plant niger. Then they either move on to let the land fallow or grow once more upland paddy before moving to another plot. Although Dhanu people in the lowland areas appear to be slightly better of than the Palaung or Pa-O in the uplands, most of the rural population in the Demonstration Area can be considered as living at subsistence level. Only a few majority of farmers are reported to produce enough rice for home consumption. As an example, rice shortage is up to 6, 3 and 6-7 month on average in Payagyikon, Myinkiado and Alegyaung Village, respectively. Apart from paddy production, which is cultivated mainly for household consumption, a wide variety of other commercial crops are grown, including wheat, potatoes, niger, Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 69(myareai005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF] groundnut, soybean, rice-bean, garden and pigeon peas, maize, cabbage, tomatoes, ginger, sesame, and chilli. Many farmers in their relatively large and well-maintained homestead gardens grow a number of perennial crops, such as cottee, tea, oranges, cheroot leaves, castor, dogiruit, avocado, jack-fruit and other fruit trees. Alegyaung and Yagyi are the main tea growing areas. Orange orchards can be found in Tawgye and Mintaingbin Village. Virtually all those commercial crops are picked up by trucks and sent to major towns such as Aungban, Kalaw and Heho, but also as far as to Mandalay and Yangon. Farm gate prices use to be low, while farmers suffer from the high cost for farm inputs, especially the much needed chemical fertilizer, a result of, among others, the country’s high rate of inflation. Due to low fertility and lack of capital to purchase fertilizer, yields in most of the area are extremely low when compared to other regions in Myanmar. Average landholding size is between 3 and 5 acres (national average: 5.4 acres), of which 60% is upland, 16% lowland and 24 garden land. 77 and 61% of iowiand and upland agricultural area, respectively, is devoted to paddy cultivation. In most villages approximately 10-20% of the farmers are landless. Their households usually consist of young married couples, who still work the fields of their families, as they have not inherited enough land to make a living by their own. Other households belong to impoverished families, who were forced by adverse circumstances to transfer their land to somebody else. The latter group has to rely on agricultural and non- agricultural labour. In addition, they often cut bamboo, firewood and timber in the nearby forest for sale. Main constraints for an improved agricultural production from the present level of ‘subsistence farming’ (low input / low expectancy) is seen by the farmers in lack of capital for investments, More precisely, production is most hampered by Shortage of draft animals. Lack of access to fertilizer and pesticides. Lack of access to improved seed varieties. Lack of means to intensify and extent cash crop production. Shortage of crop and pasture land (most severe in Alegyaung Village) Shortage of labour (particularly in Alegyaung and several neighbouring village tracts) Buffaloes, bullocks and cows are found in sometimes large numbers throughout the Fegion. However, livestock distribution is extremely uneven. They are kept as draft animals and for having cow dung which is used as fertilizer. Most farmers do not own draft animals and have to rely on rented bullocks or buffaloes for field preparations. Livestock can be seen grazing on barren hills, on scrub and fallow land. Income derived from farming is the major source of income. According to the 1992 study, it range from an average of 5,000 to at least 30,000 Kyats per year. Regarding farm expenditures, consumption of chemical fertilizer ranks first, followed by hired draft and hired labour costs, second and third, respectively. Other expenditures include seed costs and costs on repairing farm implements and tools. Non-farm expenditures, spend on food items, are relatively high, i.e. much more when compared with the combined expenditures on clothing, health, education, religious Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 70MYAIS3I005 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF and social affairs. Expenditures for food items are particularly high among those farmers with no access to lowland paddy fields. They have to purchase rice, since their upland paddy fields cannot meet the annual home consumption requirement. Villages in the Demonstration Area are linked to a system of rotational markets. Most commercial products, such as oranges, tea or coffee, are marketed via Aungban. However, any workable and efficient marketing system is hampered by the lack of a proper transport system and the bad road conditions. Under these conditions farmers are much dependent on middlemen and brokers, some of them are based in Myinkyado and Taungbogwe Village, others come from Heho or Aungban. They are, in the absence of an efficient Government rural financial support system, the main credit suppliers, who lend money to the farmers ahead of the season, while the farmers usually pay back in kind to a very unfavourable price. Level of indebtedness is stil relatively small when compared with other regions in Myanmar. Myinkyado, the most ‘prosperous village’ of the Demonstration Area, has a variety of off-farm income opportunities. Some villagers are employed as truck drivers or conductors. Here, several small shops, grocery stores and cafeterias, a brewery, a coffee processing plant and rice mills can be found. According to the 1992 study water supply situation is regarded not as a problem. However, the report fails to mention that in many villages water sources during the dry season run dry and farmers have to walk far distances to fetch water. ‘Compulsory level of education in Myanmar is 5 years of primary education. Although there are state primary schools in most villages, most of the young villagers fail to reach that level. Due to lack of teachers some schools do not teach up to the fifth grade. Another reason is the high drop-out rate. Children beyond the age of 10 in Poor families are expected to join in agricultural work or to take care of younger offsprings. The overall literacy rate given by the 1988 and 1992 study is 70 and 93%, respectively. Most of the iliterates are women, because in general son's education is given preference over the daughter's. Moreover, traditional custom forbid women to receive monastery education, where sometimes non-formal courses are offered. cg Socio-Environmental Conditions. Compared with neighbouring Pindaya Township, environmental conditions in the Demonstration Area of Ywangan Township are much less degraded. However, there ig sheet erosion particularly in scrub areas stretching to the West of Payagykion to Myinkyado Village. Farmers in general do not consider the degree of soil erosion as serious. They traditionally dig small drainage ditches at the foot of their sloping fields in order to channel away the rainwater flow. However, as they admit, the rainy water in their diversion ditches regularly turns into mud - an indisputable proof of the occurrence of soil erosion. Apart from former excessive forest cover removal and slash-and-bum agriculture, soil erosion in the Demonstration Area today is mainly caused by three major activities: Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 71MY AISSIOOS Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF * Uncontrolled cutting of the few remaining forests for fuelwood, wood chips and timber, * overgrazing of degraded forest areas and scrub lands, and * the age-old practice of land preparation through ‘soil-baking’ coupled with the ploughing up and down the slopes. Many Farmers believe that agricultural production has declined over the past ten years as a result of soil erosion. However, villagers do not yet consider erosion and loss of top-soil as a major problem since yields are not much affected, because they increasingly apply chemical fertilizer. Today, Ywangan Township, which forms the bulk of Kinda Watershed, only along its Westem borders has some few areas covered with forest left as a result of large scale logging operations and slash-and-burn practices for poppy cultivation in the past. More than 40% of the Demonstration Area is covered by degraded forest, scrubland or grassland. Some households from Konhla, Myinwon, Nyaungbinwa and Myaing are involved in illegal wood processing. Except riverine, cemetery or pagoda forests, farmers traditionally have no established prescription for forest protection. According to the 1988 study, deforestation continues at an alarming rate. As fuelwood is the major source for rural household cooking and heating during the cold season, villages along the main road are facing a gradually depletion of nearby Tesources. According to the 1992 study, households fetching fuelwood within a range of 1-3 miles is greater than it was 4 years ago, an observation however, which can not be verified by own survey data, Farmers in Alegyaung and Myinkyado complained about the problem of water pollution and excessive consumption of fuelwood by a distillery located in Myingyado Village. - Community Cohesiveness and Social Organisations During field preparations, weeding and harvesting most of rural households hire the labour of other fellow villagers. Only a minority of families stil resort to the traditional system of labour exchange. In times of crop disaster, a minority of households expect some help from other villagers, mainly relatives, friends and neighbours. In case of family events, preparation of an ordination, marriage, funeral, or when a new house is built, relatives, friends and neighbours are expected to tum up for help. Regarding genderized division of labour, man and woman both equally participate in all areas of agricultural production. In ‘addition, woman have the extra burden of being responsible for child care and household matters. Moreover, women are more involved in subsistence production and marketing of the produce than men. Their heavy work load, however, contrasts with her traditionally sanctioned inferior position in the family regarding any kind of decision-making related to crop production, investments, of family affairs. Men and women are both considered as owner of land. Land preparations are more done by men, weeding and food processing more by Version 2, March 1986 Final Report Page 72MYASSSIO05 Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| women, while planting and harvesting involves the labour of both, men and women. Men more than women are taking care for livestock and are responsible for the sale of animals. Home gardens is more a domain of women than of men. Timber is cut more frequently by men, while fuelwood is collected more often by women than by men. Drinking water is fetched more by women than by men. Women are exclusively responsible for child care, preparation of food and handicrafts. Both men and women equally look out for agricultural wage-labour opportunities. More frequent than their husbands, women go to the market and keep the housekeeping money. Both, men and women are eligible for credits. Regarding decision-making, traditionally it is considered to be the responsibility of man more than of woman to decide on the sale/purchase of land, crop or livestock, on the kind of crop to be produced, on the education and marriage of their children. Most villagers in the Demonstration Area have participated in communal activities such as operation and maintenance of the irrigation system, maintenance of roads, dams and bridges, and bullding of the Primary School and the monastery. The Village Law-and-Order-Restoration-Committee (V/LORC) stands on top of all other local organisations. A Youth Social Welfare Group does exist in most villages considering preparations of social and religious festivals as their main activity. All religious matters are handled by the Buddhist Trusteeship Organisation. An informal Group of Elderly People is regularly consulted by the ordinary farmers as well as by the formal village leaders in social and other matters. The Parents Teachers Association is responsible for raising funds in order to improve the Primary School's facilities, Likewise, the State Party-controlled Union Solidarity and Development Association exists in most villages. FIGG, at those times called FIGA (Farmers Income Generation Association), are in existence since 1991 in Yagyi and Alegyaung (Village Tract). It concentrated mainly ‘on limited fertilizer supply to its members on the basis of revolving fund generation. With the help of the Project fertilizer is purchased in foreign currency and distributed in advance to its members 20 to 30% cheaper than the local price. Recipient members pay the cost of fertilizer with 20% interest by the end of harvest. This 20% interest is, again, allocated to one half to FIGG and to the other half to the Village Welfare Fund. By today, FIGG also exist in Myindwin, Payagygon and Leywa Village Tract. = Past and On-Going Act s of the Project, Farmers’ Most Urgent Needs Activities of the Projects MYA/81/003 and MYA/93/005 conducted in the Demonstration Area, among others, include: Renovation/improvement of nine village reservoirs or water ponds. Construction of five small-scale irrigation systems. Upgrading and construction of 55 miles of feeder roads. Demonstration of contour bunds, bench terracing, and gully control. Establishment of one main and four smaller nurseries, from which several 100,000 seedlings have been distributed so far free of charge. Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 73MYATSSIO05 ‘Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1; Main Text GAF] + Planting of village woodlots and roadside, wind-break and marginal plantations in several village tracts. Institutional plantations at cemetery, school and monastery compound. Rehabilitation of forest plantations. Setting up of special trials for multi-purpose tree species. Pasture improvement and rehabilitation. Establishment of five meteorological stations, Training of field staff, in-service training for extension workers and farmers. Distribution of construction materials for building/improvement of schools. Distribution of fertlizer on the basis of revolving fund generation. Setting up of five FIGG and WIGG. Provision of two rice hullers and one wheat treshing machine through FIGG. Distribution of construction materials for building/improvement of schools. Improvement/building of Rural Health Centers. Improvement of drinking water supply system. Selection of Yagyi and Alegyaung as model villages. 415 Management Plan and Recommendations 4.15.1 Technical Considerations As stated in the description of the present situation, the environment in Kinda is relatively stable, and soll loss by erosion is only very high where agriculture is practiced on steep slopes. Nevertheless, land use practices are not sustainable; if these unsustainable methods in agriculture continue, soil mining will in the long term degrade the land to such extent that only massive inputs for fertilizer, organic manure and costly conservation measures will sustain productivity. Present practices will in the long term also increase the sediment load in runoff and increase the siltation rate of the Kinda Lake The recommended measures for the Mintaingbin are therefore of corrective nature and serve to prevent escalation in degradation. Presently taken stabilisation measures can prevent the human induced accelerated erosion which features in parts of the Inle Watershed. Due to the fact that a moderate degree of sheet erosion is an overall phenomenon throughout the Demonstration Area, and since there are no severely degraded zones, no priority areas for planning in the Demonstration Areas can be indicated on the basis of biophysical features. It is recommended that implementation of soil and water conservation measures will initiate in one village in the Demonstration Area. Preferably a village in a zone where land class 2 is well represented should be selected. Socio-economic considerations will also be taken into account for the selection. For the Demonstration Area as a whole one of the main measures will be the protection of the slopes in land class 2 with contour bunds or grass strips. No Version 2, March 1856 Final Report Page 74MYAISSI005, Mapping and Land Use Planning: Volume 1: Main Text GAF| measures are required in streams, since these are all well vegetated and do not show signs of erosion. Conceming the shortage of firewood, the strategy on additional production of firewood by individual farmers, given in section 2.1.1. should also be recommended, to prevent further degradation of the remaining forest. As described in this strategy, farmers should be stimulated to grow more trees in their homestead gardens, along plot boundaries, roads and waterways. This is an indirect form of protection of the remaining forest since most of the firewood extraction can be done from privately owned trees in stead of cutting wood in forest remnants. One of the typical features in the undulating and most densely populated zone, are the scattered limestone hillocks. As already mentioned, these hillocks are overgrazed and characterized by sheet erosion and shallow soils. They cover an area of total extent of 876.4ha. Project activities to re-green the hillocks with trees should be dissuaded from, since invariably the soils are shallow, and once the roots have filled the planting pit, growth will cease and the trees will remain stunted, The efforts to start activities which are doomed to fail, with as only objective of 're-greening at any cost will discourage the farmers. Their energy and goodwill should be concentrated on feasible proposals whereby success is assured, This opinion is in contradiction with the opinion of Tennyson who noted that ‘The Forest Department is moving in the right direction by developing vegetation rehabilitation methods for reclaiming these lands' (Tennyson, 1992). A demonstration near Mintaingbin of reforestation of the hillocks is cleverly sited on a lower slope of litle gradient and even there the trees will not perform well once the roots ty to leave the pit. Proposals for the hillocks ate primarily to leave them in their present state. Soils are so shallow that they will not produce much sediment which can endanger the Kinda reservoir. On the other hand, once VFCC's have been installed in a number of villages, a feasible solution will be to utilize the hillocks for controlled grazing. Control of roaming cattle will not be possible without fencing. A live fence as described in Annex 7 under Pastural Management should be established around the hillocks. Thus grazing could be controlled by the VFCC to ensure periodic grazing and a rest period just prior to and during the dry season. The shallow black soil on lime stone are inherently more fertile than the much more common leached deep red soils. A nutritional good grass cover which could possibly be enriched by over-sowing with a legume, will be a valuable source of additional grazing. The proposed live fence surrounding the hillocks will also serve as a hedge to reduce the rate of runoff from the steep slope onto the surrounding cuttivated lands. Apart from this proposal to reduce the pressure on grazing land, the farmers should be familiarized through extension with the grazing strategy described in section 2.1.2. When additional fodder is produced, the duration of the fallow period which partly serves to supply grazing to cattle, can be reduced accordingly. It stands to reason Version 2, March 1996 Final Report Page 75