This compilation of stories aims to document the experience of the United Nations Development Programme and its partners including United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and non government organizations in promoting and supporting community-based action to contribute to conservation and rehabilitation of the Inle Lake. Over the past decades Inle Lake and its watershed area has been experiencing severe environmental and physical degradation due to several human, natural and anthropogenic factors. The impacts of climate change, the rapid increase of population and the intensive unsustainable practices have led to a rapid shrinkage of the water surface and decline in water quality. The lake’s biodiversity and ecosystems have been seriously endangered.

The initiatives described in our stories were implemented under UNDP Inle Lake Conservation and Rehabilitation Project, which was launched in 2012 with financial support of the Government of Norway in an urgent need to act in the face of deteriorating conditions of the lake and its inhabitants. The goal was to reverse environmental degradation and uplift the lives of the local community.