Sediment retention
SEDIMENT RETENTION

This maps shows sediment retention by natural vegetation, comparing the current landscape with a landscape that is all agriculture. Areas with the highest number of households downstream have the potential to provide ecosystem service benefits to the greatest number of people.
Natural vegetation plays a greater role in retaining sediment in the northern and western areas of Myanmar than it does in the rest of the country.

Clean water
DOWNSTREAM HOUSEHOLDS

This map shows number of downstream households that use surface water for drinking.
Forests in northern and western Myanmar help purify water used downstream, in the densely populated areas of the Ayeyarwaddy Delta, Yangon and Bago.
Erosion impact in clean water
SEDIMENT EXPORT % CHANGE

This map shows how an increase in erosion due to the loss of natural vegetation may impact different townships, for the people who live there and use surface water for drinking.
Darker townships would experience a greater percent increase in sediments in surface drinking water sources if upstream vegetation is converted to agriculture. This map is under current climate conditions. A similar pattern is seen for climate change scenarios, indicating that land use change is a more dominant driver of erosion than climate change effects.
If upstream areas were converted to agriculture, large areas in the west and the Tanintharyi Region would experience significant increases in erosion that would affect those that rely on surface water for drinking.
Dam efficiency & natural vegetation
GRAND DAMS & DAMS SERVICESHEDS

Natural vegetation can help improve the efficiency of dam operations and reduce dam maintenance costs by reducing erosion to downstream dams.
Sediment ending up in dams can compromise structural integrity and increase dredging costs.
SEDIMENT EXPORTS % CHANGE

Natural vegetation will be even more important in retaining sediment under future climate change, especially under high emissions scenarios in the latter half of the century.
This is particularly evident when looking at sediment increases at specific dams under future climate scenarios.
The sediment export is the one that erodes from a landscape and reaches streams.
SEDIMENT RETENTION DETAIL

