
The Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project aims to protect Burma’s (Myanmar) Irrawaddy dolphins and the unique heritage of cooperative fishing, where fishermen and dolphins communicate and fish together, by supporting local communities to develop community-based ecotourism.
What do they do?
The Irrawaddy dolphins are threatened by the use of fishing methods like electrofishing, the noise of large boats and entanglement in gill nets. However, those dolphins are essential to local communities as they have developed a special bond of cooperative fishing.
To raise awareness about the situation and generate income for local fishermen, they organize tours for visitors to experience this unique cooperative fishing activity with a local guide.
All tours include a dolphin conservation fee and are carbon neutral.
Tours take place in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy Dolphin Protected Area where cooperative fishing villages maintaining traditional culture can be visited as well as the 126 species of birds of the Upper Irrawaddy.
How can you help?
Your donation directly benefits their needs:
- 25$: patrolling budget for one week
- 50$: microfinance loan starting value
- 250$: waste management budget per village or market
- 1000$: dolphin conservation zone annual expansion budget
You can book one of their tours to discover the art of cooperative fishing while supporting local fishermen.
EXO Foundation support
In 2023, the Living Irrawaddy Dolphin Project won a sustainability award for its amazing work.
This is also one of the responsible tourism activities recommended to our travel partners. We highly recommend its visits.