Biome: Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests... Size: 5,900 square miles... Conservation Status: Critical/Endangered... G200: No... Introduction: "In 1929 the Burma Game Manual stated its guiding principle: "A countryside devoid of wildlife is uninteresting and unnatural, and life under such conditions can adversely affect the national character." Therefore, invaluable natural and national assets had to be saved from destruction. This has not happened in large portions of Myanmar, especially the fertile lands of the Irrawaddy freshwater swamp forest. Most of the ecoregion?s original forests, and subsequent wildlife such as Asian elephants and tigers, have been destroyed. Protection of the last remaining bits of habitat and restoration ecology will be key elements of returning this ecoregion to its natural state. Description Location and General Description The Irrawaddy River flows into the Bay of Bengal, and its delta is made up of mangroves and freshwater swamp forests of this ecoregion. This ecoregion is an extremely fertile area because of the riverborne silt deposited in the delta. The southern portion of the ecoregion transitions into the Myanmar Coastal Mangroves [IM1404] and is made up of fanlike marshes with oxbow lakes, islands, and meandering rivulets and streams. Topographically the region is primarily flatlands. The western part of the region is bounded by the Rakhine (Arakan) Yomas, with the highest elevation at about 1,287 m to the north, tapering down to the south to 428 m...."