World Environment Day is celebrated
every year on June 5th to bring awareness among the people
regarding environmental issues and to take positive steps for the survival of
the environment. The theme for World Environment Day
2021 is “Ecosystem Restoration”. This
year, the Day will also serve as the formal launch of the United Nations
Decade on “Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030”. The restoration could occur in many ways – for example; through actively planting or
by removing pressures so that nature could recover
on its own. It is not always possible or desirable to return an
ecosystem to its original state. We still need farmland and
infrastructure on land that was once forest, for instance, and ecosystems, like
societies, need to adapt to a changing climate. The
CSIAP is expected to bring positive environmental benefits to the project areas
through the scale-up of climate-resilient agricultural technologies and farming
practices that help improve soil health, water use efficiency, and catchment
area treatment to promote more efficient use of surface water and more
sustainable use of groundwater for agriculture. An Environment Assessment and
Management Framework (EAMF) has been prepared to guide the screening of
activities for physical investments, project-supported advisory, policy support
interventions, resulting in implementation from an environmental perspective, mitigation
actions to manage their environmental impacts including preparation, implementation
of Environmental Assessments (EAs) and Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) to
address site-specific risks and impacts and subsequent monitoring and reporting
requirements.
The CSIAP has taken several actions to bring awareness among
the people regarding environmental issues and to take positive steps for the
survival of the environment and ecosystem restoration. More than 150
Environmental Screening and Environmental Management Plans were prepared to
identify the negative environmental impact and to produce mitigation measures
through the project activities. The Green Building Concept was introduced
through the 47 ASC modernization activities. It highly emphasized asbestos and led
free materials for the use of the rehabilitation process.
The project has conducted five major production programs which were applied a holistic
pest control approach that utilizes all available pest control strategies on a
case-by-case basis while maintaining the pest population below at an
Economically Injury Level (EIL). Whenever possible, human-animal and
ecosystem-friendly pest control strategies are used.
Irrigation rehabilitation programs are implemented for the rehabilitation,
modernization of tanks in the hotspot area. This rehabilitation includes restoration of
vegetations around the tanks to minimize water evaporation and absorption of
metals in recycled water and desilting. The restoration process was successfully
achieved in North Central province replanting 300 trees saving 48 trees during the tank rehabilitation process. The CSIAP was able to
save thousands of trees as well as flora and fauna during the implementation of
project activities including ASC modernization, tank rehabilitation, agri road
rehabilitating and cultivation program.
The
Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) is particularly significant in all the Hotspot
Areas. To mitigate HEC in the hotspot area, the project has planned a mechanism to
build a direct collision with humans and elephants. In order to avoid further
intensifying HEC, innovative landscape-level strategies and 410 km extent “Bio Fencing” will be established where
wildlife and humans can co-exist in the same landscape.
A
decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 will be declared by the United
Nations to Reimagine, Recreate and restore the ecosystem in the world this
year. Similar to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, the CSIAP
has planned to implement the below-mentioned programs to reimagine, recreate and
restore the ecosystem in the hotspot area.
Model
Cascade Development - Project will develop
eleven models Cascade to
1. Holding
the water from monsoons and preventing flood, recharging groundwater and
storing water for irrigation, household and other uses
2. Support
restoration of vegetations around the tanks and
3. Minimizing
ecological and offsite impacts done by the farmers themselves in HAS. The aim
is to enable communities to better cope with climate change impacts while
restoration of ecosystem
Agro-ecological Landscape Resilience
Plans - The project proposes to develop a set
of science-based "integrated" climate-resilient agro-ecological
landscape plan focusing on the selected cascade of the HSA. This is to
understand the biodiversity attributes, ecosystem services and to introduce
Nature base Solutions (NbS) for the current issues and seek opportunities to
bring in greater environmental and social resilience through appropriate.
 |
| Dr. Janaka Jayawardena |
Developing Agroecology Training of
Trainers (TOT) Manual and conducting TOT Program - Agroecology
is an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social
concepts and principles to the design and manages ecosystems and ecosystem
services supporting agriculture. It also provides disaster risk reduction
benefits including climate resilience, in addition to the sustainable
productivity improvement due to quality ecosystems. The project has planned to
train project technical staff, extension officers and farmer awareness on
agroecology in HAS. To support this process and also to support agriculture
extension services, the CSIAP proposes a partnership with the (Internatuional
Union of Consevation of Nature (IUCN) to develop an agroecology Training of
Trainers manual and guideline.By
Dr. Janaka Jayawardena, Environmental
and Social Safeguard Specialist, CSIAP.
