The World Environmental Day 2021 “Ecosystem Restoration”

World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5^th 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.