Regional Forum at Ambalangoda in Sri Lanka

Nature Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS), under the #CoastalResilienceProject participated in the “Regional Forum”, organized by #nagenahirufoundation, from the 5th of February to the 9th of February, 2024 at the #nagenahiruenvironmentallearningcenter at Ambalangoda in Sri Lanka. The forum focused on building a “Transnational Civil Society Partnership” to increase the #resilience of the coastal population in South Asia. The event brought together a consortium of partners including #GlobalNatureFund (GNF), Germany; #bangladeshenvironmentanddevelopmentsociety (BEDS), Bangladesh; #EMACEFoundation, Sri Lanka; #HuvadhooAid, Maldives; The Centre for Research On New International Economic Order, (#CReNIEO), India; South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resources Studies (#SaciWATERs), India; #TerrePolicyCentre, India and #OneTreePlanted (OTP).

Through engaging working group sessions and insightful presentations, participants had the opportunity to share the best practices and experiences from their respective regions. Ms. Ajanta Dey, Joint Secretary and Programme Director of NEWS conducted a session with Living Lake South Asia Partners. Dr. Chandrima Sinha, Programme Manager (Planning and Monitoring) from NEWS shared the experience on “Women’s Empowerment for Resilient and Adaptation against Climate Change in Sundarban”. Young minds from Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and Maldives also joined their hands to share their ideas to address the challenges related to “Nature and Climate Crisis” in the “Youth Forum”. Mr. Sourav Bera from NEWS, highlighted the importance of youth leadership and Climate Literacy Programs in the context of Indian Sundarban.

The Regional Forum helped in facilitating knowledge exchange, strengthening collaboration among the partners, and develop strategies to engender resilience of coastal populations in South Asia against impending threats of climate change.