Planning phase | PANORAMA

Stakeholder Engagement

Key stakeholders such as Department of Wildlife Conservation, Divisional Secretariat & District Secretariats, Ministry of Environment, UNDP, Ocean Resources Conservation Association, University of Wayamba, IUCN, Sri Lanka Navy, Coastal Conservation Department, National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency were involved in this project. Together the technical knowledge and experience of experts in the field, demarcation of the Bar Reef, designing of buoys, buoy deployment and allied activities were implemented.

While above named institutions provided the neccessary technical expertise, training and awareness and input for monitoring and evaluation, key local community members, such as members of the 'Tour Boat Society' (a society which was established for tour guides in the area), were also given the opportunity to participate in the demarcation activities to identify the GPS locations of the areas to be protected at Bar reef with the participation of specialists and other stakeholders. An identified team of locals, such as tour boat operators/guides were also involved as local volunteers to assist in monitoring and maintenance of the buoys and the protected zone.

Since the community involved were heavily dependent on promoting tourism in Bar Reef, and in order to encourage flow of tourists to the Bar Reef, they were motivated to participate in conservation activities.
District/Divisional Secretariats and DWC were capacitated on the true gound level situation and importance of Bar Reef conservation and its biological value for the both the community and environment.
Participatory approach to project design & implementation and mobilization of national, regional & local level champions.

During the course of implementation of conservation activities, it was identified that inclusive community engagement, mobilization and transparancy is much needed. Since this was a transitional community who, depending on the season, engaged in both tourism and fishing activities simultaneously. it was difficult to find a fully focused and committed community to actively participate for conservation activities throughout the year. Further, it was noticed that with changing economic conditions, Easter Sunday attack, COVID-19 sitution and fall of tourism, community was rather less driven to participate in Bar Reef conservation.

In conclusion, with capacity building and awareness raising, active, voluntary engagement in buoy redeployment after off-season, periodic progress monitoring and recording of the changes of the reef and increased community awareness on natural heatwaves, anthropogenic activities that adversely affect the ecosystem, led to motivation and dedication of community to conserve the Bar Reef and ensure sustainability.

Radical Listening

Radical Listening process

ASRI

Radical Listening process

ASRI

Radical Listening initiates a paradigm shift by asking Traditional and Indigenous rainforest communities this simple question. “You are the guardians of a rainforest that is valuable to the health of the whole planet. How might the world community assist you to live in balance with this rainforest as a thank you for your guardianship of it?” Our belief is that communities hold the key to humanity’s longevity. Traditional conservation approaches are often based on punitive measures and seldom linked to human well-being. Our approach is based on reciprocity, and valuing local people and traditional science.

No intervention from third parties, all local communities (man and woman) have the right to express their opinions during Radical Listening sessions.

Core to ASRI’s mission is democratising protecting rainforests. Local ownership is key to our approach where all programs, products, and resources are owned by the local communities. ASRI plays a key role in organizing, convening, and supporting rapid development and uptake of interventions that support a just transition to regenerative livelihoods. The iterative and ongoing process of Radical Listening continuously improves programs over time and ensures local ownership and efficacy. Involvement is paramount and integrated throughout the planning, implementation, and ongoing sustainable practices. The in-country staff are 100% nationals, and we prioritize hiring local community members whenever possible.

Innovation

The project had a number of innovative elements. It brought together the elements of a smartphone (camera, gps, dropdown menu's) and designed a recreational site management system to utilise them - this is a world first.
It is an open system so additional devices can be added - people counters, flood monitors all via Internet of things (IOT)

- trusted local company to work on the project was essential

- worldwide approach to sourcing and ideas (IOT devices sourced from New Zealand)

- having a project manager of 13 years outdoor recreation expierence and an innovatie thinker to develop and drive the project

Partner implementing company
We worked previously with a company that didn't work out as they were only commited to the research phase rather than the project inisiative and management phase

Keep up to date
The area is changing quickly so it is important to keep watch for new developments and have a platform that can integrate them

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Assessment Studies

The underpinning purpose of this building block is to create baseline for the entire solution. Once the site is selected for solution, primary and secondary data is collected through research and analysis. For instance, It is with the help of bathymetric data that the depth of the shortlisted ponds is identified, which further facilitates in choosing the right pond with the required depth (0.8 - 3 meters) for installing floating treatment wetland.

Some of the important conditions required for enabling the success of this building block include as follows;

1. Accessing credible research sources

2. Liaison with credible technical experts

1. Selection of the right pond

2. Successful installation of FTW while considering all prerequisites suggested by literature reviews

3. Comparative analysis of wastewater quality both pre and post installation of FTW that indicated improvement in water quality

4. Choosing the right plant species

Two main suggestions include

1.Choosing the right design for aligning the floating mats to avoid entanglement of buffalos and

2. Choosing the right raw material of mats to avoid their dislodging in case of storms.

Participatory process of identifying beneficiary communities

This project is based on a philosophy of working with communities who have asked for support, so that the solution is driven by the priorities of the community rather than imposing outside goals or values. The first building block of identifying beneficiary communities through participatory processes is critical to the success of the project, as trust and collaboration will ensure better outcomes. Community investment and eagerness to engage in sustainable actions are also critical traits to identify in the beneficiary communities as they will be taking the lead on their ecosystem conservation and restoration efforts.

Local partner organizations and/or field staff serve as local liaisons with rural and indigenous communities, building relationships and trust
Local field staff organize community assemblies

Building trust with communities is important, as they may have had negative prior experiences with outside agents or groups exerting pressures on their land

Planning phase

Inception phase

Local

FISHING GEAR

Traditional fishing gear excluded women from fishing because it was expensive, too heavy and neccessitated fishing at night. Strings and baits helped to overcome these challenges. Strings with baits attached are hanged in between mangrove trees close to homes. Women cast them early morning and collect their catch next day early morning.

Mangroves have a high accumulation of micro-organisms, phytoplankton and other life forms that constitute the diet of different species of fish. Mangroves receive high concentration of nutrients from rivers and adjacent riparian ecosystems. Mangroves also provide shelter against predators and allows long-time fishing and safe breeding. Other enabling factors: provision of security against theft and destruction by livestock, cooperation and commitment from spouses, sound management of toxic waste and market mechanisms.

We have learnt the following lessons: changes in power relations that can be brought about is important, the mangrove forest must be of the size that is adequate for all in order to avoid conflicts over the right of fishing in a particular area, the focus should not be only on fishing but on other social, economic and ecological issues as well e.g. waste management, financial management and marketing, broader protection of the environment, nutrition and health, gender equality, human rights, etc.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Local

Awareness on Climate change adaptation and mitigation approach

SALM practices on Demonstration plot

Smart farmers and Transformation

During cultivation farmers will be involving in tree planting to recover the deforested areas. This will be done parallel to practicing Sustainable Agricultural Land Management that involves recovering of soil and other maintainance practises done on the land surface during cultivation.

Presence of area for replanting
Availability of tree seedlings
willingness of the nursery producers
Availability of fund for daily secondary nursery management
Availability of human resource

In the area we already implemented the project, this become success due to the awareness created and enhanced capacity of farmers on climate change adaptation and mitigation.

For only this two years of implementing this project about 400000 trees were planted by smallholder farmers and 15000 hactors were cultivated under sustainable agriculture.

To Foster that Wildlife Friendly Actions (i.e, guanaco use) could bring solutions on the conflict generated between conservation and livestock production paradigm.

Communication is vital for any company, business, or professional activity. It is useless to have a lot of knowledge and great abilities to generate a good product if we do not manage to make ourselves visible in an effective way, attracting consumers. For large companies (due to having a budget and specifically assigned), it is relatively easy to find the perfect insight and get to shape the campaign. SEO strategies, SEM, usability and UX issues, social media, implementation of channels such as email marketing or SMS, etc. A good campaign knows how to make room in all these areas. However, it is a mistake to think that only companies with large resources can gain a good digital presence or outside it. When we talk about "social communication" we must bear in mind that not everyone has access to each of the available digital platforms, nor are they present in all existing social networks. We consider a "successful" strategy if we manage to gain visibility using the most frequent communication channels available to capture interest and loyalty.

“create, measure, and learn” potential communication (comm) strategies on WFA. These workshops will explain basic guidelines on comm styles, impacts of different strategies, and the scale of those. Some campaigns will want to gain visibility, notoriety, generate engagement in social networks or simply cause a considerable impact to make the audience act. Training for comm actions to build and strengthen capacity within national stakeholders and local communities to expand on WFA.

The PayúnMatrú Cooperative members may be able in the future to teach the methods they learn during this project to other groups that wish to manage guanacos in Patagonia. Wildlife Friendly Actions to obtain guanaco fiber become a standard procedure by guanaco-fiber producers all around the Patagonian Steppe.

The communication efforts applied so far, through small notes on science pages, television, and radio channels to disseminate our project paid off. Since one of them reached the managers of Good Growth, the international company that connects science, customers with the world´s most successful Brands. With the help of WCS that is a representative of the WFEN and as such, acting as a link between both companies to sign a contract, which states two important points: a)the parties understand that the costs of a well-conducted management operation imply that the base price of guanaco raw fiber should be 200$; b)the purchase of 100 kilos from the Payun Matru Cooperative.

The transhumant conference

The transhumant conference is a consultation platform that brings together local and foreign transhumant pastoralists in order to discuss the resolution of conflicts between breeders - farmers, breeders - gamekeepers and wild animal breeders.

The strengthening of collaboration between institutions has made it possible to build a solid basis for dialogue and to put in place lasting resolutions.

The participation of Nigerian transhumant herders also made it possible to establish frank collaboration between the countries in terms of transhumance management.

The possibility of implementing concrete actions to resolve the problem of overgrazing, the creation of grazing areas, water points, and the facilitation of the sedentarization of foreign breeders.

Encourage the generation of a chain that increases the commercial value of the guanaco fiber by linking the primary production sectors with the national and international textile sectors.

Work with different actors at the local, national, and international levels, to contribute to the design of a fiber value chain that can trigger the activity. The work will consist of the identification of key public and private actors in order to provide tools for the commercialization of the product. The activities that will be developed in this stage of the project include meetings with the textile sector, application authorities, and various important local actors in this area.

-Meetings with representatives of national organizations to evaluate background, regulations, marketing, and support possibilities for wild guanaco management experiences.

-Meetings with selected fashion designers at the national (i.e Buenos Aires) or international (i.e Canada) scale, to generate a fair value chain and promote WFA experience.

-Value-added options will be identified at the national/international level through meetings with actors from the public and private sectors, to expand WFA as a “Based nature Solution".

Wildlife camelid management actions began in the 80s, based on the philosophy of the "ICDPs", seeking to link biodiversity conservation with improving the life quality of life of local people. These projects, which initially focused on the vicuña, were based on the application of economic incentives to promote the use of wildlife. We prove that wild guanaco use could improve the numbers of those initiatives because of the wider distribution range of the species. In Argentina, the production of SAC fiber could easily double due to an increase in the number of sheared populations and an increase in the frequency of shearing. This would clearly lead to a change in the production paradigm in contrast to the current one. Guanaco fiber is amongst.The Cooperative decided to add value to the raw fiber in order to increase the value. By 2010, most of the projects had stopped due to difficulty in marketing guanaco fiber with a price of USD $40-60 per kilo. The "problem" is there are only two trade companies that buy raw fiber that is exported mainly to Italy and control the market prices.