District level awareness on ecosystem services benefits and innovative financing for sustainable land management

The workshop focused on the importance of agricultural ecosystem services, sustainable land management practices, how different agricultural practices affect the current ecosystem services, guide to biodiversity assessments to assess the ecosystem services in agricultural lands and the use of innovative financing mechanisms to encourage farmers to adopt sustainable practices on their lands. In addition, the workshop provided an opportunity for the trainers who attended the previous Training of Trainers (TOT) to deliver an introductory presentation on the importance of the above topics.

The workshop was attended by over 50 participants from several government institutions. The participants included officials from the District Secretariat Nuwara Eliya, Divisional Secretariats (Kotmale, Ambagamuwa, Walapane), Agrarian Services Department, Central Environment Authority, Forest Department, Land Use Policy Planning Department, Irrigation Department, Agriculture Department,  Survey Department, Department of Wildlife Conservation and Food and Agriculture Organization, across different levels including Assistant District Secretary (Nuwara Eliya), Divisional Secretaries, field officers and directors of departments. The event was facilitated by IUCN Sri Lanka as part of component three of the GEF funded “Rehabilitation of Degraded Agricultural Lands (RDAL) project implemented by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Management Centre of the Department of Agriculture.