Training given to 32 people to better manage coastal communities

Organisation puts together workshop on project management and proposal writing for members of community organisations.

KARACHI:

Mangroves for the Future organised a two-day workshop on project management and proposal writing for members of community-based organisations so that they can look after Pakistan’s coastal communities in a better way.

Renowned Sri Lankan biologist and agriculturist Dr Ranjith Mahindapala conducted the workshop in which 32 people were trained, including members from the group’s national coordination body. It comprises representatives from the federal, Sindh and Balochistan governments, coastal development authorities of Sindh and Balochistan, Shehri, IUCN Pakistan, the widlife department, Pakistan Navy, National Institute of Oceanography and various donors and NGOs.

The Mangroves for the Future programme is a regional initiative active in eight countries, including India, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. It aims to strengthen environmental sustainability and encourage investment in coastal ecosystem management. As a part of the initiative, nine organisations were awarded small grants in 2011 to work on several projects in Sindh and Balochistan. For this year, ten projects have been shortlisted, out of which five will be picked.

At the ceremony to mark the workshop’s conclusion, Coastal Development Authority’s Shamsul Haq Memon lauded the programme for its efforts to sustain Pakistan’s coastal resources.

He said that the small grants programme has created jobs in coastal communities. Under the small grants facility, people receive up to US$10,000 for one year.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2012.