Vidanage, Shamen P.

IUCN Sri Lanka is the National Secretariat of Mangroves for the Future (MFF) regional initiative that is being implemented in the country since 2008. MFF Sri Lanka implemented over 82 small grants to date and as an innovative step, decided to allocate resources to better understand the post-project sustainability of MFF projects. Fifty nine (59) projects have been implemented during 2009-2012 of which 54 were evaluated.

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is a partnership-based regional initiative promoting investments in coastal ecosystems that support sustainable development. This booklet documents selected MFF Small Grants Facility Phase 2 projects, implemented in Sri Lanka, with emphasis on the sharing of good practices and lessons learnt. The projects are categorized into four thematic areas, namely, Generating Knowledge, Education and Awareness, Ecosystem Restoration, and Livelihood Enhancement.

In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, four organizations, Both ENDS, World Wide Fund for Nature, Wetlands International and IUCN Netherlands Committee, implemented “Green Coast: for nature and people after the tsunami”, to assist the tsunamiaffected countries in Asia: India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia.

Sri Lanka has one of the oldest traditions of irrigation in the world. The economy and human settlements of early Sri Lankan society were organized around the ancient water tank (water storage reservoir) irrigation systems. These traditional tank systems thus form a vital component of both the natural and manmade landscape in Sri Lanka.

The ancient tank system supported people’s livelihoods in times of foreign invasions. These livelihoods were environment friendly, and had the capacity to feed many a generation who constructed them. Today, many rural people still use these tanks for irrigation and other purposes. IUCN Sri Lanka Country Office implemented a project on integrating wetland ecosystem values into river basin management in collaboration with the Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka.