Case studies

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.

Despite endorsements of the concept of sustainable development and the linking of sustainable development with the Millennium Development Goals, progress towards the eradication of poverty has been disappointing. The underlying principles of sustainable development need to be more critically and actively applied to both poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation.

The principles and guidelines developed by IUCN and NOAA are addressed to marine protected areas and coastal managers and are intended to promote better understanding and recognition of the linkages between MPAs and the wider coastal and marine area and of the need to establish effective incentives and institutional arrangements to manage marine protected areas in the broader context of integrated coastal and ocean management frameworks.