BHUBANESWAR: IIT-Bhubaneswar in collaboration with the Enhancing Climate Resilience of India’s Coastal Communities (ECRICC) on Tuesday organised a workshop to work out a plan for protection, restoration and management of seagrass and salt marshes that are vital to the state’s ecosystem for carbon sequestration and coastal protection.
UNDP India head for Energy, Environment and Resilience Ashish Chaturvedi provided an overview of UNDP Green Climate Fund (GCF) initiatives and the progress of the GCF-supported ECRICC project, while associate professor and head of School of Earth, Ocean and Climate Sciences at IIT-BBS SH Farooq outlined the scope of seagrass and salt marsh interventions, expected outcomes and deliverables.
Senior scientist at James Cook University, Australia Amrit Mishra spoke on stakeholder roles, timelines and capacity-building requirements for protection and restoration of seagrass and salt marshes in the state.
The interactive discussions facilitated knowledge-sharing on global best practices, policy recommendations and innovative restoration methodologies tailored to Odisha’s unique ecological and socio-economic context.The insights gained from the workshop will be included in the plan to be worked out for restoration, protection and management of seagrass and salt marshes, ensuring long-term environmental and socio-economic benefits for local communities of the state, ECRICC project officials said.
The state government had signed an MoU with IIT-BBS under ECRICC project last month for restoration of critical coastal ecosystems.