On November 19, 2021, Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR) with IDH and eight other partners, launched ECOBARI – a collaborative aimed to promote Ecosystem Based Adaptation for Resilient Incomes.  The event witnessed over 150 participants.

ECOBARI received a huge support from the development fraternity; it is seen as a major step in fostering climate change adaptation and supporting the incomes of marginalized communities in rural India. COP26 highlighted the increasing global concern over the adverse impact of climate change on our ecosystems that has especially disrupted the lives of the underprivileged. Frequent floods, forest fires, spells of drought and such natural calamities are fast becoming the new normal. While this is deteriorating the overall quality of life for everyone, climate change is majorly wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of rural and tribal communities where agriculture and forest produce are their lifeline.  But that’s not where it ends. The ripple effect is on the entire nation, as seen in the rising hunger and malnutrition, inflation, widening socio-economic gap, and declining human development index.

Perhaps, the recent COVID pandemic is a wake-up call in this context. It is an urgent nudge to build resilience as we secure the health of planet and its people. A collaborative approach to implementing nature-based solutions is indeed the only way to regain the ecological balance.  

With nearly three decades of persistent work in ecosystem restoration and building climate resilience, WOTR has successfully transformed the lives and livelihoods of people across several villages in India. On this robust foundation of extensive experience and a rich knowledge pool, WOTR is now ready to join hands with like-minded organizations and individuals, to successfully upscale Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) in India. The aim is to accelerate pace and amplify the impact of EbA to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

ECOBARI – Vision, Mission and Roadmap

The concept of ECOBARI emerged from a series of workshops organized by WOTR and TMG Research between 2019 and 2021, where stakeholders representing the central and state governments, research and academia, practitioner organizations, donors, community representatives, media and others discussed EbA as a means to addressing climate change.

ECOBARI is the abbreviation for Ecosystems Based Adaptation for Resilient Incomes. In many Indian languages ‘bari’ means ‘home’. Since we are all dependent on one ecosystem or the other, for us ECOBARI also represents ‘Ecological Home’. We present the Vision, Mission and Roadmap of the initiative.#

Source: https://thewotrblog.wordpress.com/