The Global Nature Fund (GNF) and South Asia Consortium for Interdisciplinary Water Resource Studies (SaciWATERs) in collaboration with BOBP–IGO and the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA) organized a webinar on the topic ‘Coastal Governance in South Asia: Strengthening Coastal Regulatory Policies’ on 16th October 2024. The webinar was attended by experts, researchers, and representatives from various Civil Society Organizations (CSO) from across the South Asian countries viz., India, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

 

Dr. P. Krishnan, Director, BOBP-IGO, while delivering the keynote address, presented an overview of the policy and legal frameworks for coastal governance in SA countries and highlighted the challenges in implementing them. He emphasized the urgency to form regional collaboration to establish a healthy coastal governance system.

 

The panel was chaired by Prof. Janakarajan, Former Director of MIDS (Madras Institute of Development Studies), and the panel comprised of Ms. Ajanta Dey, Nature Environment & Wildlife Society (NEWS); Mr. Maksudur Rahman, Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) and Mr. Sajeewa Emmanuel, Nagenahiru Foundation from Sri Lanka. The panelists presented an overview of the status and issues in coastal governance from their respective country’s scenario and called for a strong participatory approach in the coastal governance framework, involving local communities in the decision-making process.