Sri Lanka Red Cross Society

🌾 On the shores of Galenbiduna Wewa, a group of young people decided their home's natural beauty deserved to be shared with the world. In 2022, eight alumni of the National Youth Corps founded the Galenbiduna Wewa Api Organisation 🌿 turning eco-tourism into new income for local youth, from boat tours 🚤 to spotting elephants 🐘 and birdwatching 🦆 Now, kayaks 🛶 are replacing fishing dinghies for safer trips, with support from the Managing Together project funded by @theGEF led by Sri Lanka's @Min_of_Env_SL and @UNDP with @IUCN Sri Lanka and the @SLRedCross 📸 Full story: bit.ly/4AnyOAE @UNDPasiapac #SriLanka #Ecotourism #SDGs #ManagingTogether #YouthLedChange

From clearing forest 🌳 to growing more on less land 🍉 this is Sarath's story. He used to farm the traditional way in Viharagama, a village that borders Wilpattu National Park. Every season meant clearing 4-5 acres of forest for watermelon and pumpkin, the land the wild elephants next door called home too 🐘 Everything changed when Sarath joined the Managing Together project and switched to climate-smart farming. With drip irrigation, mulch film and netting, he's now growing MORE watermelon on just a quarter acre than he ever did on five 📊✨ Word spread fast. Soon trucks were lining up in the village for his harvest, something Viharagama had never seen before. 🚛 But for Sarath, the biggest win wasn't the extra income. It was finally being able to stop clearing the forest, and knowing the wild has a little more room to breathe 🌿 Less land. More harvest. More room for the wild 🐘💚 Read: bit.ly/4xspvge The Managing Together project is funded by @theGEF and led by the @Min_of_Env_SL together with @UNDP #SriLanka, with technical support from @IUCN and the @SLRedCross @UNDPasiapac #ManagingTogether #ClimateSmartAgriculture #WildlifeConservation

🌱 Meet Sudharika, a farmer from Edirispothana, Mahawilachchiya, who turned years of debt into a thriving harvest. For generations, families here farmed the way their parents did battling unpredictable rains, pests, and shrinking yields. Sudharika knew that struggle too, taking loan after loan just to keep her land alive! 🌾 Then she joined the Managing Together project 🤝 and everything changed. New techniques and drip irrigation turned a quarter acre into her best harvest yet: Rs. 550,000 in her very first season 💰✨ Today, she's completely debt-free and investing in her family's future instead of paying off interest 💚 Managing Together is a @theGEF funded initiative led by the @Min_of_Env_SL and @UNDP #SriLanka, with @IUCN #SriLanka and the @SLRedCross helping farmers boost livelihoods while protecting biodiversity. 🐝🌾 📖 Read Sudharika's full story - bit.ly/4zZDZGY @UNDPasiapac #ManagingTogether #SriLanka #SustainableFarming #Biodiversity #ClimateAction

🐟 Saving Sri Lanka's Rarest Fish 70 years ago, the Red-Finned Labeo swam in shoals across the dry zone's rivers and tanks, by 1991, a nationwide search found just one fish! That's how close Labeo lankae came to disappearing forever, until one conservationist decided to change its fate. 🔬 In 2018, DNA analysis confirmed it: this fish exists nowhere else on Earth. 🌊 Between 2019–2021, a survey across 61 sites found it clinging on in 27, always where riverbank Kumbuk trees still stood. 🐠 Scientists learned to help it breed in captivity, producing tens of thousands of young fish. 🎉 On 22 May 2023 (International Biodiversity Day), over 30,000 captive-bred fish were released back into the wild across 11 sites. Thanks to this work, protecting Labeo lankae is now a legal condition for any development project in its river basin. But the fight isn't over. Invasive species, illegal fishing, pollution, and deforestation still threaten its future. This is the story of the Red-Finned Labeo that has been supported through the Managing Together Project, led by the @Min_of_Env_SL and @UNDP in #SriLanka, together with @IUCN Sri Lanka and the @SLRedCross 🔗 Read the full story - bit.ly/4bJqdxG #Biodiversity #ConservationInAction #ManagingTogether #UNDP

🌊 Where Boundaries Meet Ecosystems: Rethinking Conservation Through Landscape Planning In Sri Lanka's Malwathu Oya basin, the "ridge-to-reef" approach is rewriting how we protect nature, following the landscape's own boundaries from Ritigala Mountain through the dry forests near Wilpattu, all the way to the Gulf of Mannar 🐠 Because deforestation upstream doesn't stay upstream, it reaches the coral reefs far downstream! That's why the Managing Together Project funded by @theGEF is led by the @Min_of_Env_SL and @UNDP in #SriLanka, together with @IUCN #SriLanka and the @SLRedCross Dr. Shamen Vidanage of IUCN Sri Lanka breaks down why nature's map matters more than ours 🗺️✨ 📖 Read the full story - bit.ly/4qvYnem

🌿 Celebrating International Day for Biological Diversity 2026 in Anuradhapura, #SriLanka 🇱🇰 The @Min_of_Env_SL together with @UNDP #lka, @IUCN , and Central & Provincial government of Anuradhapura district along with university students, school children and other partners, commemorated the #BiodiversityDay2026 under the global theme: “Acting Locally for Global Impact.” The event highlighted how community-led conservation under @theGEF funded Managing Together Project (MTP) contributes to both local resilience and global biodiversity goals. #BiodiversityDay #IBD2026

The event consisted of: 🦋 Opening of the Urban Butterfly Garden 🌱 Launch of the Mahakanadarawa Cascade Ecotourism initiative 🌊 Supporting the Dept of Wildlife Conservation & locally led biodiversity and sustainable livelihood initiatives in #Mannar. These initiatives promote biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable livelihoods through locally driven action. Together, we reaffirm our commitment to protecting #SriLanka’s rich natural heritage through partnerships that benefit both people and nature. 🌏💚 @Min_of_Env_SL @UNDP @IUCN @SLRedCross