Watershed Organisation Trust- Working For A Sustainable Society

Watershed Organisation Trust- Working For A Sustainable Society

There are various issues that the world is facing today. Climate change and various other issues related to environments such as air and water pollution are amongst the major challenges in front of us. All this is affecting everyone around the world but poor people are the worst affected.

Watershed organization trust, a globally recognized organization, has been working to restore the ecosystem and participatory water development to transform the lives of millions of poor in India.

To protect the environment and ensure sustainable development, a lot needs to be done. The various themes that need to be worked upon are1. Watershed Development- Watershed Development Programmes in Maharashtra refers to the conservation of natural resources, land, and water, along with sustainable human development around the watershed area. This takes into account various measures that’ll help in the conservation of the watershed areas. Watershed development includes natural resources regeneration and checking the overexploitation of natural resources by people residing around watershed areas. Along with restoring the ecosystem, watershed development also improves the income and quality of life of people living in the area.

2. Climate- Almost half of India’s population is dependent on nature-based livelihood (agriculture, livestock, forest, and allied occupations) for its sustenance. With the ongoing climate crisis, the dependent communities have become more vulnerable and are at the edge of losing their livelihoods. To tackle this situation, knowledge needs to be imparted to these vulnerable communities and various strategies and approaches need to be adopted that’ll help them through this crisis.

3. Water- Water scarcity across the country is a major challenge in front of us. The increasing demand and mismanagement of water have resulted in water imbalance throughout the country. To tackle this scarcity, we need to adopt various strategies that’ll help in conserving water. Some of the effective strategies are● Water Budgeting ● Groundwater and aquifer management ● Water harvesting and conservation 4. Agriculture- Agriculture sector is vulnerable to climate change. The frequent changes in the weather patterns have increased the risk associated with crop livestock. This has in turn affected the livelihood of people completely dependent on agriculture. To overcome this problem, more climate-resilient strategies need to be adopted that can help the farmers mitigate the risk and increase their productivity and adaptive capacities.

5. Livelihood- With all the development, there has been a systematic erosion of local skillsets. They have been replaced by new skillsets that don’t cater to the needs and demands of local people and these demands are then fulfilled by external sources. For solving this issue there is a need to diversify the livelihoods of people and strengthen the local demand-supply chain.

6. Gender- For any society to progress, its very important that men and women enjoy equal rights and equally participate in the developmental activities. In a country like India, where gender inequality is quite predominant, steps needs to be taken to ensure that women are participating in all the economic activities. Organizing self-help groups for women, addressing their health, and personal care concerns can help in achieving gender equality.

7. Health, nutrition, and sanitation- For the holistic development of the communities, it is imperative that all the people are healthy. In a country like India, where the majority of the population in vulnerable communities, especially women and children are facing problems like anemia and inadequate nutrition, and access to clean drinking water, it is of great importance that they are provided with adequate health facilities, nutrition, and sanitation to ensure the overall development of everyone within the community.\

Watershed Organization Trust (WOTR), a globally recognized organization, established in 1993 has been working on all these themes to ensure a sustainable livelihood to people living in vulnerable communities and help in the restoration of ecosystems in these areas. Their team of highly qualified professionals is dedicated to bring a change in the lives of people and has successfully implemented various programs that have helped millions of people over the years.