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CAP Programme Successfully Launched to Strengthen Community-Based Cascade Management

July 3, 2026

๐—”๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜ | ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒโ€“๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿณ ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ
The first phase of the ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—บ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—”๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด (๐—–๐—”๐—ฃ) ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—บ๐—ฒ under the ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—–๐—น๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ท๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ (๐—œ๐—ฅ๐——๐—–๐—ฅ๐—ฃ) was successfully conducted on ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒโ€“๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿณ ๐—๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฒ in the ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐˜„๐—ฎ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—ฆ๐˜†๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ in the Anuradhapura District. The programme forms part of the project's efforts to promote integrated rural development and enhance climate resilience.
The primary objective of the programme was to establish the foundation for preparing a ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐—”๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป (๐—–๐—”๐—ฃ) through a participatory process. This involved assessing the existing conditions of natural resources, water resources, agricultural production, ecosystems, and community livelihoods within the cascade system, while building consensus among all stakeholders. The approach is intended to facilitate the preparation of climate-resilient, environmentally sustainable, and long-term development plans for the cascade.
During the two-day programme, participants were introduced to the CAP concept and its implementation methodology. Key activities included participatory resource mapping, problem and opportunity analysis, identification of development priorities, group discussions, field observations, and field verification exercises. These activities enabled stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of the existing challenges, development opportunities, and future investment priorities within the cascade system.
The programme also strengthened coordination among government institutions, technical experts, and local communities. Based on the findings of this initial phase, further technical studies, field validations, stakeholder consultations, and data analysis will be carried out over the coming months to develop the comprehensive Cascade Action Plan.
Representing the ๐—œ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—–๐—น๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ท๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ (๐—œ๐—ฅ๐——๐—–๐—ฅ๐—ฃ) were ๐— ๐—ฟ. ๐—”๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐—ž๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ, Project Director; ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด. ๐—•๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฒ, Deputy Project Director; ๐——๐—ฟ. ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ž๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ถ, Deputy Project Director; ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด. ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฎ ๐—ฅ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฎ, Water Management Specialist; ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ด. ๐—จ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฎ ๐—ž๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐—ก๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ๐—ฎ, Water Management Consultant; ๐— ๐—ฟ. ๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ต ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ, Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist; ๐— ๐—ฟ. ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ, Business Development and Marketing Specialist; ๐— ๐—ฟ. ๐——๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ท๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฎ ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฎ, Institutional Capacity Development Specialist; and ๐— ๐˜€. ๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ ๐—ช๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ, Technical Officer.
Representing the ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—”๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜, ๐— ๐—ฟ. ๐—Ÿ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ, Deputy Commissioner of Agrarian Development โ€“ Anuradhapura; ๐— ๐—ฟ. ๐——.๐— .๐—ฆ.๐—จ. ๐—•๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ, Regional Engineer โ€“ Anuradhapura; and ๐— ๐—ฟ. ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ, Agrarian Development Officer, served as key members of the CAP Facilitation Team. Their technical guidance and close coordination with the community made a significant contribution to the successful implementation of the programme.
The Community Action Planning (CAP) Programme represents a significant intervention implemented by the IRDCRP to strengthen the conservation and sustainable management of Sri Lanka's cascade systems. By integrating community participation, scientific evidence, technical expertise from government institutions, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, the programme aims to promote climate-resilient rural development and ensure the long-term sustainability of these unique socio-ecological landscapes.
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