About

Muhamma Model Wetland Panchayat

Globally, various communities are at the receiving end of climate change impact. This is especially true for highly vulnerable communities who are excessively dependent on nature for their survival. At Sustera, we believe at empowering communities by building resilience and capacity to overcome the adverse consequences of climate change and at the same time achieve sustainable growth. Sustera follows a bottom-up approach with the focus on the grassroots. One of the ways of achieving this is by adopting a rural village that faces acute risk of climate change and have put excessive pressure on its natural resources. According to The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative, preserving nature’s ability to buffer impacts of small climate variations would often cost less than having to replace lost ecosystem functions by substantial infrastructure or technology.

 In view of the critical problems being faced by the Vembanad lake, ATREE- CERC in association with Antrix Corporation and SUSTERA have decided to develop Muhamma as model wetland panchayat. Muhamma being a panchayat which is part of the Vembanad lake ecosystem are exposed to impacts by climate change and other anthropological influences. Residents of Muhamma are highly vulnerable to changes to the lake system as their livelihoods is highly dependent on the lake ecosystem. By supporting the panchayath, we aim to create sustainable models in the panchayat, provide capacity building to the local government and empower them with knowledge on methodologies for sustainable development practices.

The objective of this project is to develop a wide-ranging and unified form of conservation interventions for the Vembanad ecosystem and its resources thus creating a sustainable system of development where resource usage is reduced, and long-term sustainability is ensured. 

The objective of the project would be to:

1. Reduce the impact of Lake Pollution by setting up a proper waste management system and water quality monitoring.
2. Reducing energy usage and increase the green cover.
3. Provide sustainable livelihood options based on conservation for women.
4. Promotion responsible tourism.
5. Climate change mitigation.
6. Introduce innovations for sustainable development and implement them in a participatory manner.
7. Educate Children on Ecosystem and Habitat governance
8. To build a sensitized responsible population