Monsoons 2024
From a searing summer, the Indian monsoons have been wetter than ever in several parts of the country. From early July, floods inundated Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka. Life in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and Vadodara were thrown out of gear - again.
India has robust early warning mechanisms for weather. These systems are a proven means to reduce harm to people and damage to assets ahead of impending hazards, including storms, tsunamis, floods, droughts and heatwaves. These multi-hazard early warning systems address hazards that may occur alone, simultaneously, or cascadingly.
As the North-Eastern part of the country was inundated, SEEDS Incident Commander Yezdani Rahman shares a first-hand view of what it means to be flooded year after year. https://www.seedsindia.org/blogs/when-the-flood-waters-recede-there-is-so-much-to-be-done
Can urban flooding be checked?
The monsoons have disrupted lives in rapidly growing cities of India. Is there a link between reviving urban water bodies and checking urban flooding? Dr Manu Gupta explains to NDTV
A future we need to invest in
The first India Forum for Nature-based Solutions (NbS) was organised by the India Climate Collaborative, Council on Energy, Environment and Water and World Resources Institute, India in Delhi on August 6, 2024. SEEDS NbS work was showcased at this important meeting https://www.nbs4india.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Merged-Posters.pdf
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SEEDS Co-founder Dr Manu Gupta shared experiential lessons from working in NbS across the country - establishing bio-shields, reviving lakes in urban areas, restoring mangroves, mitigating incidents in landslide-prone regions and rural housing. At the session on blended financing, he emphasised the need to re-frame funding approaches to include the community's contributions to the solution and not just a technical fix executed by an external agency. He underscored the need for a localised approach giving agency to local communities?that are intrinsically linked to their natural environment and brought centuries of the wisdom of peaceful co-existence.
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Nature’s Shields features at CSI 2024 film festival
Since 2005, SEEDS has been exploring nature-based solutions to build back community’s climate resilience. Nature's Shields a SEEDS' film journeys through diverse geographies of India that are climate-vulnerable, talking to those experiencing extreme climate effects and those affected by rapid urbanisation and shrinking water resources. The film evocatively portrays communities taking charge of their environment and demonstrating the power of collective action both for the environment and people.
SEEDS nature-based solutions initiatives are aligned to local context and needs. The film covers diverse climate-vulnerable geographies and showcases a variety of interventions that are not only building community resilience but enhancing livelihood options as well.
The film was screened at the Catalysing Social Impact (CSI) 2024 Film Festival which explored a curated selection of impactful films that delve into critical public health and climate change issues, voices of those affected and emerging innovative solutions.
You can see how this journey is empowering communities here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duKe5evlbkc&t=3s