Episode -4, NbS for Rejuvenation of Waterbodies & Wetlands

Vaidic Srijan

Nature-based solution (NbS) for 'Rejuvenation of Wetlands and Water Bodies' was held on May 18, 2023 (Thursday), hosted by World Bank office in New Delhi.

Chaired by Maninder S. Gill, Global Director and Chief Environment and Social Standards, The World Bank

Opening Remarks by Christophe Crepin, Practice Manager, ENB, SAR, The World Bank Presented by Ashish Singh & Madhukar Swayambhu

Discussants were Josefo Tuyor, Lead Environment Specialist, South Asia Region, The World Bank and Dr. I U B Reddy, Lead Social Development Specialist, South Asia Region, The World Bank

And the session was moderated by Neha Vyas, Senior Environment Specialist, South Asia Region, The World Bank

The latest United Nations World Water Development Report, released just ahead of World Water Day on March 22, warns that, by 2030, at the current rate of use, 40 percent of the population across the world will not have access to the water it needs.

For South Asia, a water crisis looms for more than 270 million people as glaciers shrink and ground water reserves recede at an alarming rate. Amongst the available water sources in the region. It is estimated that between 68 to 84 percent of water bodies are polluted. South Asia is one of the world's water stressed hotspots and as a region with growing development ambition requires increasing action in climate adaptation that embeds local, national, and regional water management solutions that are economically, environmentally and socially sound.

The webinar focused upon the technique and results of using a Nature based Solution (NbS) developed in India. for "resurrection and rejuvenation of the waterbodies". This sustainable, holistic and scientific approach of "consume and digest" the nutrient overload enables restoration of all the ecosystem services that a water body is meant to offer.

A low-cost technique is an optimal solution to deal with water stress / mismanagement issues and offers several benefits for projects in the Water, Urban, Aquaculture, Agriculture, Disaster Management, Tourism, and Environment Remediation sectors.

The presentation showcased results from projects undertaken in India and the deliberated upon exploring how the nature's self-healing mechanism and traditional knowledge systems could be harnessed for creating a triple bottom line (economic, environment, and social).

This podcast is the excerpts of the same webinar, but as it was a long session being attended by members of the World Bank from across the globe, multiple countries, multi time zones and continents, the entire session is divided into four episodes.