Category: Digital Transformation
Client: Department of Wildlife Conservation
Sri Lanka’s has been facing unprecedented environmental issues in recent years. Research reveals that the country’s forest cover was reduced by 4.8% between 2001-2020 and natural forest cover fell from 60% in 2000 to 54% in 2010. Road expansion, the opening up of land for agriculture/chena cultivation and infrastructure development have also posed threats to forests in the post-conflict period after 2009.
However, if a citizen wishes to report an environmental concern, the official mechanism to do so involves either: (a) the conventional method of calling or visiting a local government office or the police, or (b) reporting via the Department of Forestry’s website (the Department of Wildlife Conservation does not appear to have a functioning reporting mechanism), and thereafter waiting for action to be taken.
A digital citizen engagement platform that could address these concerns and connect citizens wishing to report unsanctioned environmental activities to government officials, was mooted by the Department of Forest Conservation, the Department of Wildlife Conservation and other relevant entities. A joint proposal to the UNDP- Anti-Corruption Innovation Initiative, supported by Citra was submitted in this regard. The UNDP- Anti-Corruption Innovation Initiative is a part of UNDP’s Anti-Corruption for Peaceful and Inclusive Societies (ACPIS) Global Project, funded by Norad. The initiative is also supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. The main objective of this Anti-Corruption Innovation Initiative is to promote transparency, accountability and anti-corruption through technology and innovation to build forward better and accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.
The platform is to facilitate a two-way portal, so that citizens can:
The project succeeded in securing national level buy-in for the initiative through its partnership with the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation.
Further to the first two co-design workshops convened for the government and civil society respectively, three more co-design workshops were held in the field for civil society and grassroots development practitioners and activists in the environmental field. These workshops were facilitated by the Centre for Environmental Justice and were conducted in Mannar, Monaragala and Colombo. The purpose of these workshops was to obtain ground-level perspectives on feasible solutions and expanding them.
Amidst the multiple challenges spurred by the economic crisis and its aftermath in the country, the project conducted a mapping of the digital infrastructure, capacities and capabilities of relevant government institutions to determine their readiness to adopt a digital platform of this nature.
With training and awareness raising being key components of the project, workshops were conducted to raise awareness of government and civil society officials on existing environmental laws/legislations and how to access and utilise the platform, across 25 districts in the island.
The development of the platform is now complete and it will be launched in the first quarter of 2025.
