The United Kingdom’s Cabinet Minister for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, Therese Coffey, handed over the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy accreditation for The Longwood Shola, in Kotagiri, in the Nilgiris, to the government of Tamil Nadu on Saturday.
The Longwood Shola, a 116-hectare forest tract, plays a vital role in Nilgiris’ microclimate, attracting and regulating rainfall. The accreditation was received by Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Tamil Nadu.
Post the G20 Environment and Climate Ministerial Meeting in Chennai, Ms. Coffey visited mangroves at Pichavaram, one of the sites where the UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) project for the preservation of forests, mangroves, and wetlands will be implemented. The UK PACT project that aims to demonstrate how community MRV (measuring, reporting, and verification) can be code-signed, co-produced, and implemented through inclusive community-based mechanisms was launched with Tamil Nadu government earlier this week.
The Nilgiris-based Keystone Foundation bagged the UK PACT project under the Green Recovery Challenge. Besides working with the fisherfolk of Pichavaram, the project will also work with the tribals of the Nilgiris District and small-holder subsistence farmers and agricultural labourers living in inland areas of the wetland of Coimbatore district.
