Renew The Land. Speaker Profile: Charith Senanayake

April 7, 2014

A Forest Garden: Using Analog Forestry to strengthen community-based production systems and to improve ecosystem resilience.

Charith_Senanayake

Speaker’s name: Charith Senanayake.

 Position: Managing Director, Rainforest Rescue International.

Biography: Charith leads a team of environmental specialists who pursue the relationship between environmental sustainability and community development, and work on identifying solutions to land degradation, deforestation and poverty. They particularly use Analog Forestry, where local communities are encouraged to assess their land use and make better use of available resources to strengthen income streams and improve the quality of local ecosystems.

In 2013, Charith completed a multi-district Agro biodiversity survey for the Ambero-GIZ Project ‘Managing agro‐biodiversity for sustainable livelihoods in Timor Leste’ and got to know better the wonderful people, production and ecosystems in Timor-Leste. As senior trainer at the International Analog Forestry Network, Charith has delivered trainings for European Union and Red Cross projects. He is supporting World Vision Sri Lanka to discover Analog forestry.

Charith works out of Melbourne Australia where he lives with his wife and three children and fulfils his other obligations as director at Fair Flowers and Plants, the Netherlands, Rainforest Foods and The Conservation Carbon Company.

Presentation Summary

Rural communities the world over have a close relationship with the natural forest. Forests provide these communities opportunities and resources to improve life and build a resilient future.

This presentation will touch on the current impacts faced by forests and their knock-on effects that poor communities face. What does the loss of forests mean to communities that are inextricably linked to these resources and how can they respond?

The presentation will further examine a best practice method ‘Analog forestry’ which can be used to develop degraded ecosystems and improve production systems through improved community-based resource management. The basic methodology of approaching Analog Forestry as a practitioner will be explored.

Closer to home, community production systems in Timor-Leste will be presented using information gathered during an ABD survey which the presenter led in 2013. Here gaps in production systems and challenges and opportunities observed will be shared.

As a final point, the presenter will suggest potential opportunities for improving community based production systems in Timor-Leste.

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