Two communities from India viz, Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited and Snehakunja Trust won the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Equator Prize 2021– for their exceptional achievement in showcasing local, innovative, nature-based solutions for tackling biodiversity loss and climate change and achieving their local development goals.
- Equator Prize 2021 was awarded to 10 trailblazing Indigenous and local solutions. The winners were selected from 126 nations.
- Each received a prize of US$10,000 and the opportunity to join a series of special virtual events associated with the UN General Assembly, the Nature for Life Hub and the UN Food Systems Summit later in 2021.
- The virtual award ceremony was scheduled to be held on 4 October 2021.
Aadhimalai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Limited:
i.It is a 1,700-member cooperative, which is managed and run entirely by Indigenous people from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in Southern India.
ii.It was established in 2013, located in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. So far, it has improved the livelihoods across 147 villages by processing and marketing a different range of forest produce and crops (cultivated by them).
About Snehakunja Trust:
i.With a focus on community-based restoration and conservation, the organisation has protected sensitive wetland and coastal ecosystems in the Western Ghats and the Karnataka coast for 45 years. It is restoring 375 hectares of mangroves.
ii.It is currently piloting the 1st blue carbon project in India.
About Equator Prize:
i.It is organized by the Equator Initiative within the UNDP, it is awarded biennially to recognize outstanding community efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
ii.Partners of the Equator Initiative include the governments of Norway, Germany, and Sweden, UNEP (UN Environment Programme), USAID (United States Agency for International Development), WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), and the Convention on Biological Diversity, EcoAgriculture Partners, etc.
Other 8 Equator Prize 2021 winners:
- Asociación de Jóvenes Reforestadores en Acción (AJORA) – Bolivia
- CoopCerrado – Cooperativa Mista de Agricultores Familiares, Extrativistas, Pescadores, Vazanteiros, Assentados e Guias turisticos do Cerrado – Brazil
- Tropical Forest and Rural Development – Cameroon
- Asociación de Mujeres Indígenas del Territorio Cabécar Kábata Könana – Costa Rica
- Pueblo Originario Kichwa de Sarayaku – Ecuador
- BIO-KG Federation of Organic Development – Kyrgyzstan
- Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda IAP – Mexico
- Farmer Union Maddaben of Falwel and Farmer Union Hareyben of Tera – Niger
Recent Related News:
The Independent appraisal report ‘Aspirational Districts Programme: An Appraisal’ released by UNDP India, has appreciated India’s Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) as ‘a very successful model of local area development’ and stated that it can be a best practice for other parts of the world, where regional disparities in development status exist.
About United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) in India:
Establishment – UNDP has worked in India since 1951
Headquarters (India) – New Delhi
UNDP Resident Representative in India – Shoko Noda
