The proposed project idea is a digital citizen engagement tool, which aims to connect citizens wishing to report unsanctioned environmental activities to government officials. The project will be in two phases – Phase 1, focusing on illegal deforestation and logging activities only, in collaboration with the Forest Department and Phase 2 – scaling up to include other illegal environmental practices, such as illegal wildlife poaching and trade and illicit activities contributing to wetland degradation, in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Customs Department, and other relevant government institutions.
The tool will facilitate a two-way portal, whereby citizens can take the initiative to report against harmful environmental practices and contribute towards crowdsourcing data on this. The tool will also allow citizens to track whether their complaint has been resolved. Officials will be able to obtain the information required to address such concerns and be able to use the record and inform other officials of complaints and issues that come to their attention via offline methods.
A preliminary meeting of the technical experts’ committee was held in January at the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation. Members of the committee representing various Government, Private Sector, and Civil Society institutions emphasized the need for a user-friendly solution, and the need to establish clear parameters for the pilot and subsequent phases of the proposed intervention. The meeting was chaired by Mr Ratnayake, Additional Secretary (Technical) of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation.
