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    The River Health Assessment Training project

    The training project was conceived and implemented to address the issue of river ecosystem health services impairment in Kerala which is manifested mainly by issues of water quality deterioration and biodiversity loss. The project focused on river health assessment by both chemical monitoring and by using biological indicators with Pampa River as a case point. The training workshops imparted the theoretical framework to approaches and field-level methodologies for assessing river health and evolved location-specific strategies for river health research, rejuvenation, reporting, and management.

    This training has been offered to executive-level employees, grassroots institution members, and local youth to address the challenges in River Health management and restoration through participation, and science-policy interactions at the levels of local governments and the community. The objectives were:

    • To impart river health-monitoring skills for identifying the key biological indicators for the assessment of river health;
    • To consider implementing viable river restoration options in pilot sites with the help and support of the local people and institutions.
    • To communicate the results of biological monitoring and restoration of rivers to citizens and policymakers and implementers
    • To propose an interactive Web portal for River Health Management.
    • To promote effective communication in RH management, and to inform the participants about sustainability challenges, in particular climate change.

    The trainees were educated on the following ten areas of river ecosystem health services and management.

    • Principles, Practices, and Decadal Action Plan of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030
    • Accelerated Action Package on the UN 2030 Sustainability Agenda & 17 SDGs
    • Importance of rivers and other water bodies in achieving sustainable development
    • Basics of river restoration ecology and river management
    • Ecosystem dynamics – relationships between biological, physical, and chemical components of the river ecosystems
    • Alterations in river ecosystems due to pollution, habitat changes, and disasters/ extreme climate change events
    • Identification and habitat assessment of aquatic and benthic macroinvertebrates
    • Distribution pattern of macrophytes, rheophytes, diatoms, and algae
    • Rapid bio-assessment protocols (RBPs); Calculation of bio-assessment metrics
    • Strategies for local community participation in river health management.