SESDO’s Community-Led Water Stewardship Featured in GEAF’s Save Every Drop Challenge
Gabura, Satkhira, Bangladesh | August 2026
SESDO is proud to share that the experiences and local knowledge of coastal communities in Gabura, Satkhira, Bangladesh have been featured by the Green Earth Action Foundation (GEAF) as part of its ACT for Water – Save Every Drop Challenge.
The campaign highlights community-led approaches to water conservation and aims to inspire people around the world to adopt more sustainable water-use practices.
Water, Nature and Community Resilience
For communities living in Gabura, water is inseparable from everyday life. Increasing salinity, changing rainfall patterns, cyclones, water contamination, and limited access to safe freshwater have created growing challenges for families across the coastal region.
In response, local communities have developed and maintained practices shaped by generations of experience. These include protecting freshwater ponds, collecting and storing rainwater, caring for mangrove ecosystems, and sharing local knowledge about rivers, tides, rainfall, seasons, and changing environmental conditions.
Mangroves play a particularly important role in strengthening coastal resilience. Their roots help stabilise soil, reduce erosion, slow tidal currents, trap sediment, and provide habitats for fish, crabs, shrimp, and other species that support local livelihoods.
Community-Led Mangrove Restoration
Through community-led restoration activities, local people participate in collecting native mangrove seeds, raising seedlings in community nurseries, caring for young plants, restoring degraded areas, and monitoring restored sites.
Women also play an important role in seed collection, nursery management, seedling care, and livelihood activities connected to mangrove restoration.
These efforts demonstrate that restoration is not simply about planting trees. It is about strengthening the relationship between communities, water, ecosystems, and livelihoods.
As communities in coastal Satkhira continue to adapt to climate change, local knowledge remains an important source of resilience. People who live closest to rivers, wetlands, and mangrove ecosystems often recognise environmental changes first and have developed practical ways to respond.
Turning Local Knowledge into Global Action
SESDO believes that lasting climate action begins by listening to and empowering the communities who experience environmental change firsthand.
Through the Save Every Drop Challenge, GEAF has created an important platform for bringing these local experiences from Gabura to a wider global audience.
The featured story also highlights the work of Tapas Kumar Mollick, Founder & Executive Director of SESDO and GEAF Ambassador, Cohort ’26, who contributed community insights and photographs documenting water stewardship and mangrove restoration practices in Satkhira.
We sincerely thank Green Earth Action Foundation for recognising and amplifying these community-led experiences.
For coastal communities, protecting water means protecting nature, livelihoods, safety, and future generations.
Protect water. Protect nature. Empower communities. Turn promise into practice.
About SESDO
SESDO (Social & Environmental Sustainable Development Organization) is a grassroots organisation working in coastal Bangladesh to advance community-led environmental restoration, climate action, sustainable livelihoods, youth and women’s empowerment, and nature-based solutions.
Related Campaign
ACT for Water – Save Every Drop Challenge
Green Earth Action Foundation (GEAF)