Institutional barriers in adapting to climate change: A case study in Sri Lanka

It is clear that the Special Area Management (SAM) intervention in Negombo, Sri Lanka needs further improvement if it were to further the adaptive co-management approach, though the project that funded the intervention clearly expected to utilise this approach. The current national and provincial level institutional set up is not conducive for effective adaptive co-management. This is mainly due to conventional institutions adhering to governance regimes that are rigid and inflexible, and as such are not prepared to be adaptive through policy learning. It is also due to the fact that existing systems are not serious about community empowerment in the governance process. It is clear that any breakthrough allowing for an adaptive co-management kind of approach needs policy and institutional change.