Oceans are essential for making the planet liveable. Rainwater, drinking water and climate are all regulated by ocean temperatures and currents. Globally, over 3 billion people depend on marine life for their livelihood. Oceans absorb 30 percent of all carbon dioxide produced by humans. To ensure protection, sustainable use and management of the oceans, one of the Sustainable Development Goals, the SDG 14 “Life Below Water’’ is committed to "Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’’. The scope and scale of SDG 14 presents new challenges and opportunities, requiring a vastly expanded technical, institutional and organizational capacity to implement the wide variety of initiatives covered under this Goal. Capacity development is essential to achieve sustainable development of oceans and coasts including responses to address new challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and improving coastal livelihoods. Considering this the BOBP in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries & Aquatic Resource Development and Rural Economy (MoFARD&RE), Government of Sri Lanka and funding support from Norwegian Embassy in Sri Lanka in conducted a Capacity Building Course (CBC) on improving skills and networks that are required for effective implementation of SDG 14 in Sri Lanka. The objective of the CBC was to provide a strategic vision and practical knowledge to the participants on finding effective solutions to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources. A team of 12 Officers from the MoFARD&RE participated. The CBC was comprised of classroom-based lectures, interactive discussions, field trips, simulations and exercises, individual participant presentations, and international round tables. The participants explored various issues along with the experts in depth to analyse and understand local situations and work needed. Post-CBC evaluation shows that the participants felt that they are in better position to understand the subject and successfully transmit and apply the acquired knowledge on return to their institutions/agencies.