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Turtle Conservation |
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23rdrd November 2009 |
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Sri Lanka is home to 5 of the worlds 7 species of sea turtles. For every 1000 eggs laid the survival rate is 1 or 2.
Turtle Conservation Research and Visitors Centre - 5 Year Tsunami Anniversary Appeal
A visit by HRH the Prince of Wales to Sri Lanka resulted in him becoming actively involved in raising funds for the TCP project and we are currently building a visitors centre in Rekewa under his patronage to further the understanding of coastal and marine conservation.
Work will soon commence on the construction of a Turtle Conservation and Research Centre, however further funds are required to complete this state- of- the art eco-friendly facility. The Centre will include a hospital for sick or injured turtles, an information centre, museum area and dormitory accommodation for volunteers and school groups visiting the centre to help to 'night watch' for turtles while on educational tours. The Centre will promote awareness of the plight of turtles as well as the regeneration of coastal vegetation.
The Centre will efficiently use energy, water and other resources to minimize negative impacts on the environment. By utilising locally sourced natural materials the centre will actively reduce waste, pollution and environmental degradation to the local community while spreading an environmentally conscious message to Sri Lankan and international communities.
Click here to donate to the 5 Year Tsunami Anniversary Appeal!
The reforestation of the Sri Lankan Coastline after the 2004 Asian Tsunami
ASL has been supporting the Turtle Conservation Project that works in the key conservation areas on the south coast of Sri Lanka since 2005. Our support incorporates the mangrove and pandanus reforestation program and the turtle conservation program.
The devastating effect on the Sri Lankan coastline created by the 2004 Asian Tsunami literally tore apart the Sri Lankan coast line; denuding its natural habitat and vegetation along the way. As a direct result AdoptSriLanka immediately offered financial and volunteer support to TCP which we consider an extremely worthy project.
The TCP organisation is the only officially recognised Conservation project in Sri Lanka and headed by Thushan Kapurusinghe a well known Marine Biologist and his highly experienced team.
Our initial project was set up to provide funds for localised nurseries to grow pandanus and mangrove seedlings that were later replanted all along the coast from south of Colombo to Hambantota.
ASL funded 15 nurseries and from these nurseries a total of 300,000 seedlings have now been planted. These nurseries were organised by TCP who trained locals on the management of the plants and seedlings that eventually grew into the young saplings we permanently planted on the coast line. The size of this operation has now provided new employment alternatives and income for the local coastal communities.
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Young mangrove saplings |
Thousands of ASL pandanus saplings at the nursery |
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From this first initiative, the demand to generate income encouraged locals to diversify. In Sri Lanka there is also a demand for fruit and medicinal bearing trees. The benefit of these "produce trees" is obvious, they provide a very good income all year round and are popular alternatives of employment.
At the moment in Sri Lanka there is a huge demand for this type of planting and the TCP has even supplied fruit bearing plants to the coastal conservation and horticultural department who themselves don't have enough in their nurseries.
Most of Sri Lankan fruits are considered as medicinal and the country relies on a strong Ayurvedic medical system. With a large percentage of the country living below the poverty line there is a strong demand for herbal medicine as a cheaper alternative and often believed to be more effective. By stimulating the market for herbal remedies and herbal teas and drinks we think it achieves multiple purposes; “financial independence, environmental awareness and health consciousness”
Below our research team release one of the turtles after attaching a radio tracking device to monitor the migration pattern of turtles. |
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Human interest stories of local peoples lives that have been changed dramatically due to our tsunami assistance program.
Sampath was an alcoholic boy who before the tsunami was often fighting others, his marriage was suffering and he had no direction. TCP started the Kosgoda research project because Kosgoda is home to one of the world renowned beaches for the nesting of 5 of the 7 species of sea turtles. During a recruitment drive, Sampath was offered him a job collecting baseline data for research purposes. He began to bond with other researchers and became part of the team. Ten months later the tsunami hit Sri Lanka and in the immediate aftermath, ASL allocated funding for the reforestation projects on the affected coast line.
Sampath was selected by TCP to run one of AdoptSriLanka's plant nurseries and along with another 7 boys from the villages he managed to replant 70,000 beach pines (Pandanus) and mangroves on the denuded coastline.
Sampath was paid for every sapling that was replanted. With the money he earned he managed to purchase a small truck. Along with the nursery business, he was now earning extra money from TCP by transporting the plants to the permanent planting sights. These days he is doing very well indeed and the tsunami driven programme has changed his life.
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Sampath proudly displaying some of his nursery plants |
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Cultural Considerations
According to the laws in SL it is illegal to harm or kill turtles but SL is a third world developing country and most people live in survival mode, they depend on their surroundings and the available resources to feed their families.
In Rekewa and Kosgoda people where collecting eggs and killing turtles to feed their families, we realised that we needed to help change their focus. We knew that just enforcing the law would not make much difference. So we introduced the poachers to an alternative livelihood and now these people who were once dependant on killing turtles and selling the eggs, have been given jobs as nest protectors on our protected beaches.
They have been educated on the conservation of turtles and these days they patrol the beaches 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Apart from protecting the nests, they also release the hatchlings back into the sea when the timing is right; for this they are paid a salary that is sufficient to live on. It's no longer necessary for them to harm the protected species. As a result they have been completely converted to environmental concerns and the awareness of conservation has been raised in the area. This will reflect in the younger generations as they pass their new knowledge and profession down. The communities of Kosgoda and Rekewa are slowly understanding the turtle phenomenon and the community have now some awareness of the added employment benefits
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Sea Turtle egg nest at Kosgoda
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Spin Off Projects
A batik project was developed with the wives of the nest protectors at Kosgoda community. Women play a vital role in family maintenance and very often like in the west, are expected to provide income as well as look after the family.. ASL created a programme by giving seed money and a rolling development fund where the women could get small loans to purchase materials and dye for the batik programme. The batik industry is also very favourable to the tourists and we have been encouraging women to incorporate the turtle theme to their designs in a two way promotion of Kosgoda. After the initial injection of financial assistance, they are now making some profits and with that money they are capable of batik production independently these days. TCP also supply uniforms to the researchers and nest protectors so that they can promote the batiks as a symbol of our work.
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The nest protector's wives with their new batik business |
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Rekewa near Tangalle, is very well known for its women divers that illegally dive for coral and from that, they produce lime which they sell. These women risk their lives daily by swimming 100 meters out to sea and then often dive to depths of twenty meters for the coral.
Our organisation wanted to re-educate the women but had to provide an alternative to the destruction of the coral reef. Once again we were mindful that the reason they risked their lives daily was purely due to financial needs and rather than report them to coastal conservation, we offered these women jobs and training in Batik production and gave them a small wage. Now these women are working on batiks and are earning their living without the need to risk their lives and the coral reefs.
In the Rekewa area some people were cutting the mangroves down and selling the wood. We approached these people and once again offered them an alternative, this time as tourist guides. TCP sought permission from the tourist board and with a small amount of effort and training they are now official guides and take the tourists around the conservation sights giving their new found knowledge about their the wildlife and vegetation heritage area to tourists. We have educated them on conservation and thus managed to stop the culling of mangroves but most importantly they have developed a great sense of pride for their local area.
From the same villages that were denuding the mangroves, we encouraged them to develop nurseries to grow mangroves and pandanus in Rekewa as we had in Kosgoda. We purchased the small pots and the polythene to cultivate the seedlings and we asked them to collect the seedlings rather than to purchase them at triple the cost.
They received training instruction on how to choose the correct seedling. This work was directed at the women, they learnt to shake the branches of the trees and select the suitable seedlings. Once they put them in the pots to germinate, the nursery process developed until in a few weeks, hundreds of small plants stood waiting for planting on the coast...One group of women took it a little further and started to make the small polythene bags, they germinated seedlings in and sold them to other nurseries we set up. They are making a very good living from it.
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Coastal Reforestation ASL Volunteers Report
By Mat Roberts
Coastal Reforestation is a dirty, hot and wet job, but it gets you out of the office and someone has to do it. On Monday the 22nd of August Gary and I set off for Rekewa where we met Thushun and Mr Saman who are involved in the program. They showed us around the nurseries where they have 17,000 Mangrove plants and 35,000 beach vegetation shrubs growing in seven local backyards. We were eager to get to work and were told that at 9am on Wednesday morning there would be more than enough work to do.
We arrived at Mr Gunawattee's house on Wednesday and were led down to the lagoon where 700 Mangrove plants were waiting for planting. We proceeded to trudge around in knee high water for six hours digging holes in the sludge and trying to plant the Mangroves before the holes disappeared again. After a filling rice and curry lunch at the Turtle Conservation Project office we returned to the water where we were once again joined by the local workers, who were incredibly friendly and helpful despite the huge language barrier, and continued on what turned out to be a great day.
On Thursday morning we turned up again with bright red faces and covered in sun cream but we were sorely disappointed when we were led to a swamp and not the lagoon. We battled with the spiders, red ants, mosquitoes and many other tiny biting creatures to dig up the swamp and slowly but surely get through the quota for the day. We managed to get completely caked in mud and after a long shower at the end of the day we couldn't wait to go back for more.
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ASL volunteers Mat and Gary planting mangroves |
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Summary
The reforestation and turtles project employs over 200 people and there is a continuous training and education programme run by the directors to promote conservation through out Sri Lanka.
Not only is the programme working toward reforestation and turtle conservation but it has a very strong social conscience. AdoptSriLanka are always looking at alternative ways to change the heart and minds of the local traditions that harm conservation. At the heart of the policy is "not to criticise the old methods but to understand why these people have played an active role in the destruction of wild life and vegetation conservation through ignorance and financial necessity".
By creating alternatives we are generating new business and spreading awareness and pride through local communities on the value of their environment. This message has attracted the attention of many supporters world wide:
Following a visit by HRH the Prince of Wales which resulted in his showing great interest in projects initiated in Adopt Sri Lanka, Prince William became actively involved in raising funds for the TCP project and currently we are building a visitors centre in Rekewa under his patronage to further the understanding of coastal and marine conservation.
The tsunami denuded the coast line to a catastrophic proportion with two waves of destruction. Third world developing countries such as Sri Lanka have relied on the protected species and vegetations to survive for centuries. With the endangered coastline and protection of turtles, TCP and ASL are encouraged with the success of our program and seek other like minded organisations to support our efforts in the future.
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