Last year saw record numbers of international tourists take advantage of the peace process and visit Sri Lanka. The Unawatuna community this tourism season, from October to March, are preparing for another boom year by working together to implement environmentally friendly programs.

Local school children enjoying the Unawatuna Clean up the beach day.

Sewalanka Foundation started working in Unawatuna, a small tourist town in the South of Sri Lanka, over one year ago. Namely working with a local women’s society to implement a skills development that aims to improve sewing and design techniques for local garment producers and sellers.

As part of this ongoing project, locals explained to Sewalanka staff that international tourists complained about the amount of garbage left on the beach. One local women pointed to the freshly swept beach and a pile of garbage hidden out of sight, she said “We are business women, we know that if the tourists are not happy, they will stop coming and then we can’t survive. So we keep them happy by sweeping the beach each morning”.

Therefore, when Sewalanka hosted two short-term American volunteers in July and August this year, an Eco-Fund was started as a means to collect spare change from foreign tourists for environmentally friendly projects. Whilst negotiating with local guesthouses to establish the fund, the momentum started to build to do something quickly about the rubbish before the next tourism season started.

A meeting was held on the 31 August facilitated by Sewalanka Foundation and attended by twelve guesthouse owners. Within a week, the guesthouse owners had gone door-to-door and spoken with forty-five businesses in Unawatuna to discuss the garbage problem and to gather support. Another meeting was held on Sunday 5 September, attended by over forty community members who formed the Unawatuna Tourism Development Association (UTDA) and pledged over Rs.70,000 for an eco-fund.

Clean Up the Beach Day

Within two weeks the newly formed association joined forces with the local community, Sewalanka Foundation, Unawatuna Lions Club and local businesses to organise the inaugural Clean Up the Beach Day on 11 Sept 2004.

Members of the newly formed Unawatuna Tourism Development Association join forces with local school children and Sewalanka staff.

The day was well attended by members of the local community and children from eight different schools, six from Galle and two from Unawatuna. The children dressed in their school uniforms moved up the beach armed with tools and bags collecting every piece of rubbish in their path. As the local teacher stated, “the children are happy to come too as it provides an opportunity to protect our land and community”.

Tourists were also overwhelmed by the support for the day’s activities. Two tourists from the United Kingdom commented, “we have been to quite a few beaches along the South Coast but Unawatuna was definitely the best as we feel a real sense of community here and the place is much cleaner.”

Lunch was provided for the school children by local businesses, the day was also supported by the Galle Education Director, Chairman Pradeshiya Saba - Habaradwa and O.C Police - Habaradwa and local media.

Community managed programs

The most significant achievement from the Unawatuna Clean Up the Beach Day is that activities will not stop with the one-day program. The UTDA has used the money pledged to purchase 30 concrete cylinders to be used as garbage bins which were distributed over the Saturday and Sunday. Sewalanka Foundation will coordinate a school competition to paint some of the bins but all the bins will be clearly marked as the place for garbage.

The association has also employed four garbage collectors and equipped them with wheelbarrows, shovels and uniforms to carry out their work. Also they have plans to purchase a tractor for garbage removal.

As the Association President, Mr. Prishantha Dissanayake stated that, “the Tourism Development Association has formed recently with all hotel owners enthusiastic to help. This is our community and we must work with it to maintain Unawatuna as a popular tourism destination”.

The association have also become actively involved in lobbying for the correct disposal of human waste from all hotels and are in the process of discussing community water and toilet needs, especially for local tourists. The association is also actively promoting their community through a website and other tourism activities.

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