ENVIRONMENT @ SEWALANKA

Reducing negative environmental impacts

Sewalanka Foundation has always worked with the most neglected members of society: the poverty stricken, the war affected and those suffering as a result of natural disasters. Amongst other development activities, Sewalanka offers livelihood training, cares for the mental wellbeing of community members and provides housing.

Over the years we have increasingly become aware of the environmental impacts of these activities and our ability to control just how great, or preferably, small, that impact is.

The environment program at Sewalanka, managed by a team of dedicated sector specialists looks at the organisation’s projects across the country to determine their environmental sustainability. The team provides advice on how to make activities more environmentally friendly and how to minimise impacts on the planet.

A snapshot of our environment-related work

Mangrove restoration

A local Panama fisherman watering plants in a mangrove nursery.

A major project currently taking place on the east coast of Sri Lanka is providing assistance to tsunami-affected fishermen’s cooperatives.

Through this work with fishing communities, Sewalanka staff discovered that coastal areas protected by healthy mangroves, were damaged less by the tsunami waves, than those that were not protected by mangroves.

It was already known that mangroves were necessary for healthy fish stocks, but the tsunami proved that they also play a direct role in protecting human life.

With this discovery in mind, Sewalanka has embarked on an initiative with local fishermen to restore the mangroves that used to shield the coast. Training on mangrove propagation and planting has taken place, two nurseries have been established and now 30,000 seedlings are awaiting the rainy season to be planted. The fishermen will plant these seedlings and attempt to protect the fragile trees from roaming cattle and other threats.

for further information on Sewalanaka’s mangrove work

Going green at Sewalanka

While working to increase awareness of environmental issues among the communities we work with, Sewalanka also looks internally at our own office practices, to lessen our impact. In Colombo at our headquarters, a number of initiatives and activities have recently been implemented. Time restrictions for air conditioner use have been set, staff have been trained to use less printer toner and instructions have been provided for printing and photocopying on both sides of paper.

Signs have been posted near doors of every Sewalanka office to remind staff to turn off all lights and unplug all appliances before leaving the office. Composting guidelines have been developed with the goal that by the end of the year, every office will be participating in a country-wide community compost program.

Environment as a cross-cutting issue

A number of our environmental practices also extend to much larger projects. Sewalanka is incorporating small solid waste management projects into several programs. With no land for landfills and few recycling centers, waste management is an extensive problem in Sri Lanka. Most rubbish is burned, releasing deadly and highly toxic dioxins into the air which have been linked to many health problems including cancer and immune system damage.

Although it would be impossible to fully stop Sri Lankans from burning rubbish, Sewalanka is trying to lessen the damaging impacts by informing the community about the availability of local recycling centres and by providing clear guidelines to begin community composting programs.

The environment program also reviews existing projects for sustainability. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) requires that all the projects they fund be environmentally friendly and sustainable. Sewalanka is currently working on a large project with CIDA in the southern coastal areas of Galle and Matara, providing livelihood training and micro-financing to 4000 families. Sewalanka’s environment team has reviewed all potential livelihood skills that are part of this project and has provided advice and suggestions for making them more sustainable. One such example is coir (used in the making of ropes and other items) production, which can pollute the local water supply when a community uses natural waterways to soak the coconut husks. Sewalanka’s environment team has suggested that producers procure specialised coir soaking tanks which would allow the traditional industry to function without damaging precious water resources.

Some of Sewalanka’s programs automatically lend themselves to protecting the environment. The community-based tourism (CBT) program, for example, cannot exist without incorporating principals of ecotourism, as the goals of CBT are to preserve a way of life, to provide additional revenue for communities and to protect the natural environment.

Sewalanka has developed homestay programs with villagers living in the buffer zone of the Sinharaja Rainforest to prevent the encroachment of tea plantations into the forest by providing an additional source of income to the community. The villagers also provide livelihood tours for visitors to enable them to see kithul tapping, rubber making and cinnamon preparation. Some of the income generated from the CBT activities has been used to build a small hydro-electric plant. Not only are we protecting the last remnant of primary rainforest in Sri Lanka, we are also promoting renewable energy.

>> The environment team is committed to ensuring the protection of the incredible biodiversity and natural environment of Sri Lanka. If you have questions or would like additional information, please contact Jessica Leas, Environment Program Advisor at environment@sewalanka.org.

Diakonie Mangrove Restoration Project at Panama and Thirukkovil

When the tsunami hit in December 2004, the destruction in some areas of Sri Lanka was lessened due to the presence of healthy mangroves. Now people in surrounding areas understand the need for this natural protection, but the process for restoring mangroves is not straight-forward or easy.

For the past year, Sewalanka has been working on mangrove restoration in Panama and Thirukkovil as part of an initiative funded by Diakonie. The project began with community and stakeholder awareness workshops, community rural and needs assessments, and strengthening of community-based organisations (CBO) by assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Villagers have been involved in this project from the very beginning and now have the tools necessary for successful implementation.

Last February Sewalanka, along with the Mangrove Action Project (MAP), sponsored two technical training courses. The first workshop brought together mangrove restoration practitioners from Sri Lanka and abroad for five days of technical training on the “Ecological Mangrove Restoration” method pioneered by workshop instructor Robin Lewis. It was held in Rekawa, near Tangalle in the southern district of Hambantota, which is home to a well established restored mangrove stand. It is thought that Rekawa may be the only place in Sri Lanka where one can see Tagal Ceriops, a mangrove species found throughout south Asia (at a height of more than five meters). Although throughout other parts of Asia this is quite common, Ceriops Tagal is generally between 3 to 5 meters in Sri Lanka.

The second workshop, held in Arugam Bay, Pottuvil and Panama in Ampara District, primarily involved fishermen from local fisheries societies located along the eastern coast of Sri Lanka. The workshop provided hands-on training in mangrove restoration, information for developing integrated mangrove awareness and conservation programs, emphasised the development of sustainable livelihood alternatives and nontimber forest product uses of mangroves, as well as general environmental education. By the end of this workshop three groups of participants had developed action plans for disseminating the information imparted during the workshop to their communities.

Thanks to this training, Panama participants have now reached their goal for mangrove seedlings/sapling collection with 30,000 seedlings, including six true and six associate species, at their nursery waiting the rainy season.

To continue the learning process, ten Sewalanka staff members travelled to Thailand in October for a study tour of mangrove projects there. They visited tsunami-affected mangrove restoration sites, fishing villages, a mangrove boardwalk and the Ranong Mangrove Research Center.

In order to evaluate the success of this restoration project, IUCN (The World Conservation Union) has conducted biodiversity and socio-economic baseline surveys. They will conduct an impact assessment at the conclusion of the project. This information will allow Sewalanka to show the environmental, economic and social worth of mangrove restoration and provide this information to communities in the future, with the aim of increasing mangrove restoration throughout Sri Lanka.