After
more than 20 years of civil war, Sri Lanka is at long last enjoying
peace. From the steep fertile fields of tea plantations in the
mountains to the untouched coastal beaches sprawled around its borders,
Sri Lanka remains the fabled jewel of the Indian Ocean. Once called
“Serendip” by the Greeks, who accidentally stumbled into its beauty,
this island nation south of the Indian subcontinent offers truly
unexpected beauty and pleasure to visitors with its abundance of
national parks, nature and wildlife preserves, botanical gardens and
wide, sandy beaches.
Sri Lanka may soon enjoy a resurgence of visitors. Balancing the desire
to capitalize on the tourism industry with protecting national
biological treasures is not an easy task. Still, the country seems
poised to step forward on the right foot.
This January, Sri Lanka welcomed its first group of eco-tourists since
the war ended. The group, 10 volunteers from the US and Australia, was
organized and led by Earth Island Institute’s Mangrove Action Project
(MAP). Each member of the tour paid to join a restoration and education
group, replanting an area of degraded mangroves in the Pambala Lagoon
near Chilaw and visiting places of environmental import throughout the
country. Anuradha Wickramasinghe, director of the Small Fishers
Federation of Sri Lanka (SFFL), invited the group to Pambala Lagoon to
participate in ongoing efforts to save the lagoon from the damage by
shrimp farms, and to demonstrate the culture and vitality of the
fishing communities around the coast.
The mangrove replanting, led by Small Fishers Federation’s Restoration
Expert, Douglas Tisera, took place over two days. Joined by a local
group of fishermans’ widows and a group of school children, volunteers
planted nearly 700 mangrove seedlings (Rhizophora apiculata and R. mucronata) along a one-kilometer stretch of Pambala Lagoon’s Dutch canal to help control erosion.
Small Fishers Federation Programs
During their 10-day visit to Sri Lanka, MAP volunteers traveled
throughout the country, from Puttalam to Kandy, to the southern coast
and along the western coast to Chilaw. The group visited several Small
Fishers Federation (SFFL) projects that have been developed to help
villages, fishermen, and their families who have been hurt by the
decline of fisheries in their country.
In Nakudugamuwa, the study-tour sampled tuna sausages, dried tuna, and
fish pastries from SFFL’s Kudawella Fisheries Tuna Processing Center.
The center has developed these products as alternatives to unprocessed
fish for the wholesale market. By selling these value-added products,
local fishers get improved marketing of their catch, along with longer
shelf-life, ensuring less wastage from spoiling.
In Badagiriya, just north of Hambantota, the group visited SFFL’s
Educational Center for youth who are unable to attend secondary school
because of family fishing obligations (often due to death or injury to
the family’s main provider). Young people are trained in home
electrical wiring, small engine repair, or apparel making to provide
them with job opportunities. Recently lauded by the government for
benefiting the youth, SFFL will offer three-month certificates
beginning in 2003. After three years, the center will become
accredited, offering nine-month courses for students in various
vocational technology programs.
Another SFFL project is the Tilapia and Ornamental Fish Hatcheries. The
hatcheries provide tilapia fingerlings for inland fisheries to restock
lakes and ponds. The center sells fingerlings on no-interest credit
terms to local villages. These loans come due only when the tilapia
have been successfully raised, harvested, and sold at market. Local
inland fishers have access to affordable fish stocks. Ornamental fish
are also raised in this hatchery to bring in supplemental income.
Near Hikkadua, the group toured the coral reef gardens via glass-bottom
boats. The group learned about the fragile nature of the corals, and
the ways corals and mangroves are interrelated. When corals and
mangroves are found in close proximity, loss of one can mean the
ultimate degradation or loss of the other. Mangroves filter water,
holding back soil and silt that would otherwise destroy the reef. Reefs
break waves, which would otherwise damage shorelines and mangrove
seedlings.
That evening, Serendip proved to be serendipitous indeed. When the
group gathered at a small beach restaurant to discuss the tour, the
owner of the establishment pointed under their table on the beach. A
nest of olive ridley sea turtles was hatching, struggling to reach the
surface. The owner had no idea that he had pointed this out to Sri
Lanka’s first eco-tourism group, nor had the group realized they were
to witness one of the most mysterious and wondrous spectacles of the
animal kingdom. Because the sand was compacted by human activity, these
turtles were in danger. Normally exiting their nest at night, the
turtles had struggled through hot compacted sand, arriving at the
surface in the full blaze of the sun. The group was able to save about
50, but already, more than half had died in the nest of dehydration and
suffocation. It was clear that tourism had already impacted the beaches
of Sri Lanka.
Koh Yao, Thailand
After 10 days in Sri Lanka, the official work-study portion of the tour
was completed. While three Australians and one American remained in Sri
Lanka, the rest of the group traveled to south-central Thailand to
continue studying the effects prawn farms and tourism have had on
mangrove forests there. By 1996, Thailand’s prawn farm industry was
responsible for the loss of more than 65,000 hectares (160,000 acres)
of mangroves. Additionally, some 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of
productive rice farms have been converted to shrimp farming, making
Thailand one of the world’s largest shrimp producers. The impacts of
these commercial farms are a major contributor to the loss of fisheries
in Thailand.
The group traveled to the island of Koh Yao Noi where they stayed with
local fisher families, as guests of the islander’s award-winning
“Eco-tourism Club.” Opening their homes to eco-tourists, the island’s
seven villages have recently been awarded Thailand’s Outstanding
Tourism Award of 2002 by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Besides
spending time with the families, eating and talking with them, the
group was invited to go out to help with fishing nets and observe
traditional fishing methods.
The villagers have had a tremendously positive effect on the fisheries
near their islands. The mangrove conservation club was initiated in
1994, representing the seven villages on the island in aspects of
coastal resource management. Through Community Managed Forests (CMF),
nearly 80 percent of the mangroves lost during the past three decades
have been recovered. The club also patrols the island to prevent
trawlers and other outside fishing boats from encroaching on the
islands’ fishing grounds. Using a boat built with help from the Social
Investment Fund, the group has kept unauthorized trawling vessels and
push-net boats from the waters around the island. Trawlers and push-net
operators often carelessly destroy fishing gear and wreak havoc on
sea-grass beds and coral reefs nearby.
John Gray Sea-Canoe
MAP’s 2003 volunteer group was privileged to be guests of the John Gray
Sea-Canoe company. Mr. Gray, or “Caveman,” as he is known locally, has
lived in Thailand for over 20 years, and has introduced tropical
kayaking to Thailand. While kayaking (or sea-canoeing as it is known in
Thailand) has become big business, John Gray Sea-Canoe maintains itself
as Thailand’s only true eco-tourist kayaking company, featuring
excellent guides who are knowledgeable about the issues surrounding
tropical coastal environments. Unlike other tropical kayak companies in
the area that rely on day workers to guide customers through the narrow
caves and dangerous hongs (steep-walled lagoons), John Gray Sea Canoe
guides are full-time, long-term employees who’ve been with the company
for five years or more.
The MAP volunteers were invited to go on an overnight trip with John
Gray Sea Canoe. After floating through some of the last remaining
pristine areas of mangroves, going deep into the hongs and bays, the
group viewed the impact of unrestricted tourism at James Bond Island.
Hundreds of people were doing a half-day float into the small region of
this famous tourist attraction. The MAP group removed enough discarded
plastic and styrofoam from in and around the mangrove roots to fill six
55-gallon garbage bags. MAP is now working on a partnership with John
Gray to develop a specialized program emphasizing mangrove conservation.
This year’s Mangrove Work Study tour was underwritten in part through funds from the Cottonwood Foundation.
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