Anuradha Wickramasinghe on Receiving the 2001 Seacology Prize
Editor's note: On the evening of November 30, 2001, Seacology's board of directors, staff and others gathered at the National Tropical Botanical Garden on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to honor 2001 Seacology Prize recipient Anuradha Wickramasinghe of Sri Lanka. The Prize is awarded annually to an indigenous islander for exceptional achievement in preservent the environment and culture of any of the worl'ds 100,000-plus islands. Anuradha was awarded the $5,000 Prize for his outstanding efforts in mangrove conservation. The Seacology Prize is generously underwritten by Seacology president Ken Murdock in memory of his mother, Lalovi Fish Murdock. Following are the comments made by Anuradha at the November 30 ceremony:
Mr. Chairmen, the president, the board of directors, the executive director and staff of Seacology, ladies and gentlemen:
On behalf of the people of Sri Lanka and especially the small fisher folk of Sri Lanka, it's a great privilege to convey my deepest gratitude to Seacology for awarding me the Seacology Prize 2001.
Sri Lanka is a tiny island nation in the Indian Ocean that is immensely rich in biodiversity in coastal resources including mangroves, coral reefs and associated fauna and flora. As Sri Lankans, we maintain a great tradition to nurture and preserve our coastal resources. No fisher folk in our island are engaged in destructive activities to denude the coastal resources. We love mangroves, we love coral reefs and we love the ocean and the sea because we know that our lives are dependent on these resources.
Our people, the fisher folk, sacrifice their lives to protect the mangroves and the affiliated resources for the benefit of the future generation of the country. Our fisher folk always believe that the coastal resources belong to the future generation. Therefore, the fisher folk have a very practical dynamism to protect these inherited resources.
Seacology has deeply encouraged us and valued our sweat and toil in the conservation of coastal resources.
Through the esteemed support of Seacology we have been inspired and encouraged to maintain our conservation tradition further and we appreciate the unique honour granted to my people my country and me.
Thank you very much.
