SRI LANKA, Uraniya Lagoon, Ampare District, Eastern Province - January 2011
Construction of a coastal resource conservation and livelihood development center in exchange for the conservation of 2,965 acres of coast swamp and mangrove for a minimum duration of 10 years *
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The communities of the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka are slowly recovering from a 30-year Civil War, which ended in 2009. However, the communities continue to feel losses; they have been displaced from their original homes, 22 percent of families lost their breadwinners, and 38 percent of children lost their schools. The majority of women are destitute (29,856 total in the province). Most of them belong to the fishing community and engage in shallow water fishing; their life support depends on the coastal lagoon system. The war also caused great destruction to the coastal swamps and mangrove ecosystem. The natural tidal system and drainage were blocked, and fish breeding grounds completely dried up. The estimated loss of coastal forest and swamp in the Ampare District is 2,965 acres. The Small Fishers Federation of Sri Lanka (SFFL), with whom Seacology partnered to fund the Kiralakele Mangrove Resource Centre in Sri Lanka’s south, wishes to build a community resource conservation and livelihood development center. Vocational training will be provided to women and school dropouts, mainly from the Tamil community, to help rehabilitate them. In exchange, the community will protect 2,965 acres of coastal swamp and mangrove area. Within this area, 642 acres will be replanted with 260,000 mangroves and be protected as a demonstration area. More than 420,000 schoolchildren in the Eastern Province will have access to the center. Widows and school dropouts will be engaged in conservation and protection activities, and will learn business skills without damaging the coastal environment. The area will be protected for a minimum of 10 years.
UPDATE June 2011 - Funds have been sent to the Small Fishers Federation of Lanka, the organization that is managing the project. Land for the building has been donated by Kalyani, a resident of Uraniya Lagoon. The building work has commenced.
*Support for asterisked projects is provided fully or in part by: 
