Keep in Touch

Subscribe to stay up to date on Seacology’s events, trips, and projects.

  • Email Address
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

top-cap-white
top-cap-bluetop-cap-white

Exceptional donation builds momentum in Sri Lanka

October 29, 2015

Seacology’s first-ever nationwide conservation project, which will protect all the mangroves in the island nation of Sri Lanka, received an enormous boost this month: a $1 million gift from a long-time Seacology donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

Other Seacology supporters, led by committed board members and Seacology Fellows, have already contributed $1.5 million toward the project, which has a five-year budget of $3.4 million. That means this latest donation brings us within $900,000 of the project’s fundraising goal.

As large as it is, the $1 million earmarked for Sri Lanka’s nationwide mangrove project is only part of the new gift from this very generous supporter. Over the next few years, Seacology will receive an additional $2.5 million. This will allow us to fund an endowment, which will help ensure that we will be well-equipped to protect threatened island ecosystems and cultures long into the future.

With the Seacology mangrove project, Sri Lanka has become the first nation in the world to protect all of its mangroves. Just five months after launch, progress is already impressive. All three planned mangrove nurseries, where seedlings are being raised to reforest the nation’s coastline, are up and running. Construction of the facility in Chilaw, which will serve as both a museum on the importance of mangrove habitats and an education center for those working to restore them, is underway. And the job training and microloans we’re providing through our partners at Sudeesa have begun in earnest. You can read some of the media coverage of the project here.

We are confident that this first-of-its-kind plan to replant and protect Sri Lanka’s critically important mangrove forests—while helping village women earn a sustainable livelihood—will not only succeed locally but cause ripples around the globe. It’s already being looked at as a model in other nations with degraded mangroves. With your continuing support, we can ensure that mangroves will flourish in Sri Lanka and beyond.