Opening of New Environmental Educations Centers in Sri Lanka

The Nagenahiru Foundation has opened a new environmental education center near the Madampe wetlands between Ambalangoda and Batapola. The Center is comprised of a lecture hall, accommodations for students and the only brak-water aquarium in Sri Lanka. There is also a Mangrove education path on stilts which minimizes human contact with the wet lands and is not dependent on the changing water levels. The center’s waste water is cleaned by a modern treatment facility which utilizes the cleaning properties of plants. The facility was built with the help of Spanish experts of the Fundación Global Nature

The goal of the environmental education center is to integrate the local population, especially those that use the wetlands like fishermen, along with young people, women and school children, into the project. the goal is to inform and engage the population in the search for solutions to environmental problems. Extensive amounts of informative materials like project pamphlets in English and Sinhala along with a detailed handbook on Mangrove planting were developed. A smaller education center of the Nagenahiru Foundation on the Maduganga lake near the Mangrove nursery in Pathamulla is also in use. Before the end of 2008 a community hall used for meetings and education will be built.

The Nagenahiru Foundation has begun working with the southern province’s government’s ministry of education. Through this cooperation students and teachers can be engaged in the project and future activities. A partnership with the National Youth Services Council has also been agreed upon in order to education future environmental protection leaders. 52 young leaders have taken part in the wetland protection program and there will be more summer camps in the summer of 2008.

The environmental education center of the EMACE in Indibedda has also made good progress and will open in July 2008. Visitors will be brought to the center by boat. This center also uses a waste treatment facility which utilizes plants. EMACE has created a comprehensive exhibit on "Mangrove Protection and Biodiversity" that was shown in school and public establishments in Athurugiriya, Indibedda, Moratuwa, Panadura, Bandaragama and Piliyandala. By the end of 2008, the EMACE plans to open an "Eco-lodge" for tourists in Alubomulla.