Saturday, 8 November 2014 00:00
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Sri Lanka finds it vital to protect its coast as it is often threatened by numerous complex environmental factors. HSBC Global Service Delivery, in collaboration with the Coastal Conservation and Coastal Resources Management Department, the Rattota Municipal Council, the Rattota Police Environmental Division and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard partnered recently to help the future sustainability of this scenic coastline.
The project aims to safeguard and create a natural line of defence to prevent coastal erosion and to create and sustain coastal vegetation in the affected beach area, which in turn would minimise erosion and preserve the environment.
The ‘Green Belt’ is a strip of artificially created coastal vegetation, designed to prevent coastal erosion and the adverse impacts of coastal hazards on human lives and property in the short term. This will also enhance the landscape for recreational tourism and scenic beauty, conserve biodiversity and increase the community’s employment opportunities and permanent agricultural crops, providing economic benefits in the long term.
The Godagama Coastal Belt is situated in the Godagama Grama Niladhari division, which is a part of Hikkaduwa in the Galle district. The plight of this area is quite perilous as the beach area is under severe threat from sea erosion. The shifting sand is constantly taken off the beaches and as a result, it is on the verge of damaging the Galle road and the railway. This entire coast was badly damaged by the 2004 tsunami.
The project involved a number of activities, which included preparing a plant nursery for 500 saplings (three species: coconut, Mudilla, Watakeiya), nurturing them, constructing 500 wooden frames and preparing the site for the planting of 500 plants.
Planting the saplings occurred in September 2014, with 136 HSBC employees volunteering. Captain Upul De Silva, Coast Guard Department; Lieutenant Commander G. Kariyawasam; Gamini Hewage, Acting Director, Coastal Conservation and Coastal Resources Management Department (CC and CRMD); WKG Pushpakumara, Assistant Director, CC and CRMD; Nalin Perera, Project Coodinator, CC and CRMD; and Kasun Attanayake, Head of Corporate Sustainability, HSBC Global Service Delivery, participated in the event. The students from two main schools in the area, Paraliya Sri Jinarathana Maha Vidyalaya and Madampa Central College, also participated.
