Nations Trust Bank launches ‘Embrace Nature’ project

Wednesday, 5 June 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

For Nations Trust Bank, safeguarding nature has long been a top priority. Urged by a finely tuned environmental conscience, the bank has always sought to strike a balance between corporate success and its responsibility to the environment.

The nature conservation efforts initiated in the past are a testament to the bank’s enduring commitment to protect the country’s rich biodiversity and restore the natural ecological balance as much as possible. In its role as a custodian of national success, Nations Trust Bank endeavours to create meaningful change through focused mass education and awareness programmes.

The ‘Embrace Nature’ project is the latest, among a series of awareness campaigns that underpin Nations Trust Bank’s efforts to inculcate an environmental ethos among a wider nationwide populace. This project will be implemented with the association of the Wild Life Conservation Society of Galle.

The initial phase of this project would focus on conserving eco systems deemed to be at risk in the Western Province, the first of which would be the Thalangama Tank, located in the highly urbanised Kotte Pradeshiya Saba in the Colombo District.

The National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980 has classified the Thalangama Tank as a wetland ecosystem. Adding to its rich vegetation and high biodiversity, the area is demarcated by a number of natural water ways and marshlands inhabited by a large number of species including many varieties of reptiles, fresh water turtles and monitor lizards.

Though not endemic to the area, the fishing cat and the otter are also species that inhabit the tank and are particularly vulnerable to destruction. Their habitats have been severely threatened as a consequence of the mass urbanisation unfolding in the area, in the recent past.

Nations Trust Bank strongly feels that that the ecological framework surrounding the Thalangama Tank can be successfully maintained through a concentrated localised public awareness campaign which highlights its unique ecosystem. Accordingly, the bank expects to launch an aggressive strategy which would serve to increase awareness among area residents and educate the general public on the importance of preserving this local wetland.

Nations Trust Bank’s proposed public awareness campaign is a comprehensive one, encompassing a range of short term and long term conservation initiatives including prominently displayed visual aids, ground level activations and awareness programmes that aim to influence the human psyche and create a positive mindset. The visual aid segment would be the first to be launched via a series of hoardings that are meant to appeal to the inner conscience of the target audience. To coincide with World Environment Day falling on 5 June 2013, the bank would be commissioning the first public hoarding, capturing the essence of the Thalangama Tank. This hoarding is designed to deliver a powerful message that would trigger a change in public behaviour and attitudes. It is also hoped that the strategically placed hoarding will nurture a lasting visual impression, thereby creating more responsible citizens who would accept the onus of protecting and preserving this national asset in the future.