NCS Profile June10

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Nature Conservation Society (NCS)Nature Conservation Society (NCS)Sri Lanka

Updated :

June 2010

Registration-No.: 6/6/17/9/26 (CEA, Sri Lanka)

No. 41 Devala Road,Kaluwamodara, Aluthgama

Sri Lanka

+ 94 34 3305100 (Office)+ 94 777 807674 (Chairman)

[email protected], [email protected]

www.naturevolunteers.com



NCS ProfileNCS Profile

The Tsunami disaster in December 2004 destroyed the complete livelihoodof many people in Sri Lanka. A lot of them lost their families, homes and workingplaces. In the following time many organisations started to support thereconstruction of the destroyed regions financially, with material and manpower.But the support has decreased and many helpers left Sri Lanka a long time ago.Still, the problems of the country remain. Especially when it comes to environmentaland educational issues, there's a serious lack of sustainable projects.

To face these problems and needs the Nature Conservation Society (NCS) - SriLanka was established in August 2005 and officially registered by the CentralEnvironmental Authority (CEA) as a non-profit environmental organisation in SriLanka in February 2006.

Wildlife extermination, soil depletion, deforestation, waste dumping, water pollutiondue to the draining of sewage into rivers and the ocean, air pollution, coral mining,etc. (see picture 1 to 4 below) - these environmental issues are common in

developing countries and result mostly of ignorance or financial problems of thelocals, but also of high population numbers and economic growth. The effect is notonly a danger for the nature but also threatens the health of the population (e.g. bythe poor water quality) and causes a low life expectancy. So due to unawarenessand poverty, mankind in Sri Lanka is destroying its own livelihood.

Introduction

Update June 2010 Page - 2 -Nature Conservation Society (NCS)

1. River with Waste water 2. Coral mining

3. Garbage dumping 4. Air pollution




Update June 2010 Nature Conservation Society (NCS) Page - 3 -

The NCS wants to help saving the unique nature and creating a healthyenvironment for the local communities. To overcome the current problems, afundamental understanding of nature and wildlife conservation on one hand and of human needs on the other hand has to be developed. To care for the environmentand the nature means also to care about the people who live in it - because onecan not live without the other and both are influencing the other respectively.

In order to achieve our aims and objectives, the NCS is following different ways :

1.Awareness to the population as well as to visitors concerning the topics endangerednature and animal species, sustainable treatment of natural resources, generalnature conservation and health

2.Educationby an efficient environmental education programme for young people to

increase the environmental awareness. Furthermore, free education of childrenfrom economically weak and disadvantaged families in rural areas e.g. withlessons in English and computer skills. Special programmes for women e.g. aboutwomen's rights and alternative income can help to increase their quality of life andthe future for the family.

3.Active conservationby the invention and institution of eco-friendly solutions for everyday life as well

as by the implementation of activities in the field of nature conservation incooperation (e.g., the collecting of waste at the beach) with the population, schoolsand other institutions.

3.International cooperationby cooperation with local and international organisations and institutions as

well as the integration of local and foreign voluntary workers in daily work (see'Nature Volunteers')

Aims and Objectives





NCS

EDC

NV

GreenPioneer

Team

Partner Organisations

LocalCommunity

Diagram 1: Structure of network and interactions of the NCS(NCS- Nature Conservation Society, NV- Nature Volunteers Association,

EDC- Eduaction Development Centre)

Organisational network and Interactions

The NCS is not an isolated organisation - it is a part of a network between thelocal community, partner organisations and private persons as well as our owninstitution EDC (Education Development Centre) and sub-organisations NV(Nature Volunteers Association) and the Green Pioneer Team which areinteracting with each other. A structure of this network is shown in diagram 1below.

Centre of the network is the NCS, which is in interaction with all other elementsshown – whereas the local community has the major impact. While thecooperation with partner organisations is manly towards the NCS and NV, thesupport of the NV is going to all institution and the local community. Further isshown that the main input to the educational centre (EDC) is coming from thelocal community (the children), but the efforts come from the NCS and NV.Former students of the EDC has build the Green Pioneer Team, which is on theother hand supporting the NCS and the local community.




The construction of the EDC was initiated and sponsored by Gazprom GermaniaGmbH , Berlin (one-time funding) and realized in cooperation with the NatureConservation Society (NCS) Sri Lanka. Only a few months after the start of

construction, the centre was opened at May, 27 th 2006. At that date, themanagement and the supervision of the project was handed over to the NCS.

Concerning the objectives of the NCS the EDC has the following two main aims:1) The overcoming of financial grievance :Local children and teenagers can participate in free courses in English and computer skills (length: six months) in the EDC. If they complete the course successfully, thestudents will receive an official certificate attesting their effort, which will increase

their chance for a good job.

Furthermore, it is planned that women can learn different handicraft skills in the EDCin order to be able to earn money for themselves and their families. 2) Environmental protection by environmental education:The education centre is the initial point of a considerable programme of environmental education. This programme shall strengthen the environmental

awareness of the local population and thereby form a base for a sustainable andsuccessful environmental protection. As part of the awareness programme followingeducational activities are implemented: lectures, film shown, workshops and other events.Alongside the members of the NCS and the volunteers, experts and membersof other organisations are integrated in the projects. New projects concerningenvironmental protection, as the usage of renewable resources or the alternativegeneration of energy, and approaches for big environmental problems in Sri Lanka,as the lack of an efficient waste management or the water pollution, are planned for the years to come.


Education Development Centre (EDC)

The Education Development Centre (EDC) is the

central institution of the NCS. It has an educational unitwith the NCS office as well as a living and working areafor the volunteers of the Nature Volunteers Association(NV).




The locationThe EDC is situated in Aluthgama, a small town inSri Lanka's southwest - about 70 km south of the

capital Colombo and 40 km north of the city Galleon the southern tip of the island.

The buildingThe building ensures efficient and well-preparededucation and is at the same time the home and aplace for intercultural encounters of the local andforeign volunteers, helpers and guests.


The childrenThe students of the EDC come from the adjacencies. As the children are fromTsunami affected or low income families the courses are free of charge and offer apossibility to improve the education they get at school.

For the computer classes, mainly older children are selected (age 12 to 21 years),because they are close to start into the professional life, where they can use their newly learned skills immediately. The English classes do not have an age-restriction.

The class rooms and the working area is located on the ground floor. There is thelobby, the office, a computer cabinet, a library, a volunteers office and a lectureroom as well as the toilets for the children. On first floor, there is the living are with aliving room as well as the kitchen, the dining area, a big bathroom, three staff roomsand three double bedrooms for the volunteers as well as for guests.





"Nature Volunteers" is a volunteering programme in Sri Lanka for voluntary

helper, volunteering tourists, trainees, students and interested people that wantto participate in and support nature and community beneficial projects,including environmental awareness programmes as well as wildlifeconservation and social activities.The "Nature Volunteers" are involved in programmes and activities relating tochildren's education and welfare, community development, environmental care,disaster relief, general welfare, etc., partly in cooperation with other organisations (e.g. NGO's) and institutions (e.g. homes for the elderly). The

focus of these programmes lies on environmental education and awareness,nature and wildlife conservation as well as on community based work (e.g.teaching and social care) and project management.Most of the environmental and community based work is also supported fromthe “Green Pioneers Team”, a group of former and current students of the EDCinterest in environmental activities, as well as local volunteers

Nature Volunteers Association (NV)Sri Lanka

In June 2006, the programme of the "NatureVolunteers" was started by the NatureConservation Society (NCS), Sri Lanka. Itwas registered as "Nature VolunteersAssociation" in December 2006.





Running Projects

All projects of the NCS are supported by the work of the Nature Volunteers(locals and foreign). In the majority the projects are initiated by the NCS, butthe society also supports partner organisations and local institutions likeschools . Ongoing projects (samples) are listed below and described in short:

English and Computer Lessons – A team of 5 local teachers are runningclasses in English, Computer, Environmental Education and Graphic Design .

Utilising the support of the volunteer team on a number of afternoons, andevenings lessons were completed for a variety of ages and abilities in spokenEnglish.

German Lessons - With a strong German representation in the volunteer team it was natural to also offer spoken German lessons after request fromthe students

Mangrove Replanting – The creation of and maintenance thereafter of asmall Mangrove Nursery adjacent to the EDC has allowed for an increase of effectiveness in Mangrove reforestation, one of the main environmentalprojects of the NCS.A weekly collection of juvenile plants has been underway all year, and theVolunteers continue to maintain a healthy stock of viable plants. During theyear NCS members, Nature Volunteers accompanied by the Green Pioneersgroup are replanting several 1000 saplings .

Beach Cleaning – Waste is one of the major problems in Sri Lanka. A placewhere it is commonly found and a disturbance for tourists is the beach.Therefore, the NCS is concentration their efforts in a clean environment tothose places. Nature Volunteers, EDC students and Green Pioneers havebeen able to partake in beach cleaning activities on both a small and largescale. During the past years





The following projects from partner organisanisations and institutions weresupported from the NCS and NV (samples):

Turtle Conservation – Nature Volunteers have been supporting the“TurtleConservation Project” by supplying manpower each week to assist the projectteam.

Dog Care Centre – Also Nature Volunteers has supported the Dog CareProject in Talpe by allowing members of the Volunteer group to assist in theday to day running of the Dog Care clinic.

Montessori Support – A closely Montessori is supported by the volunteerswith pre-school planning learning activities and basic English lessons severaldays mornings each week.

Orphanage Programme – A number of the volunteer team have spent time ina local orphanage in Beruwala providing some basic English teaching as wellas social support to the girls there.

Planned Projects

Besides the ongoing projects run by the NCS with support of the NV further projectsand programms are planned in order to meet the objectives of the NCS and supportthe local community . These projects are listed as follows:

• Women handicraft project and ways of alternative income

• Strenghten of Womens rights – with presentations, talks and film shows

• Alternative ways of cooking with solar energy (solar cooker)

• Ecofriedly tourist travels and service

Cooperation projects with parter organisations:

• "Bentota River Waste Management System" – planned by INSOU, in cooperationwith BREDS

• Reforestration the the Singharaja Rainforst - planned from OARM

• Ecological tourism in the Singhataja Rainforst area – planned from LCCBO• Ecological aggriculture and farmimg – planned from the Society of EcologicalAgriculture, University of Peradeniya





Local Partner organisations

International Partner organisations

Bentota River Environment Development Society (BREDS)

Deiherm Organisation

Low Country C.B.O. Consortium (LCCBO)Turtle Conservation Project (TCP)

Organization for Aquatic Resources Management (OARM)

Pahalage Orphanage, Beruwala

Society of Ecological Agriculture, University of Peradeniya

Vier Pfoten Dog Care Clinic e.V. (Germany/Sri Lanka, Talpe)

ADIUVO e.V. (Germany)

International Network in Support of Organised Development Initiatives (INSOU)

LOTUS – international e.V. (Germany)

Womens cooperation international (Austria)

NCS Profile June10

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