Eco Friendly Volunteers (ECO-V)

A New Year with New Plans…

2012-01-11T23:14:00.000+05:30

Its 2012, I was thinking about ECO-V and its activities for last year. What a year!! It was a different start and Different end in 2011. We were living in Melbourne and making plans for JCJ and its first journey “Kelani Nadee Yathra” which was a great success at the end of the year. Even before end of year we were able to complete the journey. Now we have 21 Yathrees with us to do more work for Nature Conservation and address Climate Change issues in 2012. We have already planned another workshop on 14^th and 15^th of January 2012 for these youth activists to make them more strengthen in campaigning.

Thanks to Conservation Leadership Programme, I was able to travel to New Zealand on December 4^th to attend the 25^th International Congress on Conservation biology (ICCB). It was a great opportunity to present some of our Pelican Conservation work at the congress. I also had very useful discussions on Climate Change and Biodiversity with participants at different sessions.

Beauty of the hot springs in Rotarua

Temperature is over 100 centigrades in these pools

Boiling mud pools

Interestingly, I had the opportunity to visit Rotarua with my friend who lives in Auckland to see geothermal activities. It helped me to understand what I have learnt at Sweden Climate Change training programme. I was very impressed about all environmental protection actions that New Zealand government had taken (specially in Bio-Diversity an agriculture protection). I brought back lot of information which will be helpful for further actions of ECO-V.

Reporting back to Melbourne….

2011-12-07T09:05:00.000+05:30

Giving a presentation at Department of Sustainability and Environment

I had a very successful official visit to Melbourne from 24^th November to 4^th December 2011. The purpose of the visit was to present the success of the river journey (Kelani Nadee Yatra) to Journeys for Climate Justice (JCJ) . It was very nice to meet all the advisory board members including former Governor of Victoria Prof. David De Kretser who was very happy to hear about the success of the journey. I had so many meetings with people who are into energy sector, finance sector, land care and Climate Change areas. All meetings gave many ideas, contacts and networking opportunities to develop JCJ and also to support youth projects started in Sri Lanka after the river journey. I also had the opportunity to talk to Australian media along with Jim Crosthwaite who is the co founder of JCJ. I had interviews with SBS TV news and Channel 31 too. Sri Lankan community living in Melbourne had organized us a very nice meeting where I presented about our work and also showed the documentary made on Kelani Nadee Yathra. I should thank our friend Manjith and friends for arranging this excellent meeting for Sri Lankan community. There were 3 more main public talks organized at Westgarth where we lived last year, Geelong and in Glen Weverly.

Giving a talk at Sri Lankan event in Glen Weverly

It was a very short visit with many presentations, meetings and public talks and also catching up with our old friends very briefly. After 9 days in Melbourne I am in New Zealand now, attending the 25^th International Congress on Conservation Biology. I have to give a presentation on our Pelican research we did for ECO-V.

Training on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation- Sweden

2011-10-28T22:49:00.000+05:30

This is one of the best trainings I have ever followed - Climate Change mitigation and adaptation; sponsored by SIDA and conducted by Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) in Norrokoping, Sweden. When I recall the other trainings I have had during my carrier I can rate this on par with the training on endangered species management at Durrell, Jersey UK and training of trainers at Waheningan in Netherlands. All these trainings gave me skills and lot of confidence to continue my career as a conservationist. Since Climate Change issues are addressed at broader level now, this training is very important for me. One month in Sweden with 22 other middle level managers who are actors of climate change in their countries coming from various backgrounds was very helpful for us to share experience and learn from each other.

Course content was not only restricted to theory but more practical exposure too given to us. Visiting many Swedish initiatives like wind and solar power stations, sustainably designed cities, exposure to bio gas production for transportation in Stockholm, bio energy production out of garbage and sewage for National electricity grid, are great experience we came across. It was very interesting to learn more about climate change scenarios, assessing vulnerability, modeling, protocols with the legal background, initiatives in Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), Cleaner Development Mechanism (CDM), and Payment for Environmental Services (PES), Reducing Emission from Avoiding Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) etc.

Trainees in Stockholm

During one month of staying in Sweden, I questioned myself why can’t we do it in our country? what make us prevent initiating?…why??…and always what?…and how?..So now I am ready to go back to Sri Lanka to try my best to continue my mission as a campaigner, communicator, leader and a citizen to do my best to convince stakeholders, direct them to do what they can do and let them think about what they should do. I am not sure how far I can go but at least I know I have 21 youth ambassadors already trained to some extent (Thanks to Kelani Nadee Yathra) to be ready to go forward and always with young energy. So let’s go for it…with like minded people, politicians and policy makers …because its “our country our future”.

Short visit to London in September soon after Kelani Nadee Yatra

2011-10-27T01:59:00.000+05:30

September was a really busy month for me. Soon after I finished the final celebrations of Kelani Nadee yatra I went to London. It was on an invitation from Conservation leadership Programme (CLP) to give a presentation at a ceremony they have organized.

With Catherine Isherwood

It was a short but a very nice visit where I was able to meet some of my old friends whom I have met through my conservation work. I also met my dear friend Catherine Isherwood. She was a member of Sinharaja 97 expedition which came to Sri Lanka in 1997. This expedition which came after winning a CLP award was the turning point of my conservation career. Catherine is a Geologist in Sterling now after finishing her PhD. Even after 14 years , we are a good team as Julia Jones and Claire Ferry are also with me whenever I need any assistance for our conservation work. In fact very recently Claire had a walk around Northern Ireland to raise funds for three conservation organization including ECO-V(http://lovenaturewalkni.blogspot.com/).

Dr. Mark Rose in the middle

Three of past CLP award winners were invited for this event they have organized at BP head office in London .We had to share our success after winning CLP awards with the BP officials. This event gave me the opportunity to meet Dr. Mark Rose the head of Fauna and Flora International (FFI) whom I have met during Whitley awards interviews in 2002. CLP had also organized another meeting for me at FFI Cambridge which gave me the opportunity to show the video of Kelani Nadee Yatra and talk about the river journey. Thanks to Robyn Dalzen and Stuart Paterson of CLP for inviting me for the event.

Final celebrations of Kelani Nadee Yatra

2011-10-05T23:18:00.000+05:30


Invitees lighting oil lamp

Kelani Nadee yatra..the journey along Kelani river is over…We had a grand final event on the 15^th of September 2011. Thanks to Western province ministry of Environment for organizing such a wonderful final event for us. All the Yathrees (travelers) were felicitated by the ministry by giving a certificate and an award. Senior minister Hon. A.H.M Fauzi was the chief guest along with the western Province Environmental Minister Hon. Udaya Gammanpila and some other invitees. It was held at the beautiful Beire lake premises and many school children, press, government officers, Cooperate sector, and ECO-V members were among the invitees. They all were there to share the information about the journey. Imala Aberatne from Sabaragamuwa Province was awarded as the best Yathree. All the yathrees came back to Colombo. Thanks to kind permission from Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Maj. Gen Chandana Rajaguru who personally participated in the event we had both Selva and Newton from North back to Colombo for the event. All Yathrees were with full of energy and some of them have already started their projects which was very encouraging. All were delighted to watch the 15 minute documentary film we made about Kelani Nadee Yatra- a river journey for climate justice. We missed Jim and Pat from Journeys for Climate Justice in Melbourne but we knew that their blessings were with us on that day.

Hon.Minister Gammanpila Addressing the gathering

Well... thank you for everybody who supported us in many ways to have our journey a success. It was not just a journey along Kelani River but a journey of Youth in their lives with a positive behavioral change. Also it is a beginning of another journey with a message we take across the country and to the region in coming months! Let’s have our own journeys towards positive attitudinal change to save our Mother Earth from Climate Change crisis.


Western Province Ministry felicitated ECO-V

Yathrees and school children sharing experience

Happy Yathrees


Staff of WP environmental ministry & Yathrees

ECO-V theme song with Yathrees of Kelani Nadee Yathra 2011

2011-09-15T21:26:00.000+05:30

Invitation for final celebrations of Kelani Nadee Yatra...

2011-09-06T21:46:00.000+05:30

All youth have gone back to their local areas. Still calling us and sharing their experience with us at ECO-V. Also they all are really looking forward to come back on the 15th to Colombo to celebrate the 12 day journey at the final event. We at ECO-V didn't have a break as such as we started working for the next event since 29th. Had several meetings with Minister Gammanpila and his staff, sent letters for organizing, getting permission and making so many other arrangements. Pat has gone back to Melbourne and have started his work. Jim is getting ready to leave tomorrow. He helped us a lot in making the report. Narada Bakmewewa is very busy with making the video for the journey obviously quite challenging limiting it for 13 minutes with 12 days of great filming.

Well we are really looking forward to meet the Yetrees again next week and share some more thoughts. Please come and join us on the 15th of September at Beire Lake, Kala Duwa in Colombo from 9am to 5pm. There will be a video, photographs, poems, and art to share with you all. - Kanchana

Farewell to our Yathrees and the Journey of a Lifetime…

2011-08-29T14:07:00.002+05:30

Yesterday was our last day of this Journey for Climate Justice. We didn’t stop smiling and laughing for a second, but in the back of our minds there was also great sadness that this experience of our lifetime was about to come to an end.

We made our way to the stunning International Training Centre of Vishua Niketan, where we were to complete our final day of training. Jim Crosthwaite kicked off the session leading us in an informative discussion of Climate Change. I then took the chance to give a presentation of the results of our water quality study of the Kelani River, and discuss some key issues and potential solutions. We then gave the Yathrees the chance to formally evaluate their trip, which they have described as “life-changing”, and “the best experience of our lives”! We interviewed each of the Yathrees separately, asking them to reflect on their Journey.

After a presentation by Kanchana on Sustainable Development we split the group up to discuss conservation projects that they are interested in implementing after the Journey, and any challenges or uncertainties that they expecting to face. We were very impressed at the ambitious but achievable projects that were proposed, including a nation-wide plastic-free campaign (including introducing home-made reusable cloth shopping bags), construction of an eco-friendly village, introduction of eco-friendly education programs in rehabilitation programs and in Universities, and many more.

After a final workshop on the Eco-Handprint concept, and many tips for ‘greening’ one’s lifestyle, we begun creating our ‘mural of healing hands’. The idea is that by using our handprint (as opposed to our footprint) we can compensate for the damage that we are doing for the environment, and make the world a better place for all Living Beings. The Yathrees made a pledge to protect Mother Nature, before planting a personalised painted handprint on the mural. This was a beautiful way to end our training session.

We returned back to Savodaya for an evening of celebration, singing, speeches and dramas. This cultural celebration was truly a night to remember, and was a great lighthearted note to end the trip on.

We said many sad goodbyes to our great friends and companions this morning, who will be travelling back to their homes, but will be joining us again for the final ceremony on the 15th, which should be an incredible event, look forward to keeping you posted!

Thank you so much to all who have sponsored and supported us on this Journey, we will never forget your kindness. You have helped us to run a program not only to change the lives of these Yathrees, but one that will have ripple effects throughout Sri Lankan and International communities.

For a better environment – Pat

P.S. there will be much more to come! Keep watching this blog for updates on the final ceremony, the much anticipated documentary, and updates on the Yathrees activities in their own conservation projects

Our final destination – where the river meets the sea!

2011-08-27T21:51:00.000+05:30

Our good friend Jim Crosthwaite arrived yesterday, and will be travelling with us for the remainder of the Journey. Jim is the president and co-founder of Journeys for Climate Justice, and we thank him kindly for his generosity, support and determination to help this Journey come to fruition.

We begun our last day in the field with a fascinating tour of the ancient Hanwella Fort, a strategic militiary post which has fallen into the hands of many nations over its prolonged history.

We returned to our base at the Education Centre to hear that the Minister of Environment and several other provincial MPs would be joining us to discuss the outcome of the Journey! The Minister has been a great supporter of the Journey from the start, and he was particularly impressed with the success this innovative project has achieved, including its strong partnership with the Australian charity organisation Journeys for Climate Justice, of which Jim and I were present. National media groups also came along to capture our story and report the success of the Journey!

We then took a step outside, and the Minister and his fellow MPs donned a Kelani Nadee Yatra cap and got straight into some tree planting (see photo below)!

We stopped off for another awareness campaign through the town of Hanwella, before travelling onwards to the banks of the Kelani river in the heart of Colombo. We crossed the river by a hand-pulled barge, before testing the water quality and getting our hands dirty cleaning up rubbish on the banks of this beautiful river.

We then paid a visit to the beautiful Kelani temple, a site visited by the Buddha thousands of years ago. The Kelani temple is a very sacred site for buddhists, with thousands of people coming daily to pray, give offerings and marvel at the sheer beauty of the complex.

Sadly, the time had come to move along to our last stop in the field, where the Kelani River meets the ocean. It has been a magical experience to follow this mighty river from its source in the mountains, to its end-point hundreds of kilometres away in the urban coastal environment of Colombo.

Tonight we are staying at the headquarters of Sarvodaya (the largest social NGO in Sri Lanka) just south of Colombo. We are all reminiscing on this experience of a lifetime, and are looking forward to our final training day tommorow.

Teaming up with SCOUTS for an Eco-adventure!

2011-08-27T09:38:00.000+05:30

We woke at the beautiful riverside Salawa Scout Camp to meet our friends and supporters from the Colombo-district Scout Association. After singing the national anthem we jumped into our challenge for the morning: an Eco-Adventure course, comprising commando-style physical challenges, nature-based adventure courses and intellectually-stimulating environmental quizzes.

After several fun-filled hours on the course, we took the chance to catch our breath and clean ourselves of mud before planting more trees around the Scout Camp. Tree-planting is just one of the techniques we have used along the Journey to improve our Eco-Handprint!

We said goodbye to our good friends at the Scout Camp (who have been great supporters of our Journey since it was conceived) and travelled onwards into the hustle-and-bustle of the outskirts of Colombo.

We picked a few strategic locations and launched a full-scale awareness campaign, covering town squares, markets and bus depots, with the support of local officials and police. We had a crazy and fun afternoon, performing street dramas, gathering crowds, chatting with locals, handing out eco-awareness stickers and singing our famous ECO-V song (about caring for Mother Earth, written by a famous Sri Lankan singer).

At dusk we made our way to the Education Centre in Hanwella, where we were invited along for the night. The Yathrees have been spending their evening finishing their beautiful journals, which they will be handing in tommorrow!

Yet another way we are reducing our carbon footprint!

2011-08-26T19:44:00.000+05:30

After receiving a blessing in the hilltop temple complex, we met our friends from Lanka Sportreizen Adventure Company who handed each of us a mountain bike. This was to be our eco-friendly transport for the day.

We cycled to the beautiful estate of the well-respected Mapitigama family, who kindly invited us for breakfast. We then planted trees in the local area, before hopping back on our bikes to begin our epic journey.

We rode through rural countryside, lush rainforest and endless paddy fields, raising awareness amongst friendly locals along the way.

By mid-afternoon we had reached our destination at the renowned Ayurvedic (traditional Eastern medicine) town of Vedehagama, where we were welcomed with a much needed cup of tea!

After a quick tour of the town we continued further into the valley, to the fascinating home of Bandu, a lifelong archaeologist and naturalist. Bandu lives a simple life, using ancient, eco-friendly practices that are harmonious with nature. His garden contains only rare, endemic plants, many with important Ayurvedic properties. My personal highlight was a ‘living plant’ that detects your presence and moves away from you! INCREDIBLE!! Bandu built his house himself using traditional methods, and locally-sourced organic materials, incorporating thousands of fascinating artefacts collected over his lifetime, may of which are replicas that we has created himself!

We then travelled onwards to the Colombo-district, Salawa Scout Camp, on the banks of the Kelani River, where we sang into the night.... a glorious way to spend our second last night in the field!

Planting trees and raising awareness along the Kelani River….

2011-08-26T19:39:00.000+05:30

The spirits of the Yathrees were not dampened for a second today, despite torrential monsoon rains all morning. We are very impressed to see their persistent positive mentality on such a long journey.

We continued our environmental training of the Yathrees this morning in our stunning rainforest. We also took the opportunity to study the water quality of the Kelani River, which has become heavily laden with sediment, highlighting the importance of stopping deforestation and replanting trees to prevent erosion, soil loss, and damage to this unique river ecosystem.

We ventured further downstream to the picturesque Hakbelawaka bridge, where we met supporters from the local government, undertook an awareness campaign and planted trees. The trees were a gift from the local Chairman Pradeshiya Sabawat who has been a huge supporter of our Journey.

Chairman Pradeshiya then invited us along to his headquarters at the nearby town of Yatiyanthota, where we were met by a gathering of government officials, the local school principal, the local head monk, and other supporters. We discussed our Journey, as well as strategies to encourage more environmentally-friendly practices in Sri Lanka. The Yathrees were even given a chance to introduce themselves and individually discuss their experiences so far.

The local officials were very impressed at the progress of our rehabilitated youth from the Northern and Eastern Provinces, who joined us through the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation. The Chairman then treated us to lunch, and donated many more trees to us.

We spent the remainer of the day visiting towns along the River, undertaking awareness programs and turning heads with our popular street performances.

At dusk we made our way into the mountains to our resting place at a historic hilltop temple complex, as invited by the highly-respected and charitable Mapitagama Family.

- Pat

White water rafting down the mighty Kelani River..and taking Kithugala by storm with an eco-awareness campaign!

2011-08-24T15:40:00.000+05:30

We had an unforgettable morning rafting down the hair-raising rapids of the Kelani River, the Yathrees first experience of such an adventure. Between the wild rapids we took the time to marvel at our stunning rainforest setting, as interpreted by our naturalist guides.

We then dried ourselves out and hiked up into the high-country to visit the world-famous Beni Lana caves, the dwelling place of some of the earliest homosapiens (up to 30,000 years ago!). This stunning archaeological site nestled in the side of a cliff face made us reflect on the scale of environmental destruction that humans have caused in such a minute period in the history of Earth.

We then traveled to Kithugala, where the Yathrees scoured the town, performing dramas in the streets about caring for Mother Nature, and engaging with locals about environmental issues such as polythene waste, climate change, water pollution and sustainability. The Yathrees have impressed us with their confidence and passion to raise awareness of these important issues, and promote simple solutions.

We stopped off for a quick visit to the stunning filming location of The Bridge On The River Kwai, before reaching our accommodation at the eco-friendly, tropical paradise of Wanadula Rest, where our host Lucas discussed with us how to transform any property and building into an eco-friendly, natural haven.

Sorry about the late post of this blog, torrential monsoon rains and our remote location has made it tricky to find internet service!

Action packed eco-Adventure experience!!!

2011-08-23T11:29:00.000+05:30

Never have I ever had such an action-packed day in my entire life! Our legs are tired, our throats are soar from cheering on our friends, but our hearts are filled with an experience we will cherish for the rest of our lives. The idea of today was to “step outside of our comfort zone” and work as a team, as introduced by our inspiring eco-adventure guide and experienced ecologist Mahesh.

We spent last night in tents, with the Yathrees taking sentry posts throughout the night. Rather than seeing this as a task, they were highly grateful for the experience, and even pleaded with us to let them do this every night!

We rose at dawn to raise the Sri Lankan flag, before jumping into a meditation and yoga session to get our minds and bodies in tune for the day ahead. We then launched into some innovative and hilarious group activities. I have never witnessed such comradery, selflessness, teamwork and participation in all my experience in adventure guiding!

A morale boosting Haka (Maori-dance) inspired performance by Team-River, in the pouring monsoon rains

After breakfast we took to some rope courses in the jungle canopy, and despite torrential monsoon rainfall, which persisted all day, none of the Yathrees ducked for shelter or complained once – rather, cherishing this added challenge from Mother Nature.

Kanchana being lifted down from the high ropes course

After lunch we hiked through awe-inspiring jungle, across wild river crossings and into the mountains around Kithugala, with the raging sound of the Kelani River never far away. We passed the location where the classic World War II movie, Bridge over the River Kwai was filmed, and even visited an eco-friendly micro hydropower house. This led us to the rarely-seen Katarum River, where we took turns in plunging down a hair-raising rock pool slide!

Upon returning to base camp we sent the Yathrees off to prepare a drama to perform tonight to reflect on this marvelous day. Judging by the Yathrees performance so far, I trust this will be a hilarious, jaw-dropping, tear-jerking and heart-warming evening!

At this half-way point in our Journey we would like to say a heartfelt thanks to our kind and generous sponsors and supporters, your support has changed the lives of our youth, as well as everyone that we have passed along the way on our Journey For Climate Justice.

Testing the waters of the mighty Kelani River…

2011-08-21T21:59:00.000+05:30

This morning we ventured onwards to Polpinya Temple, where Kanchana led us in an uplifting Green Leadership training program. We then sent the Yathrees off into the wild to get some inspiration, which they put to good use with some beautiful artwork.

After lunch we continued downstream, stopping along the way to test the water quality of Kelani’s two main tributaries – Maskelyia and Kehelgamu. It was inspiring to see the Yathrees show so much enthusiasm to understand and protect these waterways, which are the lifeforce to much of Sri Lanka.

We then met up with Mahesh from SEALS (Spirit & Eco-Adventure Living Squad) who will be leading us through an action-packed 2 day nature-based adventure course! We took up camp at the SEALS base at Kithugala, on the banks of the scenic Kelani River. We spent the remainder of the day bathing in the river and soaking up our picturesque surroundings.

All in all another glorious day! Our mouths hurt from laughing so hard, and our brains are packed full with knowledge to be the green leaders of the future.

Once again, Kelani Nadee Yatra is in the media spotlight, with a great article in today’s Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka’s renowned English newspaper:http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/08/21/new56.asp

Trekking downstream through wondrous jungle, under the peaks of the Seven Virgins!!

2011-08-21T08:36:00.000+05:30

Another day…another unforgettable experience! We watched the sun rise with a jog to the nearby temple, before jumping into a Yoga session with our good friend and yoga-guru Nande. Nande then led us in an environmental meditation session, which got our brains in tune for the day ahead.

We then ventured onwards to the Canyon Hydro Power Station, where the resident engineers were kind enough to give us a tour. After testing the water quality we travelled further down the road, and begun our steep descent to the majestic Laksapana Falls.

We feasted on jack fruit curry for lunch in the spray of the falls (eaten off a banana leaf to minimise our waste), and a few brave souls even swam up to the base of the waterfall to witness its power firsthand!

After trekking back up the steep rocky path, the Yathrees launched into another eco-awareness campaign with local communities.

This was a great success and lead us many kilometres down the road, where we hitched a ride in the back of a passing small truck (imagine 25 of us clinging on for dear life in the tray!)…not a bad effort to minimise our carbon footprint! This brought us to our destination at Bokarabebilla Temple, nestled in the jungle below the Seven Virgins (a series of 7 beautiful peaks), where local monks kindly agreed to put us up for the night.

Our journey has achieved massive media interest, most notably being a 30-minute live interview about the journey on Derana, one of Sri Lanka’s leading TV stations, as well as being broadcast on national radio, where we were introduced as “Sri Lanka’s longest ever environmental education program”.

Kelani Nadee Yathra - Glimpse of First three days

2011-08-20T22:13:00.000+05:30

Nail-biting adventure to Lakshapana Falls

2011-08-19T21:53:00.000+05:30

Another incredible day…its practically impossible to squeeze a day’s adventures into a single blog but I’ll give it a shot!

We begun the day at dawn with some environmental meditation and nature awareness training. Our Yathrees are connecting deeply with the natural world around them, using their 5 senses to fully appreciate nature in all its forms.

After breakfast we ventured through the beautiful high-country to Koththallena where we met our friend and adventure guide Neil, a boulder-hopping Sri Lankan adventure junkie, who led us through remote leech-infected jungle (see photo below – even my super dooper Sri Lankan leech socks couldn’t save me from the onslaught!) to the Maskelyia River.

We then scrambled, abseiled and boulder-hopped our way several kilometres downstream, to the top of the majestic Lakshapana Falls. Along the way we took full advantage of the spectacular scenery as an outdoor classroom, with the highlight of the day being some tear-jerking poetry from the Yathrees on their journey so far.

We then hiked back up to the bus, which dropped us into the nearby town of Maskelyia, where the Yathrees rounded up the locals and performed a theatre piece that they had invented about the importance of Mother Earth, and why she must be conserved.

The Yathrees then launched into a public-awareness campaign about green living, particularly highlighting the littering of the streets and water supply with rubbish. Over the next 2 hours the Yathrees covered the entire town, engaging with many locals, who pledged to take a stand for the environment and do what they could to conserve their local environment. We were then invited to ceremonies at the town’s Buddhist and Hindu temples, where we raised awareness of our mission, and were blessed by the local monks.

The day came to an end with a presentation that I gave on Australia, and the environmental issues that we face (by popular demand!). As well as some training on water quality testing, which will be put to good use in our studies of the Kelani River.

- signing off on another day in Paradise…Pat

Blessings of peace and equality in the foothills of the sacred Adam’s Peak

2011-08-18T22:22:00.000+05:30

Wow!!! Never in our wildest dreams could we have hoped for such an incredible start to our Journey!! Our day begun at dawn at Maussa Kele Saman Devalaya, a beautiful nearby temple, where we were put under the watchful eyes of local buddhist gods. It was uplifting to see the Buddhist principles of equality and peace in action!

The Yathrees were then led in an inspiring training course by Kanchana (founder of ECO-V) whose wise words enlightened them on subjects such as sustainability, energy and water conservation, climate change and green living. Kanchana uses a holistic approach to her training sessions, inspiring her students to be aware of the interdependence of Humans and Nature, and the footprint that we have on our environment. This sparked a passion in the Yathrees to appreciate, respect, protect and care for Mother Earth.

After a delicious vegetarian lunch (we are adhering to vegetarianism for the journey) of dhal, curry and rice, we ventured further into the wondrous high country, through tea fields, jungle and waterfalls, to our destination at Nallathanni. From here we begun our trek to the holy Japanese Peace Temple, accompanied by the local police force who wished to show us their support for our journey. We stopped along the way to engage with locals about green living, and conducted water quality tests of the pristine Kelani River at its source. This will provide us with baseline data to quantify contamination of the river downstream, to allow us to develop solutions for preserving this majestic river.

We arrived at our hilltop destination at dusk, where we were invited into a traditional chanting ceremony for Peace, led by the Venerable Japanese buddhist monk Thakashima, who blessed the Yathrees and wished us well on our ‘Journey for Change'.

Climbing into the foothills of the gods!

2011-08-17T20:51:00.000+05:30

The Kelani Nadee Yathra (Kelani River Journey) has begun!

Today we welcomed our 'Yathrees' (youth leaders) over lunch at the headquarters of Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka's leading social not-for-profit organisation. With the well wishes of Major General Raja Guru we departed on our Journey for Climate Justice, with a long trip through the jungle into the foothills of Sri Pada (Adam's Peak).

This trip saw us following the mighty Kelani river from its feet in Colombo, into the foothills of the mountains.

The Yathrees made no hesitation in jumping into the eco-friendly theme of the expedition, firing off questions about green living and sustainability, and thoroughly impressed us with their enthusiasm and positive approach. We weren't bored for a second on the trip, with the Yathrees breaking straight into song, dance and storytelling!

I am blown away at the sheer beauty of the Sri Lankan jungle, abound with spectacular colours, forms, life and great biodiversity. Considering we have only touched the surface of the wilderness sanctuary, there will undoubtedly been many more marvels to behold!

- Pat (Journeys for Climate Justice/ECO-V)

Ready...Set.....!!!

2011-08-16T19:22:00.000+05:30

The ECO-V team have spent the day running around like headless chickens getting everything ready for the Kelani River Journey…which starts tommorow!!! We just wanted to share some of our excitement with you!

We are pleased to announce that all of our ‘Yathrees’ (youth ambassadors) and supporters have confirmed that they will be coming, and we look forward to welcoming them along over lunch tommorow!

Kelani River Journey about to begin! Thank you very much to all our sponsors and supporters!

2011-08-15T19:57:00.000+05:30

I can't hold back my excitement for the Kelani River Journey, which begins in just 2 days! You can follow ECO-V's Kelani Nadee Yathra blog at: http://kelaninadeeyathra.wordpress.com/

Many years ago I came up with the concept for a journey to transition Sri Lanka to a clean, green and eco-friendly society, and finally it has been made a reality. Thank you so much to all the wonderful people and organisations that have supported and nurtured this project - without your help and dedication this journey would not be possible. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce all of our fantastic sponsors, and thank them from the bottom of my heart for their generous support.

Journey's for Climate Justice (JCJ) - an Australian charity that aims to tackle climate change by supporting projects in developing countries. Thank you very much for your generous funding and logistical support, as well as providing us with two fabulous volunteers to come along and help with the journey.

Envigence - an 'Environmental Intelligence' provider that develops new technologies and offers solutions to infrastructure to become more energy efficient, sustainable and profitable. Thank you very much for your generous financial support, advice, and recognition of our mission.

Sri Lanka Tourist Board - the leading information provider for Sri Lankan Tourism. Thank you very much for your financial support.

Touchwood - a socially responsible company that grows trees for timber that is both commercially valuable and environmentally sensitive. Thank you very much for providing us with financial support within very short notice.

Sri Lanka Scout Association - the Colombo District Scout group will be joining us for a day on the journey, and are providing us with camping facilities at the Salawa campsite. Thank you very much for your ongoing support.

Corangamite CMA -an Australian Catchment Management Authority that is committed to maintaining healthy catchments and waterways. Thank you very much for providing us with a water quality monitoring kit and training.

Waterwatch Victoria - an Australian community engagement program that connects local communities with river health and sustainable water issues and management. Thank you very much for providing the "Yathrees" (Sri Lankan youth) with T-shirts and hats for the journey.

Yatra - a leading travel company in Sri Lanka and India. Thank you very much for providing caps for the Yathrees.

LSR - A leading Sri Lankan sport, adventure and leisure travel company. Thank you very much for providing us with an adventure bike experience for the Journey for a nominal fee.

SEALS - A leading Sri Lankan Eco-adventure company. Thank you very much for providing us with a 2-day adventure training programme at Kithulgala for a nominal fee.

United Nations Volunteers (UNV) Sri Lanka - thank you to the Sri Lankan division of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) programme for helping ECO-V to prepare a successful presentation for the Journey.

Wanawadula Resort - thank you very much for providing us with accommodation for one night during the Journey, and organising a public gathering at Kithugala.

Sri Lanka Telecom -thank you very much for providing us with notebooks for the Yathrees.

Kelani Nadee Yathra - What Yathrees will see.....

2011-07-04T22:09:00.000+05:30

Meeting at Yatiyantota

ECO-V members had a another visit on the 25th of June to Sri pada mountain ( Adam's Peak) to check the route of Kelani Nadee Yatra. This is also a Thiresi charika where ECO-V members get to gether to watch nature. With the preparation for Kelani Nadee Yathra, our members have become more active and most of them want to contribute to it. We had few planning meetings with officials at Yatiyantota Pradeshiya Sabawa the local government at Yatiyantota. The chairman of Pradeshiya Sabhawa, MOH, A police officer, two Principals, members of local security council, youth council representatives, business men and some media representatives were there for the meeting. They all were very happy and pledged the support for the journey in August. Thanks to the chairman we had our lunch free of charge from a well known hotel in sitting next to Kelani river.

Beginning of kelani River

team coming down from peak

Same day evening we met Neal who was our guide to show us the beginning of kelani river. We all went to Wathsala Inn in Nallathanniya and met Nimal, who was very supportive from the day he heard about Yatra. He prepared our dinner (Rotti) and we started climbing at 8.30 in the night. Wow!! what an experience..climbing Sri Pada at night during off season (I have done this during day time when we conducted research at off season in 2002-2004). When we were reaching the peak it was around 1a.m. We all had to face heavy clouds and wind. We all got wet by the time we reach the peak (7360 ft) and it was very cold. Thanks to Sunil Aiya care taker at the peak a friend of Neal we had warm coffee and mats to sleep. It was not very comfortable as the wind was so powerful and floor was damp and cold. However after 3 hrs of rest we got up from our (non) sleeping areas and got ready to come down. No sun rise was seen as it was too cloudy that day and came down through the heavy fog from Ratnapura route. After coming down Neal took us on another foot path which joined with Nallathanniya route again. Its a known thing that most of the people who climb up will be accompanied by one or two dogs. We got 4 of them during our trip.

It was a small water fall we saw as "the start" of the kelani river. According to Neal its one of the starting places but there are few more and its normally a creek but due to heavy rain it has more water at the moment. So we decided not to climb up again following the water fall to see the actual beginning. By that time we all were so tired and wet. After that we all came down slowly along Nallathanniya route and came to Colombo on 26th evening. We all were tired and legs were aching but feeling happy about wonderful "Thiresi Charika"

"Thiresi kids" were waiting for me for their lessons but I was too tired to speak again.

Westgarth Mothers in Melbourne helps a teenage mothers home in Sri Lanka

2011-07-01T22:39:00.000+05:30

Mrs. Neetha Ariyaratne, head of Sarvodaya Suwasetha handing over items

I am very happy to say that our fund raising effort with Westgarth Mothers had a great positive impact. We were able to help 20 distitute teenage mothers at a residential facility in Sri Lanka. “Ma Sevana” (A home for pregnant teenage mothers) is a home run by Sarvodaya a well known charity in Sri Lanka. Both me and Thushara are volunteers to this charity http://www.sarvodayasuwasetha.org/frn_helpinghand.php. Thushara had been looking after these young mothers as the doctor before we went to Melbourne in 2010. We always celebrated our sons Birthdays with them by giving essential to these needy young girls and their new born babies.

Out of money we collected by organizing a Sri Lankan meal at Libby’s place in last February (http://ecofriendlyvolunteers.blogspot.com/2011/02/westgarth-mothers-join-with-eco.html) we were able to donate Rs. 30,000 worth of essentials for these mothers and thier newly born babies. I thank again all the Westgarth Mothers and fathers who attended the fund raising lunch we organized and the real commitment of Libby and her family.

As another mission with the money we collected, we started a scholarship for an Advanced level needy student who performed well at her school. She is having a great difficulty in continuing her studies as both parents do not have proper jobs. This girl was very clever at her studies and extra curricular activities. She is doing mathamatics subjects for her advanced level exam in year 2014. With a recommendation of a local municipal council member and ECO-V volunteer Sajith Peiris, me and Thushara visited her home and met her parents before the scholarship was given. We both felt she is well deserved and agreed to support her for 6 moths with 15 dollars per month. If we were able to raise more funds in future we can continue scholarship and support many students like her as we got many requests so far.

World Environmental day, Scouts and “kids and Nature” Programme

2011-06-16T00:01:00.000+05:30

The world’s Environmental Day in 2011 for ECO-V was very special in a different way. Some founder and active members of ECO-V came to our office (Thanks to uncle Sugathadasa who brought a plant as a gift) for a meeting to discuss about our future plans. It was a very nice meeting and we all felt happy to meet on this very special day. In the afternoon I had some visitors.

Thanks to scouts at Royal College who helped us to keep our surrounding clean

Three scouts from Royal College (42^nd Colombo - my eldest son is also a Cub Scout in the same school) came for asking some work for their community service week. It was the same day that I conducted ECO-V kids and Nature programme. One neighbor has dumped some polythene into our surroundings and I was thinking of cleaning it through our kids and Nature programme. So these three scouts were happy to help us to clean our street. I gave them a brief introduction to World environment day and how they should feel about doing some good work to Mother Earth on that very special day but I reminded them that each day should be a world environment day in our lives to protect Mother Earth. After that ECO-V kids learnt about caterpillars and butterflies and saw some eggs laid in our garden. They were surprised to see how small the butterfly eggs are…

looking for butterfly eggs

what a long day I had on the 5^th of June 2011…but it’s worth my time I spent on all these activities……Thanks for everybody who were with me.

Kelani Nadee Yatra

2011-06-15T23:21:00.000+05:30

Kelani River just before Kithulgala

At Kosgama

Lots of ground work has been done by now thanks to Sujeewa Thalangama who helped me earlier for Sri Pada Cleaning campaign and Pelican Awareness campaign at Beire Lake. Its very encouraging seeing young energy of Sajith Peris who joined with us to have first visit along the planned route and providing us with lot of information and introducing us to many important people. Big thank goes to Dulshan ECO-V’s IT specialist who has been working very hard to put our ideas into graphic to design to make the KNY logo and the blog site.

view of Castlereagh reservoir

So the blog site is up as http://kelaninadeeyathra.wordpress.com/

I am also trying to reconnect with many people that I couldn’t keep in touch personally when I was away from the country for a year. So it is always very nice to meet them and get their involvement too. All are very exited about this new project. So far we had 3 visits up and down checking the route (145km long) parallel to the river on the road. Sujeeva went again on his own spending few days meeting many people and getting their views and support. Many are telling us the need of a project like this and its very encouraging to see their enthusiasm.We are amazed to see the amount of water it carries and thrilled about the beauty of the natural habitats along the river specially at the beginning of the river.
Thanks to many friends (those who knew about our previous work) we had in print and electronic media the news about calling applications before 25^th June is done. Thanks to Sunday Observer as they have written a detailed article about the project. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/06/05/new40.asp We are getting applications now from youth. Still meeting some potential sponsors which is the hard and time consuming part of the journey. It’s ok as that also help us to meet many interesting people and make new contacts.

Well exactly 2 more months to begin our journey along the river….

Vesak – the most important religious festival for Buddhists

2011-05-31T19:22:00.000+05:30

We celebrated the most important religious festival for Buddhists in Sri Lanka on 15^th and 16^th of May. Vesak which is for Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and death is the most colorful festival that celebrated by Sri Lankan Buddhists.

We had a huge enthusiasm to do something to celebrate this festival in our area. Neighbours in our area got together weeks before the festival .They decided to decorate the lane and let the kids participate in community activities. We decorated the street with Buddhist flags and then on Vesak day we lighted lanterns and hung them on bamboo trees that we planted (cut shoots were planted on ground just for few days to hang the lanterns). The kids who come for ECO-V kids programs enjoyed these decorations and learnt about the festival too. The beauty of the event was participation of Christian neighbours who participated enthusiastically at the event by giving us bamboo trees and lighting the lanterns on Vesak day. Isn’t this a wonderful event which shows social cohesion?

Last child in the woods -Fun for kids through Nature at ECO-V (Thiresi Lama Hamuwa)

2011-05-25T22:38:00.000+05:30

Thiresi Lama Hamuwa is the newly formed group for kids under age of 15 by ECO-V. This was a dream coming true for me as I have been planning to start an educational session for kids who were associated with ECO-V. I designed a separate environmental educational package for them with my new experience gained by working with children in Australia. After two months of my return, I am happy that I was able to start it. As a trial, I organized the New Year celebration for kids and also Vesak activities in April and May. Now we have a well formed group of kids in our neighborhood who are learning about Nature every week on Sundays while having fun.

After reading the book “Last child in the woods by Richard Louv”, I was determined to do something for our kids to prevent them going away from nature. I know my two kids were growing up with nature from childhood. But I noticed most of their friends did not have the same freedom and knowledge on their surroundings. Most of the parents today are scared about sending their kids to outdoor as they are scared about them getting hurt, getting allergies, or for losing time for homework (studies) and simply just because parents were not aware of the advantages of children being with nature closely. About two years ago my two boys were the only kids who were playing outside on the dusty road and among the bushes in our neighborhood. Since I started few activities for the kids others have also followed. Today with the confidence they have and after seeing the advantages of knowing about nature most of the parents around send their kids to learn about nature at ECO-V.

A big thank goes to Westgarth Mothers group in Melbourne (which Libby helped me to form and raised funds to help needy kids in Sri Lanka) who danated piles of second hand story books. I am using them to these kids now to teach them English. Last week they heard about the story..."The Rainbow fish".... and drew it and learnt about a garden bird too.

New Year in Australia and Sri Lanka

2011-05-10T11:26:00.002+05:30

My family and Jim at Camp Eureka

Boingology, Warbuton,Melbourne.

In January 2011, we were able to see the way Melbourne celebrated the New Year. Fire works, greetings, laughs, smiles and happy faces of people wishing each other a “happy New Year!” That was a n interesting experience. Also we could experience how some other Melbourne people celebrated New Year too. Thanks to Jim Crosthwaite, our dear friend (Co Founder of JCJ) in Melbourne, we were invited to spend few days at Camp Eureka ( http://campeureka.org.au/) . It was a great experience for our family to spend few days on camping especially on the first day of the year. It was something similar to Sri Lanka as camp environment reminded us Sinharaja Kudawa camp. We enjoyed New Year there by watching the nature, visiting a Buddhist Temple in Warbuton and visiting places like Boingology. Boingology is a new concept of art done by using wood carvings and left over materials (http://www.boingabob.com/). I conducted early morning environmental meditation and we all enjoyed cooking together (I cooked Sri Lankan style lentils), late evening cultural event where we all got together and performed.

When we came back to Sri Lanka in March I became busy with my work again after a year. On top of that Sinhala Tamil New year was in April. As it is the most important cultural event for us I had to get ready as soon as I came back. Unfortunately it was not a very happy New year (April 14^th) for my family as we all had to attend my best friend’s (Thilini Herath) funeral. It was heart breaking and we postponed all our social commitments. We went to Matale where I lived during my schooling days with my friend Thilini.

Laughing competition

"Lime on spoon" race

Some how I had to overcome the shock and had to face the reality so I was convinced to organize New Year festival for the kids in our neighborhood. It was an event that I started two years ago. 20 kids from 10 houses in our neighborhood came to my house (ECO-V office too) and enjoyed the afternoon of 7^th May actively participating in the games and events that we organized to celebrate the Sinhala Tamil New year. On the same day morning I had a meeting with some of the active members of ECO-V to discuss about 10^th Anniversary. Of course it was the first meeting since I came back to Sri Lanka. We also discussed about next project of ECO-V the Kelani Nadee Yatra (www.journeysforclimatejustice.org.au). All were very positive about it and promised to give their fullest support to make it successful.

An innovative way to offset your carbon foot print - Journeys for Climate Justice (JCJ)

2011-03-23T22:57:00.002+05:30

Journeys for Climate Justice (JCJ) is a new way for everybody to offset their carbon foot prints. My stay in Melbourne for a year was very productive as I have a strong bond/link with them even I came back to Sri Lanka. Last year I met many interesting people, who love and care about Mother Earth.

Victorian governor, me, Mrs De Kretser, Jim Crosthwaite

The most interesting habit of mine; talking to animals and trees helped me to meet Jim and his dog Mimi. When I met them on the road, I never thought that will lead to a strong bond between Melbourne and Sri Lanka. Jim Crosthwaite and Mimi became good friends of mine later on. Jim, Thushara and me shared many common ideas towards environmental issues during many discussions we had over Sri Lankan and Australian meals. Slowly we planted the seed of JCJ (www.journeysforclimatejustice.org.au) and many people helped us to water the seed. JCJ was born in December 2010. I thank all the people who joined with us for founding JCJ as an incorporated organization in Melbourne. The official launch of Journeys for Climate Justice took place at Department of Sustainability and Environment in Melbourne on the 2^nd of March with the Governor of Victoria David de Kretser as the chief guest.

I met many like minded people during many presentations I have given at the Department of Sustainability and Environment, at different climate change action groups, at other environmental NGOs in Melbourne over last 10 months. I learnt many new concepts, sharing great ideas and on top of that I felt that we are not alone as ECO-V and there are many people who admire ECO-V mission. What we have achieved for past 10 yeas as a voluntary organization in Sri Lanka had many successful stories to share with these like minded people in Melbourne and today ECO-V is a partner organization with JCJ. The first Journey of JCJ will take place in Sri Lanka under ECO-V in coming August along Kaleni River and I will come back to you with more details in near future.

“Westgarth Mothers” Join with Eco Friendly Volunteers’ mission

2011-02-26T15:52:00.000+05:30

Westhgarth Mothers Group (WMG) is a small group of parents at my kids school who have got together to help ECO-V’s annual help kids program. Helping around 50 kids to go to school every year by donating all the books and stationary was an annual program we ran under ECO-V. This was done with the help of “Friends of ECO-V” in Sri Lanka and abroad. Now WMG will be with us in the future projects. See our earlier blog (http://ecofriendlyvolunteers.blogspot.com/2009/02/eco-v-helps-children-to-go-to-school-in.html) on our work.

Libby and Me

During our stay in Melbourne for a year, we came across many great friends through the Westgarth Primary school in Northcote where our kids attend. Libby (whose daughter Labanya was with Nipuna at grade 1 last year) got the idea when I discussed the work I done so far with her and she suggested to have a fund raising event to help needy kids in Sri Lanka. She came up with this brilliant idea of having a Sri Lankan lunch for her friends as a fund raising event. It was such a fun event! We organized it on the 5th of February at Libby’s place. We expected at least 20 people but what a day! we got 28 adults and 25 kids!!! Parents helped us to cook a Sri Lankan meal while kids were playing happily. It reminded me arms giving in Sri Lanka as all helped us to prepare the meal. It was a learning experience for most of them as no body had experience in cooking Sri Lankan curries. I gave instructions to moms to cut the vegetables, anions and green chilies.Some happily rolled cutlets and wrapped them with bread crumbs. Some fathers fried papadam and cutlets and some arranged them on banana leaves…what a day…!! when everything was ready by 1.30 pm, all were exited about the food as they all loved the aromatic smell of spices.

We ended up cooking rice, spicy chicken curry, parippu (dhal), mild cucumber curry, cabbage mallum, cutlets (Tuna balls), papadam, and avocado as a dessert. Libby and I explained the purpose of the event and we conducted a fun event distributing a questionnaire prepared about Sri Lanka. It was named as “Are you smarter than a grade 4? ” .
Latter Buhusuru who is in grade 4 had to correct all the answers…surprisingly no body got all 5 questions correct. Most of them didn’t know about the way of greeting in Sri Lanka “Ayubowan” (meaning-may all living beings live long) but they all were able to name 3 popular cricketers in Sri Lanka!

At the end of the day we were very happy and got enough money to run few more projects for the kids this year. It will be used to help needy kids when I go back to Sri Lanka next month. We also got many story books for the kids in Sri Lanka. What a wonderful day!! Thanks to Libby and her family who enthusiastically organized the event and I think it’s a long lasting bond between Westgarth Mothers and ECO-V.
Thank you for all who really had the warm hearts to donate towards this mission. Looking forward to keep you updated about our projects. Your friendship helped us to have a wonderful stay in Northcote! Thanks to Jemma (Libby's elder daughter) we have these photos and will try to arrange a slide show with more photos soon.

Diaspora Sri Lankans and Crystal waters - Queensland

2011-02-07T08:24:00.001+05:30

Happy 10th Birthday ECO-V!!!! - Thank you for all the members volunteers, and well wishes who have been supporting us to come this far!

We meet lot of Sri Lankans from all communities while we are here. Most of them want to do something for the country and they want to promote Sri Lanka and our rich heritage. There are quite a few who look at negatively about Sri Lanka and appreciate their life here. We don’t blame any one but they should not forget that most of them are sons and daughters of our country who have been educated with poor tax payers’ money. They can have their own vision but please do not criticize and compare. Try to pay your debt to the poor people who paid for your education. We need all brilliant people who have left the country if country has to develop.

Dimuthu and Niru

I met this amazing young couple Dimuthu and Niru who are trying to do something to promote our culture and heritage in Australia. We shared a common interest mainly love for your motherland and its heritage and eco friendly life style with minimum impact on mother earth. It does not matter where you reside or what you do. I am grateful to my new friends Dimuthu Dias-Mendis who is the founder of “Ariona” www.ariona.com.au and her husband Niru Mendis, who took the trouble to give me this great experience at Crystal Waters – A permaculture village (www.crystalwaters.org.au). Dimuthu is promoting our Auyrveda treatments at Crystal waters village while dedicating her time to Ariona to promote Sri Lanka.

Crystal waters

Free roaming Wallabies

“Crystal Waters” is in Brisbane, Queensland. It was such a wonderful place to live. I was lucky enough to spend a night at the village and visit around the village meeting some like minded people learning and sharing their experience. Over two hundred residents of all ages coming from many cultural backgrounds live on 85 private one acre plots. Two community plots are owned by a co-operative of residents containing buildings for community events and for the operation of businesses. Residents are engaged in a wide variety of social, cultural, environmental and spiritual activities. Many homes are built from an interesting array of eco-friendly materials. Mud brick, pole- frame, rammed–earth, recycled and straw bale dwellings are found on the community. Most homes has the common features such as compost toilets (which reminded me our early days at village based life style), solar passive design and energy saving devices. The land is a sanctuary for wildlife. Meeting with free ranged wallabies and possums and eating home grown organic vegetables was wonderful experience .

community centre

Max and me

I also got the opportunity to meet Max Lindegger whom I knew through Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka. He is the creator and Director of the Oceania/Asia secretariat of the Global Eco-village Network. He is a primary partner in the design and development of the Crystal Waters. Learning more about permaculture concept, sharing Sri Lankan experience (Max was very passionate about Sri Lanka and Sarvodaya) and looking at his bee keeping was a wonderful experience.
It an amazing experience to watch Rainbow lorikeets and Crimson Rosella that were sitting with us. They were trying to grab our cookies when we were chatting at Max and Trudies’s balcony facing the lovely landscape in their garden. I was always thinking about our village life style where people live with nature with a minimum impact on Nature. I think we had that life before the TV and other electronic devices invaded us. Can we go back to that life style again?? I think up to certain level we can if only you are ready for a behavioral change!

I thank Dimuthu and Niru for giving me this lovely experience!! May your all good dreams come true!

Taronga Zoo and Tasmanian Davil

2011-01-31T04:57:00.001+05:30

Last year I was able to visit few attractive places in Australia. Our family visit to Sydney was also very memorable as we were able to visit places like Sydney opera house, Harbor Bridge, Darling Harbor, and importantly Taronga Zoo (http://www.taronga.org.au/taronga-zoo). It was very interesting to see how they market the wildlife and conservation. The Bird show and seal show at Taronga zoo are still in my mind. This reminded me of my experience at Jersey Zoo (anyway highly different from all other zoos I visited) and other conservation oriented zoos in UK which I got the opportunity to visit during my stay in UK in 1999-2000. They all have similar goals and very much concern about the animal well being within the zoo environment. Many staff members in Zoos in our region have a long way to go in terms of ex-situ conservation when compared to the zoos in developed countries.

Among the animals seen at Taronga zoo, situation of Tasmanian Devil is critical. It is famous for its spine-chilling screeches. It is an Australian icon and is the world’s largest carnivorous marsupial. According to zoo website, early Europeans trapped and killed Tasmanian Devils for over 100 years, believing that they would eat their farm animals. Devil numbers decreased until 1941 when they became legally protected. But it is facing a new threat; Devil Facial Tumor Disease. This contagious cancer is spreading through devil populations in Tasmania and is threatening the species with extinction. Taronga Zoo has a special conservation programme for this unique species.

Asian elephants at both Taronga zoo and Melbourne zoo are the main attraction. Most of the public are exited about new arrivals of cubs and they show them in TV news. Most of my friends asked us to visit the elephants when we were going to the zoo. But I had to explain that we are lucky enough to see them free in the wild in Sri Lanka. But I am worried about the on going elephant-human conflict in Sri Lanka as it may lead our future generations to go to the zoo and see the elephants.

New Year eve in Melbourne - Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-19T05:58:00.000+05:30

It’s another year! This year is very special to us as it is the 10th anniversary of ECO-V. Last year was different one for all of us at ECO-V. I have been in Melbourne since last March and the activities we were personally involved were different from the activities we did in Sri Lanka. Last few months were very busy as I had to concentrate on developing a new project. Today I am very happy to announce that now ECO-V is a partner of a new Australian based organization called Journeys for Climate Justice (JCJ). We will share more details later…

I took the kids to the New Year eve fire works at Yarra Park and Water front city in Melbourne which was interesting to them. I was thinking how harmful those fire work for the environment?? But again it was only for 10 minutes with very much less noises. The cost involved may have been high but the damage to the environment is low when we compare to the sound and air pollution taking place in our countries during such shows and in daily road traffic.

But the amount of carbon emission per head is much more here in Australia than in our country. I believe that we can do much better than what we are doing to conserve our Mother Earth. Mother Earth greeted the world for New Year with a much cold winter and heavy floods all around the world. We should have a New Year resolution this year that we will be more conscious about our activities hurting her in order to save the planet.

I will update all our environmental related activities in Melbourne in the upcoming blogs.

I hope we all will have a happy new year where all living beings can live happily on the Mother Earth!

Counting caterpillars in Melbourne!!

2010-12-15T04:21:00.000+05:30

In October, I got another great opportunity to get involved in a very interesting volunteer activity. When I received the newsletter from the Banyule City Council requesting volunteers to count caterpillars, I was thrilled and found the event very interesting. Counting caterpillars….!!!A very different environmental activity!! I have never experienced such a thing in my life as an environmentalist.

Eltham is a suburb within the Banyule city council and they have organised the event to count Eltham Copper Butterfly caterpillars. Each year these counts are carried out to assess population stability at each of the butterfly colonies. With this information, they monitor changes in population size, host plant use and butterfly distribution over time. The Eltham copper is a threatened species of butterfly that is restricted to small populations in Eltham, Greensborough, Castlemaine, Bendigo and Kiata, in Victoria, Australia http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/back-from-the-brink/2008/01/22/1200764265940.html. It has only one host food plant, Bursaria spinosa (sweet Bursaria); and the caterpillars are attended by several species of Notoncus ant. The ants offer protection against predators and parasites, and in return, the caterpillars secrete a sweet, sugary secretion from an organ on its abdomen, which they offer as food to reward the ants. During this survey, the number of caterpillars per plant, and the height and location of plants were recorded.

The cream coloured caterpillars live in ant nests at the bottom of the bushes during the day. They come out of the nest during the night to feed on the leaves of the bush. Therefore the event started at 8 pm in the night (it was the end of Spring and sunset was around 7.30 pm). I took the train to Greensborough which is about 20 minutes journey from Fairfield where I live in Melbourne.

There were 12 volunteers including me. After a briefing of the methods, all 12 volunteers started walking slowly with their torches ready looking for sweet Bursaria plants. We actually had to look for the black Notoncus ants who are accompanying the caterpillars. It took around 30 minutes to record the first caterpillar surrounded by a group of ants and we all gathered around the plant to see them as some of us had never seen this caterpillar before. We all were thrilled as we gained some good results as the time passed. We counted around 30 caterpillars by the time I left the team at 10 pm. It was such a fascinating time which gave me great satisfaction though it was freezing cold.

Prevent Global Warming;conserve Biodiversity - ECO-V at “Mihimadala Exhibition 2010”

2010-12-14T16:15:00.000+05:30

Last month has been busy for us in Melbourne. We did not have much time to update on the activities in Sri Lanka and Melbourne carried out by ECO-V.

Our team in Sri Lanka successfully participated at the exhibition at the “Mihimadala Exhibition 2010” at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention centre from 21st to 23 of October. ECO-V team led by Harsha and supported by Madhu, Nande, Tharaka and Indika have spread the ECO-V message of conservation and the future plans of ECO-V among the public. Lot of members from the public have shown a keen interest on our activities and most have enlisted as volunteers to participate in our future activities.

We were thrilled to hear the comments and the encouragements received from public by our members on ECO-V activities. We felt that we are also contributing to save the nature of mother Sri Lanka on our small way. Next year will be our 10th anniversary. All the new volunteers will be involved in different activities to spread the message on ECO-V on combating and adapting climate change issues in Sri Lanka.

We welcome new volunteers and thank all the members who have participated and dedicated their time to the exhibition.

Networking for ECO-V 10th Anniversary projects

2010-10-12T13:52:00.000+05:30

We have been really busy meeting people and making contacts since we came to Melbourne. Our effort was very successful as we met many wonderful people who care about nature. Our involvement with volunteer networks here was very interesting as volunteering helped us to get rid of the guilty feeling of leaving Sri Lanka and ECO-V work for some time. Most of the volunteer groups here are called “working bee” with their suburb name. The closest working bee for us is Fairefield working Bee. The most recent activity we did with them was mulching and weeding the Fairfield station area where Thushara catch the train to go to work. Boo and Nipu also really enjoyed doing some hard work like transporting mulch using a Wheel Barrow.

I visited the Marine Discovery centre, Geelong through my friends at Department of Sustainability and Environment in Victoria which is a great place for marine wetland conservation awareness. People I met were really wonderful and shared much important information and made very good contacts for future work in Sri Lanka.

We have been having several networking meetings for past few weeks. Jim Crosthwaite and his group, Samanthi Gunawardane and her group, Frank Ryan and his contacts are few main meetings among them. They all wanted to work towards a common goal and we discussed future collaborations.

In additions to meeting people, we met some of the native animals in Australia. Cute sleeping Koalas at Koala Park and little fairy penguins (the world smallest penguins) in Phillip Islands, Possums, and wallabies and many birds are some.

ECO-V is making preparation for “Mihimadala Exhibition 2010” with the theme of Prevent Global Warming; Conserve Biodiversity” at Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC) from 21^st to 23^rd October. We invite all our members to come to ECO-V stall and take our message across to public.This exhibition is organized by Young Zoologist Association (YZA) in parallel to its international youth conference on the same theme.

The second article for Ariona life style magazine written by Kanchana is published now at http://www.ariona.com.au/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=241:kanchana-weerakoon&catid=78:environment&Itemid=315 of these.

Field visit to Muthurajawela

2010-09-20T04:59:00.000+05:30

By Madubashini Jayawaradane

As decided in the last Thirasi hamuwa ECO-V went to Muthurajawela on 4th September 2010.

In Sinhala language ‘Muthu’ means pearls, ‘Raja’ means King’s and ‘Wela’ is the paddy field. This wetland as its’ name suggests was a magnanimous fertile paddy field that has produced rice grains like ‘pearls’ for the King during the realm of Kotte.

During the colonial era, canals were dug by Dutch and then English, to transport their commercial goods to the Negombo Harbour through this field. Muthurajawela stands 2 – 3 m below mean sea level, so the canals facilitated sea water to flow inland but it did not drain completely. Hence over the time, salinity of the soil has increased making it unsuitable for paddy cultivation.

In 1996 Muturajawela was declared as a Sanctuary providing legal protection to it as a wetland. This wetland is home for many water birds as well as migratory birds, butterflies and dragonflies, a breeding ground for fish, prawns, and crabs. It also acts as a wind breaker and plays a vital role in flood controlling in Western Province.

It was around 7.15 a.m. when we reached Muturajawela Environment Centre in Indigaslanda. The Centre offers two opportunities, a walk through the wetland along a trail or a canal tour by a boat along the Hamilton canal up to Negombo Lagoon and back. Our choice was the latter.

While they prepared the boats, standing in a circle we introduced ourselves to each other as per ECO-V custom. There were several new faces who were willing to become members of the ECO-V family. It was a pleasure for me to note that the ECO-V message spreads through many generations as the eldest member in the circle being eighty years old while the youngest is just eight years.

Along the tranquil water of the Hamilton Canal we set off. Our boat had two rows of seats, when we were seated it was just like that we were leaning on each other’s back facing the canal bank in front of us. As we went along, the friendly guide who accompanied us explained about many varieties of mangroves, and mangrove associates on the canal bank. We discussed the threats that Muthurajawela faces today. Landfill, encroachments by poor and also rich, garbage dumping, cutting down the mangroves and also the breweries of illicit liquor are common.

It was clear that the water of the Hamilton canal is unclean. Non degradable garbage was floating along with beautiful white Kirala flowers. Over casted sky made the water more blackish. The vegetation along the canal bank reflected on that black water taking us to another world. The serene reflection was cut into huge slices and then blurred into unidentifiable shapes by the waves created by our boat.

As we entered the Negombo Lagoon serenity of the water changed into small waves. There was brush-pile fishing in the Negombo lagoon, where fisher folk uses piles of dead branches. Further away we could see some land marks at Negombo Town and Katunayaka Airport. Disturbed by our boat, small fish were jumping above the water. The boat stopped for a while among some mangroves. There were several species of mangrove flora. We were able to do a close study of knee roots of Mal kadol (Bruguiera spp.), stilt roots and prop roots of Rana kadol (Rhizophora spp.), aerial roots of Kirala (Sonneratia spp.) and hypocotyls or seeds that grow while the fruits are still on the tree. Many wanted to touch some prop roots that hung above our heads. Standing at the very front of the boat Harsha led the discussion on mangroves but, again I missed Kanchana very much!

In a few places at the very edge of the water, there were some Ging-pol, the only mangrove that belong to palm family. They looked like very young Coconut Trees.

Little Cormorant, Cattle Egret, White Breasted Water Hen, Shikra, White Bellied Drongo, Brown Headed Barbet, Great Coucal, Rose Ring Parakeet, Spotted Dove, Night Heron, Stork Billed Kingfisher, White Breasted Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher are some of the birds we recorded without much effort. The star bird of the day was a Purple Heron that stood tall at the edge of the water, giving us a good opportunity to observe it and then flew away majestically reflecting itself on the clam water.

Common Rose, Blue Glassy Tiger, Common Mormon, Lemon Emigrant, Grass Yellow, Indian Crow, Bluebottle, Grey Pansy, Jezebel, Common sailor and some vivid coloured dragonflies asked us to record them.

After the Canal tour that took approximately two hours, over breakfast we had our usual discussion on ‘how to feel the nature’. I was surprised to learn that many members also had experienced the tranquility created by the reflections on water. Mr. Gunadasa, from Maduganga, the Mangrove kingdom provided us some valuable information on mangroves. We watched a documentary video on Muthurajawela. There was a small exhibition of posters and preserved specimen on the flora and fauna of Sri Lanka in general, which was in need of refurbishing very badly.
In my mind, once again I walked through Sungei Buloh, a wetland reserve in Singapore. It was very inspiring how well Singapore manages whatever small resources the country possesses.

It did not take even five hours for us to complete the journey. During that brief stay Muthurajawela told us so much. How many of us were able to hear, I know not. But it was singing a very sad song.

Thirasi Hamuwa (Thrushes of ECO-V) after a lapse of more than six months.

2010-09-16T18:57:00.002+05:30

By Madubashini Jayawardane

It has been six long months since we met last as ECO-V volunteers for a monthly meeting. War and uncertainty made us postpone the Thirasi hamuwa for a long time. Now our members want to meet and take our mission forward. We met after six months at Moratuwa Sarvodaya’s Damsak Mandiraya on on Sunday 15th August. Our President Kanchana joined us from Melbourne via Skype. As our custom the meeting commenced with religious observance followed by one minute of silence in memory of who helped us in the past and to honour all those who laid down their lives for the country.
Going down the memory lane since inception, Harsha briefed the history of ECO-V and introduced our mission and goal as there were some new faces. Kanchana, who joined via Skype, expressed her happiness as she was able to be with us at the meeting, though physically she was far away. The earth becomes smaller in the cyberspace! She said. She also briefed her activities in Melbourne as many members were so keen to get her news.
One of the topics that we discussed extensively was the 10th anniversary of ECO-V which we hope to commemorate next year. Kanchana briefed us about the Kelani Nadee Yathra, a voyage along the river Kelani from its start from the hills in Peak Wilderness to Colombo where river meet the Indian Ocean.
There were some other proposals too to celebrate the event like religious programs, exhibitions and tree planting campaigns.
The other agenda was how to take our message to more people by increasing the membership. We all agreed that ECO-V should not go for an increase of the head count but to recruit members who has a real feeling for the environment and nature and who are willing to become eco friendly citizens. Strategies to attract more members of good caliber were discussed lengthily and proposed the following strategies:-
-to introduce members through personnel contacts, (each member to get one new member),
- reach out to people through exhibitions etc,
-spread the ECO-V message by forwarding the web and blog site to friends in our address books. (Using the cyberspace for a membership drive)
-organising lectures to students of Sunday schools, target groups are the students as well as their parents.
-train youth groups

We had Kavum (traditional oil cake)and Bananas for tea. As the meeting was in progress, we had unexpected visitors. Sarvodaya leader Dr. A.T. Ariyarathne and Mrs. Ariyarathne came to see our Thirasi meeting. They too were happy to have a word with Kanchana. We discussed about our next field visit to Muthurajawela before concluding the meeting. All felt happy to be back with Thirasi and discussed a lot about the past fond memories of ECO-V .

Updates from Melbourne on ECO-V

2010-07-30T06:51:00.005+05:30

This is the third update from Melbourne on our activities and networking on ECO-V future work. Its four months since we came to Melbourne and settled down in nice suburb of Fairfield, Northcote. It is winter (coldest winter in 4 years!!) here now and temperature hits 3C sometimes in the morning and night. On and off rain (some say they are getting rain after ten years) and the high wind keeps you really cold and chilly. But we have to say this is much better than both of us expected. Kids love the new environment and they perform well in the school too. We also had the time to meet some of Thushara’s friends in Melbourne who were at school and school hostel with him during school days (meeting most of them after twenty years).
We are mainly concentrating on networking for the future of ECO-V while we are here and planning the activities for 10th Anniversary of ECO-V next year. We are really happy about the way Harsha and the team working in Sri Lanka keeping the ECO-V live in our absence. I will be speaking to volunteers on 15th August from here via skype when they meet for the first Thiresi meeting after ending the war last year (We stopped the meetings during the heights of the war due to on and off bomb blasts in the public transport in 2009).
Jim Crosthwaite (Biodiversity Policy and Programme officer at department of Sustainability and environment) whom I met on the road became the first “Friends of ECO-V” in Melbourne and now continuously helps me to develop networking in Melbourne with different environmental action groups. We are planning to create a project on climate change awareness in Sri Lanka with the support of different organizations and individuals in Melbourne.
Last month I had an opportunity to work few days in Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) in Victoria (http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/index.htm) due to Jim’s recommendations where I met lot of people on different aspect of environment conservation. I also delivered a speech at Arthur Rylah Institute for environmental research at DSE (http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/nrenari.nsf/Home+Page/DSE+ARI~Home+Page?open) on my work where most of the DSE members participated and gave me lot of inputs to my work here. The next presentation by me will be at their head office on the 13th of August.
We also participated at a meeting in Darebin Climate Action group (Darebin is the local council we reside) where we listen to David Spratt who co-authored the book on climate change called “Code Red” with Phillip Sutten (http://www.scribepublications.com.au/book/climatecodered). Incidentally Phillip is in the same suburb as us in Fairfield and Jim introduced him to me and he is keen to look at our proposal on climate change awareness project in Sri Lanka and advice on it.
I visited Centre for education and research in environmental strategies (CERES ) (http://www.ceres.org.au/) with Kids and Pascal another environmental activist I met during a tree planting programme. This trip gave me an idea of how environmental education groups work here in Australia. She took me to Merri Creek management Committee (MCMC - http://www.mcmc.org.au/) and got familiar about their wonderful efforts in environmental conservation.
I am also involved in writing a column on environment in Ariona (www.ariona.com.au) a life style e-magazine in Australia and first edition was launched last week. You all can read my article under Nature and us. (http://www.ariona.com.au/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=198:kanchana-weerakoon&catid=78:environment&Itemid=315 )This is launched and coordinated by Dimuthu Dias Mendis, a Sri Lankan who is also an environment enthusiast like us.
Well we wrote this with many web links. But thought of mentioning it for anybody who likes to explore more about these wonderful organizations/places that we are involved with.
Will come back to you with more updates soon.
Metta
Thushara and Kanchana

ECO-V at Ambuluwawa

2010-07-21T16:59:00.004+05:30

By Madhubahsani Jayawardena
Eco-V team went to Ambuluwawa Mountain on 4th July 2010. Since it was planned as a one day field excursion, the day commenced at 4.45 a.m.
Ambuluwawa Mountain is located right in the middle of Gampola town which is a four hour drive from Colombo. It is at 1065 metres from mean sea level.We stopped for a way side breakfast at Kadugannawa. But the smell of decaying garbage that came along with the cool breeze made us to re-pack our breakfast packets and we decided to go straight to Gampola, to home of Harsha’s aunt. Our breakfast was Imbul-kiribath (Milk rice balls with hot and spicy fried onions in the middle) wrapped up in Kenda leaves and Harsha’s aunt served us coffee.
Over the coffee Harsha briefed the day’s programme. As there is so little information, we have to be more observant he said. His uncle provided us with some interesting facts on history of Ambuluwawa. Gampola was once an ancient kingdom of Sri Lanka. King Buvanekabahu’s castle was on this mountain and many secrets about his wealth are buried there. This is a treasure mountain abused by robbers over the years.
Although Ambuluwawa is declared as a Bio diversity park, very little amount of information on flora and fauna was available. Browsing through cyber space one can find only one scientific paper which is on lichens.
We send our vehicle forward and walked from the entrance. Along the circular road, at each bend the summit appeared closer and closer. There was a flowering Binara (Exacum trinervium) among many introduced flowering plants that were in abundance. Sporadic small forest patches on either side of the road are greatly disturbed. Three wheeler taxis were going up and down the circular road creating an uninterrupted flow of traffic. We witnessed the impact of traffic, when we came across a dead Le madilla or common rough-sided snake (Aspidura trachyprocta). Green forest lizards (Calotes calote) were not bothered by the cool clime. A peculiar insect was crossing the road. It forms in to a ball by curling its body and rolls away from its enemy if touched. When the sun shinned through intermittent drizzle, birds came out of vegetation to feed. We managed to list out 18 bird species and the day’s treat was the sighting of a Wood pigeon.
We had our lunch at a small restaurant that was very close to the top and walked to the top of the mountain. The summit is maintained as a universal dharma centre. A small mosque, a Christian church and a Buddhist pagoda were there. Pagoda is dedicated to farmers and named as ‘Govi Jana seya’. Through the mist, Mother Sri Lanka appeared as a masterpiece of a great artist. But, inappropriate concrete structures reduced the scenic beauty. It is said that on clear days one can see even the Airport at Katunayake.
From my point of view, Ambuluwawa can be develop and utilize as a good location to relax and to feel the nature. It also lacks proper information of its fauna.
you can see the photos at slide show on "Ambuluwawa ECO-V 2010"

World Environmental day 2010 – Activities in Melbourne

2010-06-26T16:47:00.008+05:30

For last 9 years since ECO-V has been established I was actively involved in World Environmental day celebrations (However personally I believe that each and everyday should be an “Environmental day”, “Mother’s day” or “Father’s day” etc.etc.).
We were expecting to get involved with the annual exhibition that the Ministry of Environment of Sri Lanka organized. However I was told that this year it was not held .Since I am away from Sri Lanka Harsha and the team has decided to stay without doing any activity on that day.
However, I was very busy as usual in this environmental day too and lucky. I was able to get involved with some environmental activities in Melbourne on the World Environmental day. It was the first time for us to meet some nice volunteers of Riverland Conservation Society (http://riverlandconservation.org) thanks to Guy Dutson my friend from UK who (now he is in Vietnam) introduced me to these groups before he left Melbourne in early May. Both me and Thushara got involved with the volunteers of Riverland Conservation Society for a tree planting campaign. It was really strange for me as we planted many Eucalyptus and Acasia species which we do not want to plant in Sri Lanka. However those species are really needed here as they are native to Australia. We enjoyed the handy equipments they used to make the task easy in cold winter, way of conducting planting and how enthusiastically people of all age groups got involved in environmental campaigns. According to Sri Lankan experience it is bit difficult to bring the grown up to campaigns but youth involvement is at higher level.
On the 12th of June we all went again to Cox reserve in the near by council to plant some more trees where Boo and Nipu also really enjoyed getting involved with the tree planting campaign. Again we met few committed environmental enthusiasts who invited us for a meal after working in the rain and cold weather. Both events gave us more experience and nice and happy feelings of doing something good. No matter where you are you are a son or a daughter of Mother Earth so why not helping her to make a better place for all of us to live?