Environmental Communication for Mangrove Restoration and Conservation in a Fishing Village, Sri Lanka
- May 16, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: Geography, IJRISS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue V, May 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
M. D. K. L. Gunathilaka
Department of Geography, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Abstract:- Puttalam lagoon as the largest and destructed mangrove forest in Sri Lanka has gained much attention from researchers. The study was carried out in Anawasala; a fishing village in Kalpitiya to evaluate the contribution of environmental communication on mangrove restoration and conservation.Randomly 30 households were selected for the questionnaire survey and a vegetation survey was performed too. Field observations were carried out to find out the success of mangrove restoration areas.MS Excel 2013 version and Shannon-wiener diversity index were used for data analysis. The study found that lower education, lack of diverse communication methods, unawareness, poverty negatively impacts on the success of environmental communication. 63 % of participation for restoration programs also depend on small grants. Only female participation was recognized.99% are fishermen. Concerning the carrying capacity of the lagoon, the utmost protection of mangrove is necessary as the source of income of residents is the lagoon. To overcome the barriers to the success of environmental communication and mangrove restoration and conservation education level have to be increased and alternative job opportunities have to be established in the area. Also, the restoration process has to be implemented with more technical and practical methods.
Keywords: Anawasala, Ecosystem, Environmental Communication, Mangrove, Restoration
I. INTRODUCTION
Mangroves are dicotyledonous woody trees and shrubs that grow in the intertidal area of the coastline in tropical and sub-tropical countries. The common characteristics all mangrove plants possess are tolerance of salt and brackish water. Concerning the species composition, the highest concentrations of species are found in most Southeast Asian and Oceania countries. Approximately forty percent of eighteen million hectares of mangrove forests occupy in Asia .the most significant mangrove forests are Sundarbans in India and Bangladesh, Indonesians mangrove forests. Systematically mangrove ecosystem is a complex and sensitive ecosystem. Mangrove supply habitat for several species where the association process of an ecosystem highly recognized. The association of mangrove and macroalgae species and association of mangrove and bivalve species are salient examples for the association process in the mangrove ecosystem.
