The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS) volunteer programme offers a rare opportunity to work alongside scientists, conservationists, educators, community partners, and local villagers deep within the heart of beautiful Sri Lanka. They have recently reinstated the volunteer programme to begin early December this year.
In conversation with SLWCS Founder and President Ravi Corea, he informed us that SLWCS has been hosting volunteers since 2002. He further explained that revenue generated through fees paid by the volunteers are critical to supporting conservation research and community work. “Whether you’re travelling alone or with a group, for a week or for several months, our experienced travel partners offer a wide variety of options to meet your needs,” he shared.
The SLWCS volunteer programme was listed in 2017 by Fodor’s Travel as one of the top 10 wildlife experiences in Sri Lanka, and prior to that listed in the 100 best volunteer vacations to enrich your life written by Pam Grout and published by the National Geographic. It was listed in several editions of the Lonely Planet Guide for Sri Lanka, listed by Wilderness Travel and the Society for Travellers Respecting Animal Welfare as one of the top ethical elephant experiences in the world.
The Marine and Wildlife Programme
SLWCS will soon be launching a really exciting programme; the joint Marine and Wildlife Programme, which will provide the opportunity for volunteers to get an immersive experience in both marine and terrestrial wildlife research, conservation, and community engagement.
During this programme, one will be immersed in the local culture and ecology in the Wasgamuwa region in the Central Province of Sri Lanka, home to wild Asian elephants, sloth bears, leopards, and many other endangered wildlife in one of the most biodiverse areas in Sri Lanka.
Corea explained that volunteers will spend a period at their Marine Research Station in Kalpitiya and then travel across the vast Puttalam Estuary by boat to the Wildlife Research Station bordering the Wilpattu National Park. “During this programme volunteers will spend an exhilarating and enlightening time in the jungle conducting research and community-based conservation activities,” he added.
The programme will also focus on elephant research and will conduct direct and indirect observations to gather data on behaviour, ranging, and habitat use. In order to reduce the human-elephant conflict (HEC), volunteers will draft surveys by interviewing villagers and gathering data about elephants, property, crop damages, and injury to people. Corea added that by visiting elephant damaged houses and farm lands, these volunteers will learn the severity of the HEC in Sri Lanka, adding that Sri Lanka records the second highest casualty rate from the issue, second only to India, which has a higher population of both humans and elephants than Sri Lanka does.
With this programme, volunteers will also work with Project Orange Elephant (POE) farmers and gather data on the project including assessing the growth, vigour, and status of citrus groves and HEC activities. “At the same time, they will help farmers with weeding, harvesting, and other maintenance activities in the farms, again reducing the problems caused by the HEC,” he added.
Furthermore, they will help monitor and maintain the first solar powered community electric fences installed in Sri Lanka to mitigate the HEC.
Corea informed us that elephants are not the only animal that needs to be protected. During the programme, these volunteers will also focus on issues that other mammals and birds face, as well as eradicate issues that they may cause by checking on sand and camera traps to gather information on mammals.
At the same time, they will look for pugmarks of small mammals to identify them and to understand their distribution.
“The programme will feature a small wild cat study, where volunteers will collect data on fishing, jungle, and rusty-spotted cats through direct and indirect observations using night vision scopes, thermal cameras, and remote cameras,” Corea informed us. This will help to gather data on the illusive leopard and sloth bear using remote cameras.
They will also participate in bird abundance and diversity studies in various habitats. The butterfly sanctuary is also an area of focus for this programme, where volunteers will help with weeding, planting, and watering host plants, identifying butterflies and helping to create micro-habitats for specific species.
Challenges and future plans
When speaking to Corea about the challenges and obstacles they had to overcome during these difficult times in order to go ahead with the programme, he described the uncertainty of it all to be the biggest issue. “We had a volunteer sign up open from February of this year but we couldn’t actually begin the programme because of various incidents caused by the pandemic,” he shared.
Initially, with regards to arriving in Sri Lanka, or moving out of the district, the regulations were quite strict and SLWCS could not go against them. “A lot of our volunteers were to come from abroad, and we understand the restrictions because the highest goal was to curtail the virus and get it under control, but in a situation like that, it was very difficult to operate,” he further added.
He also noted that they had to undergo the same challenges that everyone in the country was facing, so he really cannot say it was anything in specific, but hopes that the situation does not get worse again.
