Merging sport with green issues
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The National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka with the blessings of the IOC ventured into an initiative that mergered the spirit of Olympism together with environmental awareness. Mentored by NOC SL’s Secretary General Maxwell de Silva a unique project under the theme “Give the reef another chance” got underway at the Polhena Beach, Matara recently.
At the heart of the project is the rejuvenation of the dying reef in Polhena with the concept “Help sustain the reef and help the child of tomorrow see a new dawn,” while driving the message across through to the younger generations.
The project got underway with a beach cleaning programme involving school children, prisoners and volunteers from the area.
During the programme the NOC SL also conducted demonstrations while introducing sports such as beach volleyball, surfing, Kabaddi and a 400 metre sea swim. In addition, a life saving segment was also conducted during the programme.
As part of the rejuvenation of the reef – a series of cement domes to facilitate the re-growing of coral were placed in the reef. Further to create awareness about the ongoing intiative among residents of Matara, a reef information centre and art competition children from seventeen schools in Matara was also conducted.
The competition yielded more than 2500 informative drawings by the children and the top seventy exhibits were put on show.
On the day of the programme, fifty students, parents and their teachers were given the opportunity of going through a presentation on Coral Preservation.
In order make this project a success the organisers sought the guidance and assistance of different partners such as The National Aquatic Resource and Development Authority (NARA), Sri Lanka NAVY together with the Coast Conservation, Coast guard, Tokyo Cement, Marine Environment Protection Authority, Ocean Resources Conservation Association (ORCA) and the Wildlife Authority. In addition, the project also partnered with Amaloh Hotel and Polhena Reef Hotel for the project.