Key projects
Animal tracks
The villagers of Koulara, faced with competition from cheaper producers and hindered by their own isolation, abandoned their traditional industry and started working as laborers, harvesting sugar cane at the plantation. Their incomes fell and they suffered for more than a decade because of inadequate wages, strikes and other problems.
IUCN, with the financial assistance of MJF Charitable Foundation, has stepped into the lives of this impoverished community with an empowerment programme which aims to help them gain a foothold in the rapidly globalising world.
Animal Tracks is a project that has two objectives. First, to build upon the energy, creativity and commitment of the community by giving them the tools to take charge of their own economic destiny. And second, to inculcate greater environmental sensitivity by demonstrating the interdependence of human, animal and plant life. In the initial stage of Animal Tracks, 25 people from the Koulara community were provided training in pottery, the craft their forefathers pursued. Men and women were given practical guidance, equipment and materials, as well as a dedicated resource person, one of Sri Lanka’s finest pottery craftsmen. Their capacity for the aesthetic and cultural significance of clay making was also enhanced. At each stage, the community actively participated in the construction of their pottery factory and visitors centre. For its construction, the community used traditional construction methods and their own efforts on a voluntary basis. The villagers draw inspiration from their environment and the nearby Udawalawe National Park to produce artistic terra cotta plates, trays and display items. These feature the foot prints of elephants, leopards and other animals in the national park. Being naturally of interest to visitors to the park, the MJFCF and IUCN have facilitated a retail space for the Koulara project at the entrance to the National Park, so that the villagers can sell their eco friendly, educational Animal Tracks products.
Animal Tracks is a very different project that combines an understanding of a community with very specific needs and cultural specificities, environment and an eco marketing concept which is empowering Koulara. Within days of the projects commencement, the community members who were in despair due to lack of money resulting from a month long strike at the sugar cane plantation, abandoned their menial labor jobs and embraced the revival of their ancient tradition. The MJF Foundation will utilise the marketing capability of the Dilmah tea company to assist the Koulara villagers in marketing their products directly to consumers at the Udawalawe National Park, Colombo Air Port and eventually in international markets. Animal Tracks will be replicated in villages all across Sri Lanka in an effort to help these marginalised and impoverished villagers regain their relevance and prosperity in a dignified and traditional manner.
Contact: aab@iucnsl.org
