Starter Kit. Idea 479 of 500. Cluster 26
Galle: the coral coast, the gardens of Hikkaduwa and the reef under Rumassala, where a visitor or a Sri Lankan abroad becomes a coral mum or a coral dad, with a coral in their name, the way people name a star, and a photograph of it every year as it grows
The mechanism, from the book
Every city has one thing it could be known for, and most are not yet known for it.
The first step
Talk to a dive centre or a marine scientist on the coast near Hikkaduwa about growing corals on frames on the reef, and ask what permission that needs. Offer the first corals to visitors and to Sri Lankans abroad: a coral in their name, with a certificate and a photograph every year as it grows. The proof is the first corals adopted and paid for in advance.
- Who pays first
- A visitor who dived the reef, or a Sri Lankan abroad, who wants a living thing in their name off the Galle coast.
- What leaves today
- Visitors see the reef once and leave nothing behind; a coral in their name brings them back every year and pays for the reef.
Ask first
- Department of Wildlife Conservation. Ask whether growing corals on the reef needs a permit, and which reefs are protected.
- Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. Ask whether a coral nursery in the sea needs its permission.
Check before you spend
Confirm the permit for a coral nursery on the reef, a marine scientist's advice on the method, what the certificate promises, and what happens if a coral dies.
Find out these three numbers
- What will a visitor pay to adopt a coral for a year?
- How many corals can one frame on the reef hold?
- What does the yearly photograph dive cost to run?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.