Conservation of the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary and the Spot Billed Pelican in Sri Lanka

The Colombo City area is home to just one declared bird sanctuary, the Bellanwill-Attidiya Marsh. Despite its protected status, much domestic and industrial garbage is dumped here, especially polythene. The project will seek to improve the availability of recycling facilities, and assist the municipal council in educating people about composting, reusing and recycling. The team will also monitor the marsh to identify changes in pollution levels and biodiversity.

The Peak Wilderness Sanctuary combines an area of extremely high biodiversity with one of the holiest places in Sri Lanka. Each year nearly 2million pilgrims come to Adam's Peak, which inevitably results in a problem of waste disposal, with much non-biodegradable material such as polythene being brought into the area The team intends to mount an education programme aimed at the pilgrims, stressing the importance of the area in terms of biodiversity as well as its religious significance, and monitor the impact of this campaign on rubbish levels. In November 2002, the second phase of the Peak Wilderness Sanctuary Conservation Programme (PWSCP) was launched, following which Kanchana has managed to gain the support of a government project (Upper watershed management).

In addition to her initial Rufford Small Grant, Kanchana received a runners-up prize in the 2002 Whitley Awards to continue her work, and Continuation Funding in 2003.