Three ways to join us.
Volunteer in the field or from home, give to our Sri Lanka programmes, or bring your organisation on as a long-term partner. However you arrive, you will always be helping a Sri Lankan do their best work.
Give your time — in the field, or from wherever you are.
We take volunteer labour seriously, which means we are honest about what we can and cannot offer. Field placements are competitive and not a tourism product. Remote roles are modest and specific.
Field placements in Sri Lanka
Our Ruhuna ranger programme runs twice a year (March and September intakes) with twelve places per cohort. Applicants are screened for relevant field experience, safeguarding-aligned motivations and physical fitness. Volunteers pay their own travel and contribute a bench fee that funds host community costs.
Remote support from the UK
We can nearly always use help with: bookkeeping, GIS and map production, small-scale fundraising events, grant application drafting, and social media maintained by someone with patience. Contact us with a short note about what you could offer.
Small charity, small overheads, large margin of impact.
We run on volunteer trustees. We have no salaried staff. Nearly every pound you give reaches a named Sri Lankan programme against a named line of expenditure. Here is what donations typically fund, at approximate UK prices:
- £4 — one native rainforest sapling, propagated and planted, with three years of stewardship.
- £18 — a month of radio credit for a community elephant monitor in the Udawalawe buffer.
- £45 — one night patrol for the Rekawa turtle-hatchery team, including torch batteries and fuel.
- £120 — a week's petrol for a community ranger vehicle during the high-conflict maha harvest.
- £600 — the bench-fee contribution of one ranger-placement volunteer, funding a host village.
We accept bank transfer, standing order, one-off card gifts and legacy pledges. UK taxpayers: please add Gift Aid where you can — it increases your donation by 25% at no cost to you.
Bank details for direct gifts
Account name: The Forrester Foundation Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society
Sort code: 00-00-00
Account number: 00000000
Reference: Please include your surname and postcode
Gift Aid
If you are a UK taxpayer and would like to add Gift Aid, email hello@forresterfoundation.org and we'll send you a simple one-page declaration.
Donations are made to The Forrester Foundation Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society, a registered charity in England and Wales (No. 1133415).
Bring your organisation alongside.
We partner with UK and Sri Lankan businesses, universities, schools and sister charities. Our preference is for longer, quieter relationships than for high-visibility one-offs.
Businesses
Employee match-funding, payroll-giving, small sponsorship of a named programme, or pro-bono professional support (legal, design, accountancy).
Universities & schools
We host MSc dissertation placements through the Ruhuna rangers programme and are always glad to speak to sixth-form and undergraduate conservation societies.
Sister charities
If your remit overlaps ours (South Asian wildlife, marine turtles, rainforest restoration, human-wildlife coexistence) and you'd like to explore a joint programme or data-sharing arrangement, please get in touch.