Four programmes. One island. Long time horizons.
Every programme below is delivered by Sri Lankan partners, funded by UK donors, and reported on openly each quarter. We run fewer projects than we could, on purpose — because deep conservation takes decades, not news cycles.
Elephant corridor watch
Keeping Sri Lanka's southern elephant herds connected between Udawalawe and Lunugamvehera — and reducing the nightly conflict that kills around 50 elephants and 70 people each year across the island.
This is our oldest programme, running since 2012. We fund nine community elephant monitors across four buffer villages. Each monitor carries a torch, a radio, a distress-signal klaxon, and a logbook. When a herd breaks toward the cultivated zone at night, monitors alert neighbours, turn the herd with sound and light (never firearms), and file a GPS-tagged report by morning.
Who it's for
Village co-operatives living within 2 km of protected-area boundaries, where crop-raiding and retaliatory killing are the dominant risk to both species.
How you can join
UK donors fund the programme. Sri Lankan residents with relevant field experience can apply through our partner, the Ruhuna Community Rangers Collective, via the contact page.
Running schedule
Year-round patrols, heaviest during the maha (October–January) harvest. Quarterly trustee review with photographic and GPS evidence.
Rekawa turtle guardians
Protecting one of the last significant mixed-species sea turtle nesting beaches on Sri Lanka's southern coast — green, olive ridley, loggerhead, leatherback and the critically endangered hawksbill all come ashore here.
Nesting females face three pressures: beach lighting, egg collection, and plastic entanglement of hatchlings. Working with the Rekawa Turtle Trust, we fund night patrols during nesting season, relocate vulnerable clutches to a protected hatchery, and pay for weekly beach clean-ups involving the local fishing community.
Who it's for
The Sri Lankan patrol team; visiting conservation volunteers on structured six- to twelve-week placements; local schools, via our nesting-season education visits.
How you can join
Volunteer placements run March to October. Applications open on the Get Involved page.
Running schedule
Nightly patrols February–October; hatchery operates year-round; beach clean-ups every Saturday.
Sinharaja buffer planting
Replanting degraded catchments on the northern edge of the UNESCO-listed Sinharaja rainforest — the last viable tract of primary lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka.
Sinharaja itself is protected. Its buffer is not. Decades of smallholder tea cultivation, bad logging and weed-spread of the invasive Clidemia hirta have left several catchments denuded. We work with three tea-growing villages to identify failed parcels, propagate native cloud-forest species (Shorea, Dipterocarpus, Mesua) in community nurseries, and replant with ten-year stewardship contracts.
Who it's for
Smallholder farmers who own marginal land adjacent to Sinharaja, and who want the long-term income benefits of healthy watersheds.
How you can join
UK supporters can sponsor a sapling (£4 covers propagation, planting and three years of stewardship). Village enquiries go through our Sri Lanka liaison.
Running schedule
Propagation year-round; planting in the inter-monsoon window (April–May and September–October).
Ruhuna ranger placements
Seven-week placements in which UK and international volunteers support Sri Lankan rangers across the southern reserves — anti-poaching, wildlife-conflict response, village outreach and biodiversity survey work.
Every volunteer pays their own way and contributes a bench fee that funds their host community. Places are limited to twelve per season; applicants are screened for relevant field experience and safeguarding-aligned motivations. This is not a gap-year programme; it's a serious field placement for applied conservationists, postgraduates and career changers.
Who it's for
Applicants with ecology, veterinary, GIS, education or community-development backgrounds. Fluent English essential; Sinhala or Tamil a strong plus.
How you can join
Applications open twice a year for March and September intakes. Enquire via the contact page.
Running schedule
Two seven-week cohorts per year, based in Tissamaharama with deployments across Yala, Bundala and Udawalawe.
Have a question about a programme?
Whether you're a prospective volunteer, a donor, or a Sri Lankan partner organisation considering collaboration, we'd rather hear from you than not.