Mangroves play a vital role in providing shelter and food for fingerlings of various fish species. Mangroves are instrumental in increasing the fish population of an area. Planting mangroves is also a way to reduce global warming as it captures a lot of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in its quick growth.
These are the reason why students of the Department of Accounts at the Faculty of Management and Finance of Colombo University had chosen to plant mangroves in different areas of the western coast of the island. Nearly 50 students from the Accounts Department were seen planting mangroves at the Kalpitiya lagoon recently.
This is the third consecutive year that the students had been involved in the project, said final year student and Department Coordinator Bryan de Zoysa. During the previous two years, they had already planted 500 mangrove plants in the area the first year, and 750 last year.
“This time it is a little less. It would be about 200 plants,” he said. Getting involved in a social responsibility project is mandatory for university students. Most of them are environment enthusiasts. Such a project where they could always see the results would give students joy and a sense of accomplishment. Besides it brings a change to the monotony of studying, traveling to a distant area in the company of other students is also fun and a definite way of stress reduction.
The students were supported by Sudeesa (Small Fisheries Association) Sri Lanka, by providing the mangrove saplings at no cost. Sudeesa is a community organization involved in coast and marine conservation in Puttlam.
(VF)