Environmental conservation project

You will be accommodated in one of the two volunteer houses, located in the Unawatuna neighborhood, just a 15-minute drive from the center of Galle and a 5-minute walk from the beach.

These houses have several (non-mixed) rooms that can accommodate between 4 and 6 people, and each is equipped with bathrooms. Each house also includes an outdoor space, providing a peaceful place to relax, socialize, or simply enjoy the region’s pleasant weather. In addition, meals are included in the project.

The distribution of volunteers will be organized taking into account the availability of each house.

For couples, families, or individuals preferring a single, double, or family room, additional options are available for an extra charge. For more information on rates and terms, please contact us directly.

Additional options and activities

In addition to your project, those who wish can choose to take part in a one-week tour to explore the very best of Sri Lanka’s beauty and diversity. From Galle to Sigiriya, via Kandy and Ella, you will discover the southern, central, and western regions of this magnificent tropical island.

Please contact us to find out the departure dates.

Tour price: 810 euros.

Freepackers is the exclusive partner in France for this project in Sri Lanka. We guarantee ethical projects with quality supervision, carefully selected and monitored through regular on-site visits. Donations are fully and directly reinvested in local associations, ensuring real and transparent local impact.

Volunteers take part in a range of initiatives designed to create a lasting impact on the island’s natural ecosystems: mangroves, the marine environment, pollution clean-up, recycling, and permaculture.

Mangrove ecosystems are of vital importance for maintaining marine environments. They protect coastlines, regulate water quality, control flooding, provide breeding grounds for marine species, help increase biodiversity, support the livelihoods of rural communities, and combat climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide at a rate 3 to 5 times higher than most forests. Protecting, preserving, and increasing their numbers is a priority.

This part of the project takes place in the Koggala Lagoon, an important body of water in the Galle district, enhanced by eight small ecologically rich islands. Volunteers will play a key role in the habitat restoration process by planting new seeds in the nursery, growing young mangrove plants, and transferring them into their natural habitat.

Recycling is still in its early stages in Sri Lanka, although the concept is gradually gaining ground as local communities better understand its environmental benefits. Plastic pollution in particular is becoming a major issue. This part of the project consists of organizing awareness sessions for local communities, schools, and businesses to highlight plastic pollution and the importance of recycling in addressing this problem. These sessions are supervised by our team, who help prepare presentation materials and translate the content for the local community.

Building EcoBricks is another part of the project. EcoBricks are a simple solution to plastic pollution that requires no machines, technical skills, or funding. They are single-use plastic bottles that have been cleaned and packed with other plastic waste to be reused as building materials. This extends the life of single-use plastic bottles and prevents them from being sent directly to landfill. EcoBricks are durable and do not decompose, making them an ideal construction material. In a developing country such as Sri Lanka, they are used to build walls, furniture, and even rural buildings. Volunteers will spend part of their time making EcoBricks, which will be used to build the walls of our organic garden as well as outdoor furniture. We also intend to donate large quantities of the EcoBricks we produce to neighboring communities so that they can benefit in a similar way.

Organic farming practices reduce pollution, conserve water, increase biodiversity, improve soil fertility, and use less energy. Using organic fertilizers (compost, green manure, etc.) instead of synthetic pesticides is much better for the natural ecosystem and ensures crop sustainability. It also helps produce fresh, healthy food while reducing intermediaries. Volunteers will spend part of their time in our organic garden helping to grow fresh fruit and vegetables in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. Typical tasks in this ecotourism project in Sri Lanka include planting new seeds, maintaining the nursery, making organic compost, monitoring crop growth, building organic fences, and carrying out other maintenance tasks as needed.

Coral reef restoration: this is the second ecological product we build as part of this project. Coral reefs are often called the rainforests of the ocean, both because of the huge number of species they support and the high productivity they generate. In addition to the hundreds of coral species, reefs are home to extraordinary biodiversity and a wide variety of fish, invertebrates, and marine mammals. Unfortunately, as everywhere else, Sri Lanka’s coral reefs have decreased in size due to the harmful effects of climate change and human activities.

This part of the project involves building artificial coral reefs using durable, environmentally friendly materials to imitate the effects of natural coral reefs. These are then placed in shallow areas of the ocean where natural reefs once thrived. Over time, research has shown that these artificial reefs can provide a stable habitat for fish and all the other plant and animal organisms found on a natural reef, helping to restore much of this lost marine ecosystem.

We encourage you to combine our dog, turtle, and environment projects in Sri Lanka. The needs are ongoing, your help is valuable, and this option allows you to diversify your tasks while giving greater impact to your commitment.

Since most of the work is done outdoors in a tropical climate, we recommend light and comfortable clothing that is suitable for the types of activities listed above. Clothes should be comfortable while being modest, in order to respect Buddhist communities. Shoes should be comfortable: sneakers, flip-flops or sandals, for example. Do not forget to bring sunscreen (all year) and a raincoat during the rainy season (June-November).

a) Beach clean-ups: Sri Lanka is home to some of the most pristine beaches in the world, surrounded by the warm and ecologically rich waters of the Indian Ocean. Beyond their natural beauty, which is ideal for meditation, beaches are an environmental treasure: they preserve our coastal and ocean ecosystems, provide nesting sites for turtles and other species, offer vital feeding grounds for birds and land wildlife, help reduce the harmful effects of climate change, protect against storms, and more. Unfortunately, in recent years, increasing pollution, especially plastic pollution, has contributed to making beaches more polluted in Sri Lanka and around the world.

Volunteers devote part of their time to cleaning beaches in groups, carefully separating plastic, glass, and organic waste, which is then handed over to local authorities for disposal or recycling. This project takes place on different beaches around Galle and Unawatuna, increasing the reach and scale of this initiative.

b) River clean-ups: As a tropical island, water cleanliness is just as important to Sri Lanka’s ecosystem as the cleanliness of the island itself. The Gin Ganga River is a major 116 km waterway that rises in the untouched Sinharaja rainforest, passes through several villages on its way to Galle, and ends in the Indian Ocean. Keeping the river clean is essential for local communities, surrounding flora and fauna, and ultimately the ocean. This part of the project involves volunteers traveling by canoe (2 per canoe) and cleaning the river’s small tributaries of plastic waste that threatens the ecosystem. Life jackets, canoes, paddles, nets, and garbage bags are provided. This mission requires teamwork and a sense of adventure, all in a beautiful rural natural setting surrounded by rice fields.

The frequency of activities during a given week or month will depend on local conditions at that time (for example, river clean-ups are not possible during the heavy monsoon season due to flooding or high tides). It will also depend on the needs and priorities of the different associations at certain times of the year.

In general, however, volunteers can expect to take part in most of these activities during their stay, if not all of them. We also expect this ecotourism project in Sri Lanka to evolve over time with the introduction of new initiatives to broaden the scope of our environmental conservation efforts in the community.