SL and UK tackle three key challenges: marine biodiversity, marine pollution and sustainable seafood

The following press release is on the   initial launch event held at Nalanda College, Colombo on 31 July to handover the climate change educational materials to primary and secondary school children. The event saw participation from H.E. Andrew Patrick, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Venura Fernando, Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority, Charlotte Reeve from Cefas, UK and M. Sivakumar, Deputy Director General of the Environment Education and Awareness Division of the Central Environmental Authority. 
The production of the school resource has been fully funded by the UK Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP) and work spanned two years, involving a highly skilled team of graphic designers and animators in Sri Lanka.  Two separate resource packs were produced, each targeting children from junior and senior schools to ensure that content and format was age appropriate. Four separate lessons were compiled as part of each pack, covering the science behind climate change, the importance of the oceans, climate risks to the marine environment, and options for climate action. The lessons include real-life examples from Sri Lanka’s own marine ecosystems and species, and each video and booklet were edited as three separate language versions translated in to English, Sinhala and Tamil. 

 The result is a series of animated videos and booklets that bring to life science and facts behind climate change.
The spirit guiding the scientists and designers was one of inclusion, accessibility and climate awareness, while trying to make science exciting and promoting respect and celebration of the oceans.
 The Ocean Country Partnership Programme (OCPP), Sri Lanka and the UK are collaborating to tackle three key challenges: marine biodiversity, marine pollution and sustainable seafood. The programme aims to support the marine environment and to make a positive impact on the livelihoods of coastal communities that depend on healthy marine ecosystems. OCPP is funded by the UK government’s International Development and is delivered by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) on behalf of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The educational videos are available on the Central Environment Authority’s YouTube account (Central Environmental Authority Publications - YouTube) and teachers can request to access the packs from the Ministry of Education or the CEA.