Jenny's Vocational Visits

I have been really lucky in terms of the type of vocational visits I have been able to experience in Sri Lanka, as mine have been focused on a subject that forms my future career development, rather than the job that I currently hold. My line manager and whole team have been incredibly supportive of the trip, and I have been spending time focusing on Environmental Management.

During my first week I was lucky enough to attend a conference entitled ‘Water Resources and Climate Change, Challenges for South Asian Women’.

It was held at the Galadari Hotel in Colombo, and was very interesting and informative, looking at the management of river basins and catchment areas, and how this affects the local population. There are so many fantastic projects happening, from dam building to well installation, to reforestation. A key problem that Sri Lanka faces is the salination of freshwater courses following the Tsunami in 2004, the effects of which are still being dealt with and ameliorated.

The keynote speaker was  the Nobel Peace Prize Winner of 2007, so awarded for his work with the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) . We were also graced by the First Lady of Sri Lanka who attended the opening ceremony.

During our stay in Kandy I spent the day at the Botanical Gardens, known as one of the best collections in the world, with renowned forest manager Rtn. Keerthi, who headed the reforestation project for 1.5million hectares of landscape which makes up the catchment area for one of the country’s largest hydroelectric schemes, the Victoria Dam. The problems he faced in the management were interesting and varied, however the work he carried out was mainly focused on controlling erosion, and the amount of sediment that was washed from the mountainsides and into the dam, by planting many thousands of pine trees.

The gardens themselves were an experience, and I very much enjoyed learning about the different species and management plans adopted in tropical climates, compared to those in the temperate UK.

Unfortunately I missed 2 of my scheduled vocational visits at the start of the trip as I was unwell, and hope that Dr Suresh can reschedule the visit to the Department of Forestry for this week.