Vankalai village in Nanaddan DSD in Mannar district in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Vankalai north is a fishing village located along the upper coastal segment of Nanaddan DSD. The extensive reef system is located between 100 to 200 meters away from the shoreline of Vankalai fishing village and widespread mangrove forests inhabit both side of Northern and Southern boundary of the village. The total land area of Vankalai fishery village is approximately 5 km2. Fishing is the most important commercial activity in this area and is highly dependent on the diverse reef system. Relatively communities residing in Vankalai fisheries village could be identified as productive poor and majority of them are primarily dependent on the marine and coastal resources of the Vankalai reef, near shore and lagoon ecosystem. At present they are greatly exposed to a more vulnerable situation due to poverty, coastal and marine resources depletion, chronic/episodic coastal disasters, potential climate change impacts, lack of awareness and economic shocks. Beside these factors, lack of land based opportunities, low level of education, unfavorable conditions imposed on resource extraction, inability to invest on modern fishing gears and crafts to harvest the resources in the deep sea also led to increase dependency on the marine and coastal resources of the Bar reef and near shore. In the face of this vulnerable situation, the communities in Vankalai fisheries village inevitably are being responded in an unsustainable manner by increasing fishing pressure on the Bar reef and the near shore resources, using destructive fishing methods and over exploitation of marine and coastal resources.

Although the DWLC declared a 48 sq. km. area north of the Vankalai fisheries Village as bird sanctuary in 2008, also Northwest coast of Sri Lanka including Vankalai reef was declared as Marine Protected Area, a combination of unsustainable anthropogenic activities, new development trends, lack of enforcement and awareness about the importance and ecology of the diverse reef ecosystem and the lack of management coupled with the natural causes poses a significant threat to the marine and coastal habitats in the Vankalai reef, Vankalai sanctuary and the adjacent areas. This situation was further aggravated due to lack of community support and required infrastructure to ensure sustainable management of the Vankalai reef and adjutant coastal resources.

The prevailing condition has created negative economic and social impacts among the fishing communities especially among the artisanal fishermen by low level of catch per unit effort and decreasing of their income. This vulnerable situation was further intensified with increasing fuel prices. With the realization of this situation, fishing communities anticipate effective solution to ensure their livelihoods based on sustainable marine resources. Therefore the management mechanism constitute with community surveillances, reef monitoring and alternative livelihoods will lead to enhance and conserve the marine and coastal resources which ultimately produce flow of incentive for the fisher folk.

Considering the above situation, it is important to formulate and implement integrated collaborative management mechanism to ensure sustainable management of the Vankalai reef and adjacent coastal resources. Thus MCRCF proposed project to establish and implement community driven surveillance and reef monitoring mechanism for sustainable development of the reef system with the key stake holders while strengthening their capacities. In addition stakeholder awareness, habitat restoration and livelihood diversification providing economic incentives by expansion and introducing value additions are being proposed in the project.