The proposed project will be implemented in Vidataltivu village which is situated in the Mannar district of NP. There are five DS divisions in Mannar district and the Vidataltivu village belongs to the Manthai West DS division. Vidathalative is a war affected area and the community is still heavily depending on natural resources in the area for their livelihoods. As a result, it has identified various social and environmental issues in the area.

The Vidataltivu Nature Reserve (291.8 sq. km) is a Marine Protected Area (MPA) which has been declared in 2016 by the Department of Wildlife Conservation and contains extensive areas of seagrass meadows, mangroves and a coral reef called the Maldiva Bank (coral island). Existing mangrove forest, lagoon, Indian Ocean and the existing coral reefs provide invaluable resources for the coastal community members in the Vidataltivu village to depend on. However, due to unsustainable resource utilization patterns, most of these resources are now been overexploited. Dynamiting for fishing, mangrove cutting, use of destructive fishing methods, pollution, spreading of invasive alias species are major problems in the area.

Inadequate alternative livelihoods in Vidataltivu is a social issue that leads the community in to poverty and drives them to engage in illegal practices such as dynamiting and bottom trawling etc.

In response to the issues described above in the Vidataltivu village, the Turtle Conservation Project (TCP) has received a project to address some of the issues by providing alternative livelihood opportunities to the community and by improving stakeholders knowledge on environment and about the sustainable use of natural resources contributing to the conservation and management of marine and coastal resources in Vidataltivu area.

Main outputs of the project:

Output 1: An Eco tourism programme established as a livelihood for the community to reduce the over exploitation of marine and coastal resources

Output 2: A community sewing programme will be established as a livelihood for the community to reduce the over exploitation of marine and coastal resources

Output 3: A community Ornamental fish breeding programme will be established as a livelihood for the community to reduce the over exploitation of marine and coastal resources

Output 4: Community awareness enhanced on natural resource management and capacity developed to reduce the over exploitation of marine and coastal resources and to increase community participation in conservation actions

Output 5: Publicity generated for the project and all concerned parties informed about the project activities