United Nations Radio

In Sri Lanka, chemicals are contaminating ground water and threatening people's health. One researcher is using nature to clean up a man-made problem. United Nations Television visited Kal-pi-TI-ya Peninsula, on the west coast of Sri Lanka, home to the country's largest shallow aquifer, for the story.

water

NANDAWATHIE: (Sinhala)
"There was sediment in the well, and the water tasted funny and was red in colour."

NARRATION:  P. Nandawathie is one of the many people in her village suffering from respiratory and skin problems, cancer and birth defects. She has asthma:

NANDAWATHIE: (Sinhala)
"I feel tightness in the chest and numbness in my two hands."

NARRATION:  The main cause of this environmental disaster is the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Since the 1980s, with the help of water pumps and chemical fertilizers, villagers began cultivating large sandy fields with mono crops such as tobacco, chillies and onions.

Because the sand is porous, water washes down easily, carrying chemicals to the water
table below, spreading contaminants across the land. Dr. D.S.P. Kuruppuarachchi is the Assistant Representative of the Food Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Sri Lanka.

KURUPPUARACHCHI: (English)
"And when this concentration of chlorides, nitrates, and potassium keep on increasing
due to their addition to agriculture, definitely there will be a problem."

NARRATION:  Repeated studies found that many wells contain pollutants six times over the safety
level set by the World Health Organization (WHO). In an effort to clean up the water, the Sri
Lankan government turned to Kamal Melvani, a scientist and an advocate for Reforestation, for a solution.

KAMAL: (English)
"When I first came here, there was absolutely nothing here except this well."

NARRATION:  A test revealed that the water in the well had nitrates six times over the safety limit.

Kamal began planting in the area. Using native species and a variety of fast- and slow-growing trees, the idea was to create a mini-forest.

KAMAL: (English)
"What you are getting is this dense mat of roots around the well. So when the water in
this shallow aquifer moves into the well area, it actually passes through the roots - through the mat - and gets filtered and comes into the well."

NARRATION:  Her experiment is working. After nine years of continuous testing, the well water is now safe to drink. And the trees also provide other benefits.

KAMAL: (English)
"Everything has a use in this landscape design. Either a use for medicine, for timber, for fuel, for food. And this plant, particularly the fruit of this plant, is used as remedy for coughs and bad throats."

NARRATION:  Supported by the Global Environment Facility's Small Grants Programme, Kamal began a project to teach villagers and school children about this method. Shireen Samarasuriya is the national coordinator of the Small Grants Programme.

SAMARASURIYA: (English)
"Now, even in schools and other places, even if the project is over, they have the capacity to take it forward, and replicate it so people have better quality of water for drinking, as well as for other purposes."

NARRATION:  The programme has helped villagers plant nearly 6,000 trees around wells in schools,
public areas and private homes such as the one in P. Nandawathie and her husband's
home.

HUSBAND: (Sinhala)
"Now we can drink the water. Before it was not possible."

NARRATION:  Through the project, the couple has also learned about organic farming.

While trees can help solve the contamination, the long-term solution would be for farmers to stop using excessive chemicals and turn to sustainable farming.

KAMAL: (English)
"So if these poor farmers can practice organic agriculture well and be certified and get a
premium price for their products, then, yes, the best is yet to come."

NARRATOR: That report was prepared by United Nations Television.

Duration: 3'54"