Grantee Spotlight: Earthlanka
After Cyclone Ditwah pushed debris onto Sri Lanka's reefs, Earthlanka's divers spent three weeks removing over 1,000 kg of waste by hand from the coral off Trincomalee's eastern coast.
Jul 24, 2026
The reefs off of Trincomalee on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast house over 300 species of fish, provide critical spawning habitats, and form the underwater foundation of the fishing economies that run along this stretch of shore. In November 2025, Cyclone Ditwah pushed debris from Sri Lanka’s major rivers directly into the sea, and clothes, vehicle parts, and household waste settled onto its fragile coral.
Roshima Vithanage, hub leader of SOA Sri Lanka, has been diving the reefs for years and witnessed what the storm left behind. Vithanage approached Earthlanka with a proposal to mobilize to restore the reef.
About Earthlanka
Sudarsha de Silva launched Earthlanka in 2009 as a Sri Lankan environmental news platform. As readers reached out to get involved, the network transformed into a youth network and quickly became one of Sri Lanka’s most active marine conservation organizations.
Earthlanka has spent fifteen years addressing the conservation issues that are often overlooked by other organizations. Since their inception, they have established Sri Lanka’s first ex-situ coral conservation program, installed the first sustainable anchor point in Unawatuna’s marine protected area, and ran the country’s first national campaign on deep-sea mining. The reef cleanup in Trincomalee continues Earthlanka’s commitment to filling the gaps in Sri Lanka’s conservation efforts and generating tangible impact.
Into the Water
Cyclone Ditwah delivered something different to Sri Lanka’s reefs than ordinary ocean debris. As the storm overwhelmed the island’s river systems, organic waste, textiles, broken glass, and industrial remnants were flushed directly into coastal ecosystems. These materials can smother coral, disrupt salinity and pH, and threaten the fish populations that sustain coastal communities. Over 140 km of Sri Lanka’s coastline were affected, and the reefs around Trincomalee, some of the most ecologically significant, were also some of the most directly impacted.
For three weeks, Earthlanka’s divers have been removing debris from the coral by hand. By the second day of the operation, the team had removed 1,000 kg of material from the reef systems. The grant provided by SOA has made this work possible by funding boats, dive gear, and the equipment necessary for the sustained, coordinated effort to restore the reefs.
Five Grants, Five Years
Earthlanka has received five separate grants from SOA since 2021, beginning when Vithanage led the expansion of a coral nursery in southern Sri Lanka. In 2022, the team organized Sri Lanka’s first national awareness campaign on deep-sea mining, training journalists and youth advocates to champion the national dialogue. A 2023 grant supported the installation of a sustainable anchor point in Unawatuna’s marine protected area and a cleanup of coastal beaches. In 2024, Earthlanka convened a seabed mining webinar series for students from universities across the nation, producing a research paper currently awaiting publication.
Cyclone Ditwah left debris across reef ecosystems that took centuries to develop, and the window for removal before permanent damage is incurred is narrow. Earthlanka has been working to protect these reefs for years — surveying conditions, educating communities, restoring coral, and training the divers who know them best. Presently, Earthlanka's experienced divers are removing debris from reef systems that no other organization moved to address. The reefs off Trincomalee's eastern coast are not only ecologically significant — they are the foundation of the fishing economies and food systems that coastal communities along this stretch of shore depend on. Clearing them is what makes recovery, for the reef and for the people who rely on it, possible.
Sri Lanka Hub
Roshima Vithanage
SOA Sri Lanka Hub Leader
Roshima Vithanage holds an honors degree in Food Science & Technology from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and a diploma in Professional Marketing from CIM. As Vice President of Business Development at AIESEC, she led impactful student projects. Her passion for the ocean led her to represent Sri Lanka at Miss SCUBA International 2016 and earn an open water diving license. She graduated with first-class honors, winning awards for employability and best research. Currently, she is an assistant manager with digital communication experience within the financial services industry. She continues to support marine conservation as a volunteer in EarthLanka organization.
Sudarsha De Silva
SOA Sri Lanka Founder & Hub Leader
Sudarsha De Silva is the founder of Earthlanka organization in Sri Lanka. The organization is youth-based and been working on coastal and marine conservation since 2014 in Sri Lanka. Empowering youth leaders for coastal conservation was the key priority of Sudarsha and his team. Sudarsha held many positions on coastal conservation projects and was in the organizing committee for scientific marine symposiums in the world. Sudarsha led SDG 14 report for Volutary peoples review for Sri Lanka during 2018 for UNHLPF.
