Book concept and text: Diogo Verissimo

Designing concept : Asanka De Zoysa

Computer Graphic designing: K. A. D Samantha

Kumara

Coordination: Education and Communication

Division / CES
.Introduction

.Green alert

.In the wild

.The empty paddy field

.The gentle giant

.The shy Loris

.The spotted encounter

.The call of the forest

.Smart and smelly

.The charming Snake

.Flying colours

.Acknowledgments
Introduction

Environmental education is one of the keystone areas in

conservation biology, as such it is essential to develop its
reach beyond specialised institutes and associations. Every
environmental education program has the ultimate goal of
reaching as many people has many people has possible.
Mainstreaming environmental practices is the key to achieve
a turnover in the accelerated degradation our planet is facing
in the present.

School in its broad sense, is one of the few, or even probably

the only transversal institution to every continent, religion,
culture or ethnic group. Furthermore, its responsibility to
educate children makes it the perfect vehicle for
environmental education activities.

English is one of the compulsory subjects in every Sri

Lankan primary school since year three. Learning a
language so different from their own mother tongue (either
Sinhala or Tamil) poses a series of challenges to young
children. There is therefore a need for non-conventional
ways of passing knowledge.

01
Stories are a perfect way to reach a young child’s attention
as they mix real issues and a fantasy world where
everything is possible and imagination is the only limit.

They are a different way to create a genuine interest in

learning while being also allowing children to become
aware of the different threats to their countries ecosystems.

A mixture of these three ingredients, school, English

learning and story telling as proven effective in other
biological hotspots namely in the Dominica Island in the
Caribbean where the whole country united around a
character created to preserve the national bird, a parrot
by then threatened by the illegal pet trade. This along with
other success histories gave place to the idea of creating
a booklet of stories for school children to use in their English
classes.

This book aims at making English learning easier and at

the same time hopes to grow an environmental conscience
in the younger generations.

02
 Green alert

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

Tim goes to school to learn about different things. These

will be very important when he grows up. After school Tim
and his friends play together in the paddy rice fields and in
the forest.

One day, after school, Tim and his friends went to the forest
to play. Tim likes to play in the forest because it is a very
beautiful place, with many different colours and many
different sounds.

03
In the forest you can find lagoons, mushrooms, small plants,
very old trees and many different animals from the butterfly
to the tortoise, from the frog to the langur.

On that day, Tim and his friends went to play hide and
seek. Tim loved to play hide and seek, and he ran to find
the best hiding place. After some time he stopped near a
very old tree. That tree was probably the oldest tree in the
forest. He heard a strange noise, and walked close to the
tree to listen. “Tim, do you like the forest?” Tim was scared,
the tree was talking! “Tim, do you like the forest?” The old
tree gasped.

“Yes, it is very beautiful” said Tim, still a little surprised.

04
 “You are right”, replied the old tree, “however that is not
the only reason to like the forest. The forest gives you food
to eat, water to drink and shade to rest under, it is also the
home of all the animals, plants and all the other living beings
you see. What other place can give you all this?”

There was a moment of silence. Those words made Tim

think about the beautiful things he sees and learns in the
forest. He had lived for many years near the forest but he
had never thought about all the nice things the forest gave
him. “Why are you talking to me? Why are you telling me
this?” Tim said, without answering the tree’s question.

“The forest is endangered Tim”, said the old tree. “For many
years mankind and nature lived side by side, but now the
times have changed and there seems to be no space left
for the forest anymore”.

Tim was unhappy, how would they live without the forest?
Without the animals? Without the plants? So he asked the
tree, “who is destroying the forest?

The old tree replied “People are, even you Tim”.

Tim could not believe it, he said “I love the forest, I am not
destroying it”!

05
 But the old tree just replied, “I will show you Tim, the forest
itself will talk to you and you will see how humans destroy
the forest, tree by tree, bird by bird”.

After those words the tree said no more. Tim continued to

talk to her but there was no reply. By this time, Tim
remembered the hide and seek game he was playing
before and thought his friends were probably worried about
him. Still wondering about the meaning of the trees’ words,
he decided it was time to return.

06
 In the wild

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

On a sunny day, Tim was walking along a forest path. He

had spent the whole morning helping his father in the paddy
fields. The paddy fields are very important as they are the
place where rice is grown.

Walking down the path, Tim heard a noise just behind a

small bush. He slowly lifted some of its branches, only to
discover a small tortoise! It was a very beautiful animal,
but as soon as Tim picked it up the tortoise withdrew her
head and legs inside her shell. Without further delay, Tim
put her in his pocket.

“Put me down!” Tim was surprised. He did not know who

had said that. He looked around but could not find anyone.
“I said, put me down!” Tim was really confused and did not
dare to move at all. A few seconds passed before Tim
noticed the small tortoise furiously struggling to get out of
his pocket.

07
Although surprised, Tim quickly took her out. However, the
tortoise still had some things to say. “What are you doing?
Where are you taking me?” she screamed at him.

Tim replied calmly, “I am taking you to be my pet. You will

live in a beautiful home garden, full of flowers and birds.
There you will have no predators and no one will bother
you. I will also give you all the food and water you can dream
of”.

“I do not want to go with you”, replied the tortoise.

“Why? What more could you wish for?” asked Tim.

08
“You see”, the tortoise began, “tortoises are wild animals.
We need other tortoises to play with, we need to drink water
from the streams and lagoons, and we need to eat the
hundreds of different species of vegetables that we can
only find in the forest. If you feed us with rice and lettuce
and give us tap water to drink, we will die quickly. Tortoises
are not pets”.

Although taken by surprise by the tortoise’s speech, Tim

was forced to recognize she was right and he was wrong.
Wild animals like tortoises or porcupines are very different
from the cats and dogs we have at home. These animals
have special needs that only they and the forest know how
to fulfil.

That said, Tim released the tortoise back into the forest.
“Goodbye thank you for this lesson, I will not forget it!” he
shouted.

“You are welcome, I hope you can teach it to your fellow

humans!” the tortoise answered as she turned around and
vanished into the forest.

Tim saw her disappear, and headed home in a hurry, it

was almost time for lunch!

09
10
 The empty paddy field

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

So far, this had been exactly like any other Saturday in

Tim’s life. He woke up at dawn, and went with his father to
the paddy fields. The two of them worked all morning, and
stopped only at noon when the temperature became too
hot. Then they decided to have lunch, under the shade of a
big tree.

After lunch, as it was still to hot to resume work, Tim and

his father decided to take a nap. Tim went fast asleep, as
he was really tired from all the work he had done in the
morning. Exactly as Tim was beginning to dream away,
something jumped on his head and woke him up.

Still a bit sleepy, Tim looked around and found the culprit,
a frog. The same greenish frog, Tim was so used to seeing
in the paddy field. His father had told him there used to be
several dozens of them around the field. However, Tim had
noticed that each year they appeared to be less and less
common.

11
That year he only remembered seeing that one individual,
nothing more.
As soon as Tim got up the frog jumped away, into the forest.
Tim was worried, if that frog went away they would have no
animals at all in the paddy fields! That frog what lived her
whole live on those fields, why would she want to leave?
Tim had to find out, so he ran into the forest and went after
her. It was a difficult task, as the small frog jumped easily
from place to place, but finally Tim managed to catch her.

“Why are you chasing me?” asked the frog, very irritated.

“Don’t you recognize me? I’m Tim, my father owns the paddy
field where you live”.

12
“I do not live there anymore, I have decided to move to
another place” replied the frog

“Why? What is the matter?” said Tim.

“Your paddy field has become a desert. I feel lonely. All the
fish have died. All the other frogs have moved away. What
is the point of staying?”

At first the frog’s words sounded to Tim just like an excuse.

His father has always told him stories about the animals
one could find in the paddy fields.

However, now that he came to think of it, he had seen none

of those animals himself. “Where did all the animals go?”
Tim asked the frog after a few seconds of silence.

13
“Have you noticed that your father is applying many kinds
of different chemicals in the paddy fields?” replied the frog.

“Yes!” answered Tim, “Sometimes I help him. My father

says the chemicals, make our crops grow faster and bigger,
make the soil more fertile and also keep away harmful plants
and animals.”

“Well, those same chemicals are the ones responsible for

the animals’ disappearance”, said calmly the frog.

“How is that possible? Are you sure?” Tim asked in

disbelief.

“Yes, I am sure” the frog replied. “All those chemicals are

washed up by the rain and irrigation water. They build up
in the canals, lagoons and reservoirs, where many animals
live. That is not a natural event, so no animal is adapted to
those chemicals. The ones who survive have to move to
other fields, free of chemicals, just like I am doing.”

“You mean it wasn’t always like this?” Tim asked the frog.

“No”, said the frog. “Not long ago agriculture was done
with traditional methods and no chemicals. You can ask
your father how the paddy fields truly were alive then!”

15
“Come with me frog! I will tell all this to my father, and
together we will stop the use of chemicals and make the
paddy fields become alive again!” said Tim enthusiastically.

So the story goes that from that day people understood

the value having clean water sources, free from all
chemicals, after all, pure water is life.

16
 The gentle giant

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

This had been a very special day for Tim. Today was his
sister’s seventh birthday, and the whole family gathered to
celebrate. It was already dark, and some guests had
already left. Inside Tim’s house everyone was happily
talking to each other, playing games or simply looking at
the television.

Out of nowhere the sound of a firecracker made himself

heard, quickly followed but a second one and then a third.
This could only mean one thing; there was an elephant in
the cultivated fields nearby.

In a second everyone was heading for the neighbouring

fields, shouting and screaming. In the beginning Tim was
scared, but shouted as loud as he could, in hope that the
elephant would turn away. There was not a second to loose
as an animal that size could do a lot of damage in a small
amount of time. But suddenly, everything was over. A riffle
shot echoed in the night and the elephant quickly turned
back and fled.
17
The damages caused by the elephant were small. Even
so, some of the men, Tim among them, stayed on the
field for a while, just to make sure the elephant would not
return, at least that night.

After all the uproar was finally over, everyone talked with
some enthusiasm of what had just happened. Now with
the elephant gone, Tim was telling everyone how he
shouted so loud that even the elephant was scared. That
night he was also the last one to leave the field.

As Tim was leaving, he heard what seemed like someone

crying, just a few metres within the forest. Tim was afraid,
but at the same time felt that he should help whoever was
crying. At night the forest might become a dangerous
place for humans, as our vision is very poor in the dark,
but even so he was decided to enter the forest.

Tim headed straight for the loud moans he could still hear.
He knew we was getting closer as the crying was getting
louder and louder, however how hard he tried, he didn’t
see anyone. Tim kept walking, but still no one to be seen.
He knew he was close. He could hear someone crying
just less than a meter from where he was staying.

18
 Then Tim was breathless, before him leaning on a fallen
log, was an elephant. It was probably the same one who
had visited he fields that same night. It was also him who
had been crying all this time. Tim could not move a muscle,
he tried to speak but no words came out of his mouth.

None of them said anything for quite some time. However

the elephant was the first to recover, “Please, don’t hurt
me! I will leave as soon as my leg recovers!” he said.

Tim was even more startled, not only the elephant was
speaking to him, but it did not seem furious at all, just
scared like himself. He also noticed a large wound on one
of the elephant’s legs. “Why are you crying?” Tim finally
managed to ask after a few minutes.

19
“My leg hurts! Ouch!!” the elephant replied. “I was on my
way to meet some of my cousins of the other side of the
forest. As it was getting dark I stopped to have a snack,
and suddenly there were all these people screaming around
me, with loud noises and lights everywhere. I don’t know
what happened”. The elephant continued, “My mother
taught me this route many years ago when I was just a
baby. She told me she used it many times, and so had her
mother, and many other generations of elephants before
that”.

“These fields are now our farms!” “You can’t eat our crops!
What will we eat then? Tim argued.

“Farms? Never heard about them…What are they?”

Replied the elephant truly interested.

Tim found himself surprised once more. The elephant

wasn’t an evil creature, he simply ignored that the villagers
had taken control of these lands, which were once forest,
the true habitat of the elephant. “You see” Tim started to
explain, “sometimes people plant seeds on the ground,
take care of them and then collect the plants that grow from
the seeds, this is called agriculture, and it is very hard work”.

20
It was the elephant’s time to be surprised. That was what
all these people were doing on that field, defending their
work! They meant no harm to the elephants themselves! “If
that is the case”, the elephant began, “I must propose an
agreement. I will spread the news about human farms
among my fellow elephants and you will convince your
human friends to stop the destruction of our natural habitat
the forest! What do you say?”

“Deal!” replied Tim. “And I will also make sure that any
uninformed elephant that steps into human farms will not
be shot at, but only scared away, what do you say?”

“Excellent idea!” said the elephant enthusiastically.

Of course Tim and the elephant have not yet managed to

tell everyone. That is why some conflicts still exist. This
agreement may be, however, the only way to make humans
and elephants live peacefully their own lives, just like they
used to, for thousands and thousands of years.

21
 The shy Loris

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

Tim had always felt fascinated by the moon. He

could spend many hours just looking at her, particularly at
Poia days such as that one. On those days the full moon
seemed to illuminate everything just like a miniature sun.
Nothing relaxed Tim more than looking at the clear night
sky, with millions and millions of tiny stars.

22
All this Tim could see from his home garden. It was well
past bedtime however he remained well awake, counting
the stars in the sky. All of the sudden, he saw some
movement just beyond the back of his garden. Something
was moving up in the tree branches. Tim couldn’t see what
animal it was, although it reminded him of some kind of
tailless monkey. At first he saw only

All this Tim could see from his home garden. It was well
past bedtime however he remained well awake, counting
the stars in the sky. All of the sudden, he saw some
movement just beyond the back of his garden. Something
was moving up in the tree branches. Tim couldn’t see what
animal it was, although it reminded him of some kind of
tailless monkey. At first he saw only

The loris reply was quick. “Well this was our home forest
and since the forest was here before any human I guess
you are the one which will have to go”

Tim found himself on the downside of this discussion and

so decided to change subject. “Why would I want to see
you cry? “ I love animals and I love the forest!” Tim stated.

“You are different from the majority of your kind” said one
of the loris. Another loris added, “Many humans try to catch
us because they think we are magical creatures. They use
our bones, skins and even our tears for their magical
practices.

23
That is why we are so afraid. We only come out at night,
because that is when people are asleep, and we run to
the top of the trees if we see any humans.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” asked Tim.

“We know that you are different from the others. We know
that you love the forest and can help us preserve it” said
the loris.

“But are you magical?” Tim couldn’t help to ask.

“We are made of simple flesh and bone, the loris began.
“We are no more magical than any other living being. Our
magic is the magic of nature, and nature should always be
respected not hunted or destroyed”.

“I am still a child, how can I help you? Tim asked, still not
sure of himself.

“Everyone can help”, the loris replied. “As long as they

understand nature, and are willing to explain her ways to
everyone who still has not come to recognize nature, as
the greatest blessing of all”.

24
“I will try my best!” Tim answered enthusiastically. “Thank
you for trusting me. I will make sure that together loris and
humans protect nature and every living being that makes
up her equilibrium!”

That said, the moonlight showed Tim that after all, those
words was all that was necessary to see the tear of the
loris.

25
 The spotted encounter

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

As soon as the sun sets, it becomes dark very quickly and

Tim was well aware of this. However that day, the
excitement of cricket got the best of him. Playing cricket
with his friends was always great fun. Tim loved the sport,
and as he was a pretty good player everyone wanted to
be on his team. That afternoon the game was very tight,
with both teams having to call it a draw as there was not
enough light to carry on playing.

After packing their things each player headed for their home
villages. That day Tim was the only player from his village,
so he had to walk by himself for the last part of the way.
With his cricket bat on his shoulder, Tim walked the forest
path just as he had done many times before.

However that day was going to be different. That day Tim

was not alone on the forest path. From the lower branches
of a nearby tree he was being watched.

26
Tim was nevertheless completely unaware of all this and
still thought about the game. As such, he was very surprised
to see what seemed to be a large cat laying on the middle
of his way. Even in low light Tim had no doubts, it was a
leopard.

“Hello, I was expecting you”, said the leopard. “Or did you
think you could get away with it that easily?”

“What? You must be mistaken, I don’t think we ever met

before. My name is Tim and I live in the next village” replied
Tim, trying to overcome his fear of being face to face with
a leopard.

“I know who you are! Put down your gun and fight with
loyalty!” the leopard shouted as he jumped to the floor.

Gun?” replied Tim. “All I have is this cricket bat! If you don’t
believe me see for yourself!” as he said this, the cricket
bat flew through the air and landed right in front of the
leopard.

At first the leopard was very suspicious. He was sure that

it must be some kind of trick. He first examined the bat
without touching him, and then went on to look closer until
he concluded that it was in fact just a piece of wood.

27
At this time, Tim could not understand what was happening.
He could also hardly see anything as it was already dark
and the clouds partly covered the moon. Finally he gathered
the courage to ask, “Why are you so angry?”

The reply was instantaneous, “Don’t you read the

newspapers?” The leopard shouted. Haven’t you heard of
the leopard’s skins seized by the police last week? Those
skins were once leopards and those leopards were once
my brothers!”

Tim knew about this. Last week two leopard skins had
been seized by wildlife authorities and several poachers
were arrested. Killing endangered species such as the
leopard was not allowed and considered a crime.

28
Even so hundreds of these protected animals were still
caught by poachers with the help of weapons or traps.

Tim could understand the leopards rage. It must be very

hard to lose the ones close to you. Even more if this loss
is motivated by illegal activities that only mind profit,
ignoring the respect that all animals deserve. “I am not a
poacher, I don’t have any weapons and I don’t know how
to set up traps” Tim began. “I also think that seeking
personal revenge is not going to solve the problem”.

“What do you know about this? What difference does it

make to you that a leopard lives or dies?” the leopard
replied angrily.

“My specie, the human specie, has the duty to protect all
the other species and at the same time ensure the
preservation of their natural habitat. For that reason if the
cause of this problem is human, the solution should also
be.”

The leopard was surprised by Tim’s words. “Then, let

human justice be made upon disrespectful humans” he
finally said.

“I agree” said Tim, “and only leopards and humans united

can make that happen”
29
It was getting late. Tim and the leopard, had met as
enemies, but said goodbye as friends.

30
 The call of the forest

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

That night Tim was having trouble to sleep. For some

unknown reason, he woke up several times during the night,
and was taking much longer than usual to fall back asleep.
Near dawn, he decided to get out of bed and see the
sunrise as he sometimes did in sleepless nights. So, Tim
went out to the garden, sat on the grass and watched the
beginning of a new day.

As the sun begun to shine, the jungle became alive with

dozens of different bird calls. Among all of them, one in
particular got Tim’s attention. This call echoed in the sky
above all others. Tim had heard that same call many times
before, although he never got to see the bird itself. However
that day Tim felt more curious than ever. This time, he would
find out who was making that call.

31
At first Tim felt very brave, and although there was little
light, he entered the forest in a very confident way. However
in just a few minutes he understood that in the dark humans
are strangers to the forest. Tim could barely see where he
put his feet. Still, he had to find his way through all the thorns,
fallen logs and termites’ nests that naturally exist in the
forest.

Even with all these setbacks, he managed to keep on

following the call that could still be distinctively heard.Tim
heard he was getting closer, but at the same time he was
also getting a little scared about all the shadows dancing
around him. “It’s just the wind and some trees” he thought
to himself. Even so, he could help but to think some of the
old stories he had been told as a child about that forest.

The stories talked about forest demons that attack anyone

who dares to enter the forest between dusk and dawn. Tim
never believed those stories, even as a child, however for
some reason he could not help to feel a little scared.

And then he saw it. A large shadow moving slowly towards

him. He immediately noticed the small horns and the large
ears. It was surely a demon.

32
Tim ran as fast as his legs could carry him and the forest
allowed. He couldn’t even think of a place to run to, so he
just went straight ahead.

The sun had already appeared fully on the horizon but the
dense forest did not allow much light in. In his run to escape
the forest demon Tim trips over a tree root, and falls hitting
his head on a log. Then everything went blank.

33
At first Tim could not see any bird defending it, but as soon
as he tried to get up, a brownish hen resembling a bird
started pecking his aching head. She was so well
camouflaged that even when standing near him, Tim could
not see her.

Tim woke up some minutes later, with the sun on his face
and still struggling to understand what had happened to
him. He opened one eye and then the other. There was
now much more light reaching the forest floor, and Tim found
himself laying in the ground with his head still aching. He
was also very surprised to find right next to him a nest,
containing three eggs.

“Get out of here you brute, think you can just jump on top of
my eggs?”

“Uhhm, where am I? Who are you?” Tim asked still trying

to figure out what had happened to him.

“You seem a little confused” replied the bird. “You are in

the forest, and for some reason you almost landed on my
nest!”

“Yes, the forest” Tim recalled. Pieces of his memory began

coming back to him. Suddenly he looked back and instantly
asked in a scared way, “Did you see any demons?”

34
“Demons?” the hen looking bird replied. “I have lived in
this forest for many years and have yet to see a demon”.
“At least the demon is gone” Though Tim slightly relived.
Nevertheless one doubt still seemed to bounce around
Tim’s aching head, “who are you?” he asked for the second
time.

“She is the most beautifully camouflaged, the most effective

nest builder and the affective future mother. She is, Mrs.
Junglefowl!” That said, the bird appeared revealing his
bright colours and making herself heard through his most
distinctive trait, his call.

This was a call Tim had heard many times, this was the
call that had motivated him to enter the forest. By luck he
had bumped into a nest of the mysterious owner of the
call, the junglefowl.

This also reminded Tim that he had been away from home
too long without telling his parents, so they might have been
worried. It was time to go.

35
After wishing the junglefowl the best of luck for the eggs,
Tim left in a hurry. He was already near home when he
encountered the horned creature he once thought to be a
demon. Tim couldn’t stop laughing, it was just a cow that
had wondered into the forest!

The sun was already high in the sky and Tim returned home
with a big smile on his face.

36
 Smart and smelly

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

Tim always tried to escape house chores. However since

his father was working at the paddy fields Tim had no
choice but to help his mother. That day his task was to
empty the dust bin on to the village dumpster. The bin was
heavy since it was not emptied for the last couple of days.
Luckily the dumpster wasn’t far.

When eventually Tim managed to bring the dust bin to the

dumpster he was very surprised. More than a dozen
macaques were happily feeding on the garbage. Tim said
nothing and started to empty the bin in silence

37
“What delicacy do you bring us today?” One of the
macaques asked.

“I am only empting the kitchen garbage” Tim replied not

really sure he had understood the question.

“Garbage? Humans talk of it like it is a bad thing. All I see

is pieces of food lying around. Bananas, grains of rice,
onions, even fish, everything is here. I think humans waste
way too much food” stated the macaque.

He is probably right” Tim thought, “even so I am still not

convinced at all”. So Tim asked the macaque “Don’t you
have food in the forest? Why do you come here? Why do
you choose to eat garbage?”

“We do it because it is much easier than looking for food

in the forest, besides, there are normally no predators near
human settlements. All we have to do is go to these sites.
Furthermore, there are so many humans that there always
will be enough food for all of us, we don’t have to fight
among us. As you can see there are many advantages”
said the macaque.

38
“This is not proper food!” Tim began. “It may carry all kinds
of diseases. It may be a hazard for your health as well as
for the health of any humans around”.

“I had no idea of such problems, although now that I come

to think of it we have been having a great deal more health
problems since we came to rely on what you call garbage”
the macaque began. “However, if that is the case, why don’t
humans dispose their garbage in a safe way? Why do they
just leave it lying around like this, near their homes?”

Tim had to agree with that remark. Without a garbage

management plan the health of humans and other animals
would be affected. It was in fact the responsibility of humans
to make sure that all garbage it disposed properly, so that
animals like macaques wouldn’t be able to feed on
dumpsters.

With the dust bin empty Tim returned to his house thinking
how much he learned about humans and their environment
in such a short encounter.

39
 . The charming Snake

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

That afternoon Tim was the first to arrive home. School

had ended sooner than expected and no one seemed to
be home. His father was certainly still at the paddy fields,
and his mother and sister were most probably at the market
or visiting some relative.

Tim was starving, and went to the kitchen searching for

something to eat. He looked around but at first could find
nothing, however, as he was leaving the kitchen something
caught his eye. Some bananas where lying right next to
the kitchen sink. “Great luck” Tim thought to himself. He
took three of them and went to the living room to eat them
while he watched television. After a couple of minutes Tim
had finished. As he was still hungry, he thought of going
back to the kitchen to get some more bananas.

40
As he was getting up, Tim noticed a very slim shadow
entering the kitchen. “That is weird”, he though. “Mice are
not normally around at this time of the day and squirrels
have long bushy tails, I wonder what that might be…” It
wasn’t until he got to kitchen door that he finally discovered.
Lying in the middle of the kitchen floor was a cobra.

Tim was petrified at first but then he understood that he

should give the snake an escape route since she should
probably be more scared than he was. He slowly started
to walk away from the door, and as soon as he was just a
few meters away from it, the snake quickly left the kitchen.
However this was only to stop again a few meters ahead,
this time in the middle of the living room.

41
The cobra stood upright and opened her characteristic
hood, which frightened Tim even further. “Why are you here?
This is my house! Go away! Tim shouted from a distance
at the cobra.

“I have come in the name of the snake council to make you

a question”, replied the snake.

“A question? What kind of question?” Tim asked the snake,

starting to feel a little curious.

“Snakes are very important to humans” the cobra began.

“We eat the rats and mice that chew your books and rob
your kitchens, we eat the birds that steel the seeds from
your fields and we also eat some of the insects that attack
your crops. The question I came here to ask you is, if all
those things are true, why do humans dislike snakes so
much?”

Tim was taken back by the snake’s speech. He had never

seen the snakes as helpers but always as a threat,
something to be afraid of. “I guess, humans dislike snakes
because we are afraid of you. Snakes can bite and have
venom. Many people die from snake bites”.

42
The snakes reply was instantaneous. “In your country there
are 94 species of snakes, and out of those only seven are
dangerous to humans. Some humans are also dangerous
creatures are they not? Should all humankind then be
considered as no good?”

Tim could find no arguments on his side. After all, the

majority should not pay for a minority.

The snaked continued. “Please learn about the things you

fear, as we all are afraid of what we do not know”. That
said the cobra left, passing between Tim’s legs and leaving
him standing speechless in the middle of his own living
room.

43
 F l ying colour
colourss

Past the blue ocean, in a small island, in a small village

lives a small boy. His name is Tim. He is ten years old. Tim
lives in a beautiful cottage with his family, his father, his
mother and his younger sister Molly.

Summer had arrived and so had Tim’s school holidays.

However, at the last moment Tim’s teacher had assigned
a special homework. They were to write about their home
gardens. Even the students who did not have one, would
have to imagine, and write about what their home garden
would be like if they had one.

For Tim this was an easy task. The days had been sunny
and with the occasional rains his home garden was
blooming with colour. There was so much to write about in
Tim’s garden, the flowers, the birds, the sun or even the
colours.

From Tim’s bedroom window he could see, many flowers

of different shapes, colours and sizes as well as dozens of
insects flying around from flower to flower. He could see
the working bees, the hovering wasps, the bright
dragonflies, the jumping crickets and his favorite insect
the colourful butterflies.

44
“They are going to be my subject for this assignment” Tim
thought to himself happy to be able to write about such
beautiful creatures. He was so exited that he began writing
straight away.

“Butterflies come in all kinds of different sizes, shapes and

coulours” Tim began. “They exist through out the entire
planet, wherever plants can grow. In order to reach its adult
form the butterfly goes through three stages, egg, caterpillar
and pupa. Only after this last stage will the butterfly resemble
the elegant flying insect that we see in our gardens”.

Tim continued, “In the first stage the butterfly is just a little
egg in a clutch of many. Usually the female butterfly lays
several clutches, normally on a plant that will later serve
the new born caterpillars as food. The caterpillar is a stage
where the butterfly body is very much worm-like. In this
stage growth is very important and so feeding is the main
activity. Once the caterpillars reach adult size they stop
feeding and look for a place to build a cocoon. Inside this
cocoon the caterpillars slowly turn into the butterflies we
see in our gardens. This process is called metamorphosis”.

45
Although they are beautiful creatures, and seem to be
admired by everyone, some butterfly species are at risk of
extinction. The changes in farming and the use of chemicals
are destroying these species habitats and since butterflies
will often feed on only one single species of plant they are
very delicate. It is up to each and every one of us to protect
these amazing creatures”, Tim concluded.

After checking his assignment for any mistakes, Tim went

outside and spent the whole afternoon watching his home
garden and all his inhabitants.

46
Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the seemingly infinite

patience and skill of artists Mr. Asanka De Zoysa and Mr.
Samantha Kumara without whom this publication would
have lost most of its magic.

The author would also like to acknowledge the most

valuable language revision of Miss Roxanne Brown and
last but certainly not least thank Ms. Sudarshani Fernando
and Mr. Sujeewa Jasinghe for the time wasted in
successive draft readings.

47
The CES was established in January 1998 by a group of inter-
disciplinary researchers whose aim was to create a Institute for
participatory eco-cultural development in Sri Lanka through re-
search, education, awareness and community development. Reg-
istered as a Non-governmental Environmental Research Institute
Registration No: 6/6/17/1/47
CES is concerned with issues pertaining to the present eco-cultural
status of Sri Lanka and advocates sustainable measures to suit
the local environment and cultures. Collaborative undertakings
with other eco-culture friendly institutes will create an extensive
network to promote awareness and foster eco-cultural
development in Sri Lanka.
The majority of CES members are presently involved in various
consultancy and research-oriented activities for Government and
Non-governmental concerns as well as universities.
Objectives
•Conduct eco-cultural studies
•Conduct eco-cultural education, awareness and training
programmes
•Establish and maintain an exhibition centre Promote environment
friendly local industries to assist village communities
•Promote eco-cultural tourism in
Sri Lanka

CENTRE FOR ECO-CULTURAL STUDIES (CES)

Diyakapilla, Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
Telephone :
066 56701654
0788753710,
Email:centeco@sltnet.lk
centeco@sltnet.lk
Website:
www.cessrilanka.org