Deforestation in Sri Lanka
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Are we just fighting or do we have a strategy? “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.” Khalil Gibran, Sand and Foam
If there is one place on this earth that you have loved from your childhood till date, I’m sure first you would say “home’ and then you would say ‘forest’. I always thought I could write well but today when I started writing of forests and trees I realised what a poor writer I’m as I have no words to express the feelings inspired by forest. From the day we are born till we die, there wouldn’t be a day that we wouldn’t think of a tree. Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky – and unfortunately the mankind has lost their feelings and emotions that they no longer can enjoy these beautiful poems written upon the blue sky. Coming back from poetry to reality, there is no doubt that there will be no life that can exist on the planet earth if there were no trees. Trees do talk and they breathe… they feel and they sense… though we feel nothing of them, they feel everything about the earth and us… Cutting down trees began at the early process of civilization zillions of years back in time and till to-date deforestation continuing under different scales in different countries. One could argue that forest keeps growing therefore, cutting down trees and deforestation is something no one can fight against. One may argue that mankind should survive before trees so that they can plant more trees as it’s already happening in the Middle Eastern countries where the deserts being converted into man-made forests.
Whereas countries such as Sri Lanka with a natural forest canopy which has grown over thousands of years are now under the threat of timber dealers who believe in the fact that concrete jungles are the true signs of development. It’s too plain to see that the natural forest cover is fading away at a rapid rate year-on-year but there seems to be no solution proposed by anyone with better alternatives.
Eighty percent of the total land area (6.56 million ha) of Sri Lanka was covered with closed-canopy natural forests in the beginning of the last century. This forest cover has dwindled to about 18% by 1992. The annual rate of deforestation during 1956 – 1992 period was more than 40,000 ha while average annual replanting during the same period was only about 2,000 ha. The factors that contributed to deforestation and forest degradation in Sri Lanka are extensive and complex. Some of them are even outside the forestry sector. These factors include large agricultural and human settlement projects such as the Accelerated Mahaweli development project, shifting cultivation, excessive harvesting of timber and, perhaps harvesting of non-timber forest products; Of these causal factors, the potential for large scale agricultural expansion does not exist anymore. Shifting cultivation has been arrested successfully and it is not a major threat for natural forests today. James Taylor introducing tea as an industrial crop also contributed immensely to lose the natural forest that existed in the hill country of Sri Lanka as a result of which now after centuries we are experiencing landslides and various other issues which have come to surface over time.
Change in Forest Cover: Between 1990 and 2000, Sri Lanka lost an average of 26,800 hectares of forest per year. The amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 1.14%. Between 2000 and 2005, the rate of forest change increased by 25.5% to 1.43% per annum. In total, between 1990 and 2005, Sri Lanka lost 17.7% of its forest cover, or around 417,000 hectares. Sri Lanka lost -90,000 hectares—of its primary forest cover during that time. Deforestation rates of primary cover have decreased 35.0% since the close of the 1990s. Measuring the total rate of habitat conversion (defined as change in forest area plus change in woodland area minus net plantation expansion) for the 1990-2005 interval, Sri Lanka lost 17.6% of its forest and woodland habitat.
Biodiversity and Protected Areas: Sri Lanka has some 751 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 21.7% are endemic, meaning they exist in no other country, and 11.9% are threatened. Sri Lanka is home to at least 3314 species of vascular plants, of which 26.9% are endemic. 9.6% of Sri Lanka is protected under IUCN categories I-V. It’s important to see as to why Sri Lankans continue deforestation despite several reminders of possible future disasters that can take place in Sri Lanka including; shortage of drinking water…
Loss of forest is not only confined to the loss of trees, moreover, it also takes away many other species of animals, birds, plants, reptiles, and more importantly water sources from our soil. Due to various justifiable and unjustifiable reasons, the tree cover and the forest cover loss continue to take place and as a result many species including endemics run the risk of vanishing away from planet due to various threats brought on by corporates and individuals who are responsible for the loss of tree and forest cover.
Protect trees – protect Sri Lanka
Protecting trees is important for us to protect the natural beauty of the island.. Sri Lanka is a tropical island which is situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka has this amazing soil condition which can give birth to almost any plant. Sri Lanka is blessed with pure and naturally best drinking water for which the world will have to pay a higher price than petroleum in time to come. The wildlife, natural beauty and by and large the overall value of everything Sri Lanka possesses is from Mother Nature. Needless to say; Sri Lanka is blessed with 124 rivers flowing from all corners to the sea. Water specialists say that Colombo will run out of drinking water by 2030. What plans do we have to protect the natural forest cover and trees?
Who can protect trees in Sri Lanka?
99.5% of forests in Sri Lanka belongs to the government, management and protection of the natural forests of the Sri Lankan government fall under two governmental ministries; The Forest Department (FD) and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC). Before 1970 total requirement of timber was obtained from natural forests. In some years back main task of forest department had been the production of timber, but now it had been converted in to the environmental conservation.
There could be many initiatives that could be taken with regard to the protection of trees in Sri Lanka by reducing the need for cutting down big tress which invariably would provide protection for smaller tress as well. However, it’s quite evident that law and order enforcement can play a critical role in protecting the existing tree cover of the country. One critical factor that needs attention is that, the growth rate of population inevitably negatively correlated with forestation as increasing demand would need more land for construction of buildings and for agriculture in providing food and wood for furniture and building construction etc.
Let’s think out of the box
Reforestation is one such initiative that could be taken and it was obvious that the government of Sri Lanka was trying to embark on many reforestation projects over the last couple of years. One of the main issues of them was not having solid plans for after-care of those trees being planted which may be due to the costs involved in providing after care for trees. Planting and after care are equally important for reforestation. Research based mechanisms of increasing the growth rate of trees could be another novel way of looking at this. The leading universities of Sri Lanka can contribute towards achievement of this goal as the qualified professors and researchers are coming up with new techniques and findings in this regard however, how far they are made us of is a question which remains unanswered.
Allocating land area for new industrial projects with no proper evaluation of land is another big issue to solve. Putting up factories in areas such as Horana which is supposedly known for the best Drinking water is a crime. Factories and industrial zones could be planned in areas where there are enough land which are not suitable for agriculture and which has no natural forest cover. There are many areas in deep down south and northern areas of the country which has enough land that can be allocated for such projects. Allocation of land for projects should be planned according to the needs of the country and of the future generations but not of the needs and whims of the investors. Imposing of new rules and regulations will be key to achieve results in this aspect.
Another important point would be to consider the amount of timber imported to Sri Lanka from various countries. Sri Lanka government can reduce or eliminate taxes and levies imposed on imports of timber so that, the imported timber can be competitive in the local market which reduces demand for locally sawn timber which are directly affecting the forest cover of Sri Lanka. Considering the land area and the value of trees in Sri Lanka, it’s high time that the authorities pay attention to the areas highlighted by means of introducing new legislations which can protect the natural forest cover of Sri Lanka for our future generations.
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