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Uphill task to conserve mountain-based biodiversity hotspots
View(s):- Experts highlight important service rendered by mountains; call for urgent steps to save eco-giants and species endemic to Lanka
By Wasantha Ramanayake
Taking urgent steps to conserve mountains for their rich biodiversity could not be delayed until new species are discovered, experts warned as they marked International Mountain Day on Monday.
“A team of Sri Lankan researchers identified and named about ten endemic amphibian species in 2009, but sadly they have already become extinct,” Sabaragamuwa University senior lecturer Dr. Sadun Perera revealed.
Moreover, the Global Amphibian Assessment 2006 conclusively reported that the world had lost 34 amphibian species, he pointed out “Of the 34 extinct species, 21 were endemic to Sri Lanka,” he said, describing the loss as “irrecoverable.”
The workshop in progress in the vicinity of the Ritigala mountain
“What is to be discovered are many, but we can’t wait till they are identified. These species could become extinct at any moment,” he warned.
Highlighting the importance of mountains’ ecological service, Dr. Perera pointed out that mountains and geographical diversity in different climatic zones were responsible for high endemism and rich biodiversity. This was noted way back in 1876 by Charles Darwin’s unseen friend and co-author of the theory of evolution, Alfred Russel Wallace, who was known as the father of biogeography.
At present, based on endemism and threat criterion, there are 36 internationally recognised biodiversity hotspots in the world; among them are the Western Ghats Mountain range in India and Sri Lanka, and these should be prioritised in conservation efforts, the expert urged.
However, these hotspots were under threat with more than 90 percent of their primary vegetation being lost while they remained heavily fragmented, according to 2004 studies.
Geographical features such as peneplains and escarpments isolate species and those species over a long period by isolation create new species endemic to that particular place, Dr. Perera said.
In the past 5,000 years, the sea has receded several times and on a few occasions, connected the island with mainland India and provided a passage between the two countries. This allowed animal species to move between the two land masses and contributed to the high biodiversity of the island, Dr. Perera noted.
He also explained how the country’s weather pattern had been created by the mountains. “There are three major mountain ranges which are responsible for creating 103 rivers with 14 major basins, and all resulted in the isolation of species, variation, and then speciation or new species.
Mountains are also responsible for the creation of six bioclimatic zones such as low and mid-country wet zones and the dry zone, he said, pointing out that mountains made the country’s longest river Mahaweli flow through the dry zone and gave the country its second longest river Malwathu Oya.
The mountains’ high endemism is a testimony that all 49 species of shrub frogs are endemic to the country. Of them, there is a unique species whose froglets directly emerge from the eggs, without spending their life in the water, and another species whose female attaches the clutch of eggs to its abdomen, Dr. Perera explained.
He warned that climate change and events such as the recent air pollution over the country could drive species to extinction. The rise or fall in average temperature and long droughts have impacts on the lives of living creatures, he said.
“A long drought due to the El Nino effect in the Pacific Ocean in 1998 caused a wave of mass deaths among rare endemic pigmy lizard of dumbara kuru bodilima in Sri Lanka’s Knuckles Range. “Although we have not understood the dynamics of these complex interrelations, it is too clear that these are directly or indirectly connected to human activities,” he said.
All creatures are equally important to the sustainability of the world and the human race, he added.
Being a refuge to ancient species, which have been evolving for thousands of years, is a remarkable service rendered by the country’s mountains. Citing a Sri Lankan researcher, Dr. Perera said the country’s mountains were a refuge for Sri Lanka White-eye birds. Being the oldest in the world, they evolved from the ancestor of around 40 species of White-eyes of the world. “But our mountains protected Sri Lanka White-eye in its original form,” he explained.
“This shows the potential of our mountains in protecting species despite climate change catastrophes,” he asserted.
Delivering the opening remarks at the two-day workshop to mark the day, Environmental Ministry’s Additional Secretary Dr. R.B.S. Jayatunga said sustainable tourism would contribute to the conservation of montane ecosystems. He pointed out that mountainous countries such as Nepal and Bhutan mainly depended on tourism.
Dr. Jayatunga recalled that December 11 was declared International Mountain Day by the United Nations in 2002 which was also the international year of eco-tourism.
“Women move mountains,” this year’s theme of the mountain day was a fitting tribute to women who shaped cultures of montane communities, he said, pointing out that the Ritigala mountain located near the event location was an important residual mountain with a unique montane ecosystem which also was the source of the country’s second longest river.
Adventure tourism expert Dr. Mahesh Thiththagalla said global mountain-based tourism was still largely an untapped market in Sri Lanka and that promotion of mountain tourism should be aimed at the sustainable use of mountains in keeping with the UN’s sustainable development goals.
He said mountain tourism included numerous tourist activities, directly benefiting mountain communities. “Developing mountain-based tourism activities is a good way of conserving mountain ecosystems as relatively smaller but high-spending groups take part with minimal environmental damage.”
“Though Sri Lanka offers some mountain-based activities such as hiking and trekking, there are many other potential activities that can be done,” Dr. Thiththagalla said.
“We have resources and skilled persons to guide tourists and necessary regulations for such activities will be gazetted next year,” he revealed.
Biodiversity of isolated hills such as Ritigala were compressed-and-packed biodiversity stores, pointed out Dr. Suranjth Fernando, a conservationist and researcher. “Thirty-odd, isolated hills have the 20 percent of the country’s biodiversity compacted into an area of 0.0001 of the total area of the country,” said Dr. Fernando highlighting the significance of isolated hills.
He said the Ritigala Honey tree, and the Binara and Nelu species were endemic to Ritigala and could be found only within a few hundred square metres of the hill and nowhere else. “If any significant change in climate occurs, these plants would be extinct. This is because the country lacks any ex-situ conservation projects to protect these invaluable plants.”
The two-day workshop on mountain-based sustainable tourism activities as a means of conserving montane ecosystems was held at the Wildlife Department complex in Ritigala. Attending the workshop were some 80 participants from the Environment Ministry, Sri Lanka Tourism, the Urban Development Authority, the departments of Wildlife and Forest, the Central Cultural Fund, and the North Central Province Tourism Ministry, and tourism industry stakeholders.
The event was organised by the Biodiversity Secretariat of the Environment Ministry in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
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