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Animal removals must be weighed against protection of biodiversity
View(s):By Kapila Bandara
Sri Lanka’s biological diversity should be taken into account and an evidence-based mechanism set up, rather than taking irrational decisions, to handle any attempts to remove animals from the wild, an environmental lawyer says.
Reports show that “56% of mammals’’ are threatened, and that Sri Lanka, which has the highest species concentration in Asia, is facing “general decline’’ in biological diversity.
Toque macaque monkeys are a nuisancd in rural areas. Pic by Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa
Political interference and embedded corruption has hindered the effective implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which Sri Lanka ratified in 1994, and the monkeys for China controversy also reflects this disturbing state.
Environmental lawyer, Dr. Jagath Gunawardana, told the Sunday Times: “The whole issue of biological diversity should be looked at holistically. Think of putting in place an evidence-based decision making mechanism even late in the day.’’
His suggestion came as the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, after about a week, disowned on Twitter, a business deal made public by Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera, that “100,000 monkeys’’ (endemic toque macaque, or macaca sinica) were sought by a Chinese private company. But, the embassy acknowledged that a company made, “a rough proposal only for zoo display’’.
Outraged environmentalists and Sri Lankans mocked the idea. Environmentalists speculated that monkeys will end up in labs, or as food. Monkeys are endangered but not protected. In turn, the proposal stirred unsavoury publicity for China, while reigniting the global embarrassment from the deadly coronavirus that first emerged in Wuhan, Hubei province, and the live, wild animals butchered for human consumption in the city’s wholesale market.
Regardless of speculation on the fate of monkeys to be sent to China, researchers in Sri Lanka, too, have found that parts of primates (langur teeth, langur heart, macaque meat, bones, etc) have been used in traditional medicine in the island in the past, although such practices are unheard of now.
It is thanks to Sir James Emerson Tennant that we first knew there are five primates species in Sri Lanka. In his extraordinary book, ‘Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions’ (Volume 1) 1860, he writes in part II, Chapter I: “To a stranger in the tropics, among the most attractive creatures in the forests are the troops of monkeys, which career in ceaseless chase among the loftiest trees. In Ceylon there are five species, four of which belong to one group, the Wanderoos, and the other is the little graceful grimacing rilawa, which is the universal pet and favourite, of both natives and Europeans.’’
He also cites Robert Knox’s account in 1681 about ‘rillow’.
As for the monkey export idea, Dr Gunawardana said whether the animals are going to Chinese zoos, or restaurants does not concern him. “The issue is how decisions are made without ground-level research. It has to be scientific. And deciding on the removal of animals without any scientific basis, research, or knowledge. These are the vital things we have to find out. If we have to develop our country, we have to base our thinking, our logic, and decision making on a factual basis. If the authorities take decisions without a factual basis, on their whims, fancies, emotions, and knee-jerk reactions, we will fail as a country. That is the position I am taking.’’
The primary issue is removal of animals, for whatever reason, without any scientific knowledge, he said.
“Why is the Ministry of Agriculture taking on something the Department of Wildlife Conservation and the Chinese government should be doing. Why is the [agriculture] minister getting emotional over this issue? We have to be reasonable, logical, and evidence-based when we make decisions. Insults, invective and incendiary statements, [should stop] if we are to make rational decisions. The lack of evidence cannot be covered by emotional displays. If you resort to emotions and invective, that means you lack something substantial. This is irrational decision-making at its worst.’’
Dr Gunawardana said he questions the “rationale of this decision’’ and that “if peripheral issues take centre stage, we are going to lose sight of the actual objective of our work.’’
The Chinese proposal may yet be resurrected.
“We have to keep an eye on it. The deeper issue here is yet to be addressed and if we just say the issue is resolved and stop at that, we are doing a great disservice to the future of this country. We have to keep on questioning the basis of these figures [100,000 monkeys], their validity, and how they were arrived at. Even if the issue is resolved, the danger behind it has been exposed. So, we should not stop here, but go on questioning the Ministry of Agriculture and request all the relevant reports.’’
The Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance of 1937 is the main statute that applies in this instance. It was amended as the Fauna and Flora Protection (Amendment) Act, No. 7 of 2022.
“The Act is strong enough to deal with these and other issues. This is not a fault of the Act, it is the fault of the decision-making. The decision has to be made by the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Here, the Agriculture Ministry has arrogated itself to the decision-making process of the DWC and this has to stop. This is interference at its worst,’’ Dr Gunawardana said.
Apart from the Act there are also local regulations and also the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates trade.
| National leaders leave trail of destruction Successive national leaders have failed to protect Sri Lanka’s biodiversity and to even deliver promises made under the Convention on Despite preparing “biodiversity conservation action plans’’ with technical input from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), from the days of then leader, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Sri Lanka’s The fifth national report to the convention notes that just 15% of the recommendations, And yet, 30 plus state in | |
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