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WNPS seeks court intervention over Mannar wind power project citing irreparable, irreversible harm to ecosystem
View(s):An organisation, dedicated to the protection, conservation and preservation of the environment and the fauna and flora of the country sought the intervention of the Supreme Court on the Adani backed proposed Mannar Wind Power Project in the highly ecologically sensitive location of Mannar.
The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS), said in its petition that implementation of the project in the Mannar Island through an unsolicited proposal, will cause mass scale harm and damage to biodiversity and ecosystem services, which will be irreparable and irreversible.
The organisation stressed that the project would not only cause egregious harm to the welfare and wellbeing of the local communities living in the region but also the entire global humanity, as the project site is positioned within one of the most important migratory bird corridors of a major global flyway, recognized by the United Nations Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) to which Sri Lanka is a signatory. Known as the ‘Central Asian Flyway (CAF)’, Sri Lanka sits at the end point of the Central Asian Flyway.
In the petition said that Mannar island is the most important seabird breeding site in the country, providing breeding habitats for over 30,000 breeding pairs of eight seabird species and 40 other waterbird species, many of which are listed as Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), Vulnerable (VU) or Near-Threatened (NT) in the National Red List of Threatened Species of the Government of Sri Lanka and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
WNPS also pointed out that proposed project site lies in the center, encircled by three protected areas.
The environmental advocacy outfit sought Court intervention to declare decisions taken by Cabinet of Ministers and relevant Ministers who issued statements to go ahead with the project as illegal and urged to issue an interim stay order to prevent construction of the wind power plant until final determination.
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