Special Assignment

Going bananas, growing bananas

By Frederica Jansz

Is it wild life or development? This is the bitter controversy surrounding a fruity project that has encroached the Bundala national park

Some 350 acres of forest land teeming with bird life and situated within the buffer zone of Bundala has been given to the University to carry out an experimental project on tissue plant culture and a banana plantation adjoining the northern boundary of the Bundala National Park has already started. 

The Environmental Foundation Ltd, (EFL) has filed court action and won an injunction to stop the project but 40 acres of land has already been cleared to continue planting banana, citrus, mango and papaya.

EFL's Senior Environmental Scientist Hemantha Withanage angrily told The Sunday Times this project was a major threat to wildlife specially to the elephants and birds. He said thousands of bird nests were being destroyed and migratory birds disturbed as a result of the university having already cleared more than 50 acres of forest land.

He claims that the half an acre banana research project at the same site had already been attacked by elephants and the University had asked the Government Agent of the area to move all the elephants from that area. He said that an area had been cleared to build an electric fence but felt such a fence could not control elephants.

Mr. Withanage observed that this banana plantation would not only destroy the forest boundary but also increase the human-elephant conflict. Another aspect he says is that the pesticides used in the 300-acre banana plantation would cause harm to the animals and plant life in the lagoons.

Mr. Withanage has accused the Colombo University and Irrigation Ministry of violating existing environmental laws by not getting prior approval for the project from the Wildlife Director nor having done an Environmental Impact Assessment report. He said this report is a must since the project lies within a one mile radius of the national park. 

"It is a mystery as to why the University and the Irrigation Ministry ignored the necessary procedure," he said adding that even once an Environmental Assessment Report is done it should be open for about 30 days for public comment.

It is only after that the regulating authority can consider whether they can approve the project, he said.

Mr. Withanage added that this banana plantation was incompatible with the Bundala National Park and it violated the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and the National Environmental Act of Sri Lanka. He said Sri Lanka has been a signatory to the Ramsar Convention since 1990 and Bundala National Park is the only Ramsar site here.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat, sometimes known as the Ramsar Convention after its place of adoption in 1971 in Iran, is the inter governmental treaty which provides the framework for international co-operation for the conservation of wetland habitats. The Convention which came into being in1975 now has contracting parties from regions throughout the world.

The broad objective of the convention is to protect wetlands because they are important for ecological processes as well as for its rich flora and fauna.

Meanwhile a letter from the Land Commissioner General to the Vice Chancellor of the Colombo University in July last year, states the commissioner general had received instructions from his minister to give this land to the university without the approval of a gazette notification.

Elephant expert, Managing Trustee, of the Bio-diversity and Elephant Conservation Trust, and Author of the book The Elephant in Sri Lanka, Jayantha Jayawardena,expressed shock at such a project being allowed. "It is like putting a supermarket in elephant territory. Such a project can never be a success,and it is futile and ill-conceived," he said.

He said the problem was not that elephants love bananas and would take to the plantation like bees to a honey pot, but that it will be damaged as it is in the pathway of the elephants who have lived in the area for generations. 

"It is a myth that elephants love bananas," says Prof. Kshanika, Hirimburegama. Seated behind her desk at Colombo University, Faculty of Science, (Botany), she dismisses the claim that the tissue culture plant project at Weligatta, Hambantota would disturb wildlife causing yet another human elephant conflict. 

Prof. Hirimburegama said she and her husband a senior lecturer were invited by the Ministry of Irrigation, Power and Energy to initiate this project. She said they reached an agreement to transfer 300 acres of land at Weligatta, Hambantota, to the University to set up an Extension Service Centre. She said the objective was to harness expertise available at the University for community development through such research and training.

Explaining that this project was only a continuation of the Lunugamvehera Project, she said that was why they didn't think it was necessary to have an Environmental Impact Assessment report done by the Central Environment Authority. At the time the Lunugamvehera project was begun in 1983 there were no environmental laws in existence, and this project was a mere continuation of phase 3 and 4 of Lunugamvehera, she says.

Prof. Hirimburegama says the main objective of the project is to solve the existing problems in the Hambantota area by transferring novel agro technologies to improve the agricultural production and enhance agro based industries.

She also says the project will provide short term course, training and diplomas on agrotechnologies and sociological aspects for administrative personnel of the area who otherwise have to be stationed out of their working areas to follow them. Prof. Hirimburegama claims that a community service in solving socio-economic problems thus improving the economy of the people of the area is a further plus point. 

She admits that a large number of bird nests would be destroyed as a result of the clearing but counters it by saying what is more important, "human or wild life?"

She denied that it would affect the migration of elephants. "Our plantation has only been attacked once," she said, adding that they suspected the elephants had been deliberately driven into the project area.

Prof. Hirimburegama added however that as a precautionary measure Rs. 1 million had been obtained with government assistance from the Southern Provincial Council to put up an electric fence against elephants. In addition she said a certain amount of funding for this project has also been obtained from the Southern Development Authority (SDA).

Both Prof. Hirimburegama and her husband emphasised that the Universities in the country have so far been mainly involved in teaching and research whereas direct contribution to the nation's development had been rather poor. They claim this project would help in the development.

They also said the University reform proposal allows the institutions to contribute significantly to the national development of the country.

The progress of the project since its inception in January last year they say has resulted in the renovation of three existing buildings by the Irrigation Department at Weligatta. One has been modified and developed into a modern biotech laboratory for training and plant production through novel tissue culture technology. 

Prof. Hirimburegama said the training of plant production was started on January 1 this year at Weligatta, and their aim is to train 25 people during this year and produce 5000 banana and 1000 each of citrus, grapes and papaya. 

She said preparatory work has begun to develop a demonstration plot of 40 acres using the drip irrigation system. 

Equipment for this project has been obtained with the assistance of the Export Development Bank (EDB) and World Vision a Non Governmental Organisation. A green house to accommodate at least 3000 plants has been constructed and initial work to develop a food processing centre and a library is being set up.

Top officials at the Wildlife Conservation Department, who wished not to be named said both the Colombo University and the Irrigation Ministry had not sought the approval of the department before embarking on this project. Asked if such a project would seriously threaten wildlife in the area they said elephants do use this area as a migratory path and such a plantation would cause harm to wildlife habitat. 

The officials said the Colombo University has approached them requesting technical know how of putting up an electric fence to prevent elephants from walking into the selected land. A little above twelve percent of land is given to wildlife in the country and this is more for the conservation of bio-diversity and is according to the constitution of the country they said.

The Irrigation Ministry's project director A. D. S. Gunewardena, is as angry as Mr.Withanage from EFL, but for a different reason. 

"What is the more important criteria here? Is it the 2000 odd elephants or the development of 18 million people?," he asked maintaining that demarcating one twelfth of land for the conservation of wildlife was ridiculous.

Mr. Gunewardena says plans for the Lunugamvehera project began as far back as the 1950s. However it was only in 1978 after a final feasibility study had been done that a loan was negotiated and obtained from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Thereafter the reservoir was impounded in 1986.

Some 8,400 families were to be settled in this area, but due to a lack of water only half of this number were settled. Mr. Gunewardena said the project stalled at this stage for two reasons- the non cultivation of crops proposed at the feasibility stage and the non use of modern irrigation practices. As a result work was temporarily halted to develop tract 3 and 4. This included some 6000 hectares of land.

By this time having spent Rs. 1,500 million on the Lunugamvehera project a further Rs 100 million was spent in 1986 to perfect the irrigation system. Mr. Gunewardena claims over the last ten years since 1986 the irrigation ministry has optimised the system and tried to work on this 6000 hectares of land but it has proved inadequate. 

In 1997 the irrigation ministry reviewed its position as far as the Lunugamvehera project was concerned. It was at this point that a decision was made to approach the Colombo University which had the advanced technology for tissue plant cultivation, he said.

Hambantota is the most rural and underdeveloped area of the country, Mr. Gunewardena said adding that over the last 30 years only one project had been initiated-the Kirinda/Lunugamvehera project.

If this project is not completed people will not have adequate food to survive he said, angrily claiming if Sri Lankans had to abide by US and European Environmental standards, "we will have to eat human excreta."

Voicing similar sentiments as that of Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Mr. Gunewardena maintained that there may be thousands of bird nests in the selected area but asked can one equate birds and humans.

Mr. Gunewardena further alleged that millions of rupees had initially been given to the Wildlife Department by the ADB to clear Lunugamvehera of elephants but it had fattened somebody's purse claiming that was why today there was a problem of roaming wild elephants in the area.

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