Environmentalists urge to bring state agencies relating to the Environment under one ministry

As the government is in the process of setting up portfolios for the new ministries, environmentalists yesterday urged that state agencies primarily relating to the Environment be brought together under one ministry. The Environmental Collective that convened a press conference suggested that the folowing ministries be brought under one portfolio . Those include : Department of Wildlife Conservation, Forest Department, Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department, Central Environment Authority, Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, Marine Environmental Protection Authority, Gem and Jewelry Authority and Wildlife Trust. During the previous regime, many of the government agencies and departments related to the Environment had been split and assigned under different ministries. Even the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and Department of Forest Conservation that should have been working  hand in hand were split, making co-ordination a problem. The DWC was at one time assigned to the Ministry of Economic Development, meanwhile, the Coast Conservation Department (CCD) is under the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development. Even after the presidential election, the split continues where DWC was assigned to Ministry of Sports and Tourism while Environment ministry was bundled with Ministry of Mahaweli Development directly under the purview of President Maithripala Sirisena. Environmentalists are urging the government to bring all the agencies together.igo - Malaka Rodrigo