What price for Nature’s ‘greenbacks’ – the forests?
Conservationists are debating whether working out a rupee value for forests would convince money-crunching bureaucrats that preserving them makes more economic sense than stripping woodland for income-producing purposes.
“Many people consider forest as a waste of land where utilising that terrain for other purposes can bring income, also contributing to the national economy. But forests provide other services such as delivering the fresh water we drink and the clean air we breathe whereas if we lose these services it will cost a lot of money to implement costly alternatives,” the Conservator-General of Forests, Anura Sathurusinghe said.
“It is often a big challenge to communicate this value to politicians and officials who mainly understand the value of everything in monetary terms and demand forest land for other development work,” Mr. Sathurusinghe said at a press conference organised by REDD+ Sri Lanka regarding the forthcoming International Research Symposium on Valuation of Forest Ecosystems and Their Services to be held in Colombo on October 18.
REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is an effort to identify value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries.
“Tagging a value” for services provide by an ecosystem such as a forest is a modern concept. Ecosystem services are broadly divided into four categories: provisioning, such as the production of food and water; regulating, such as the control of climate and disease; supporting, such as nutrient cycles and crop pollination; cultural, such as spiritual and recreational benefits. The concept aims at putting a price tag for these services which helps to convey their values in monetary terms. Hence the price that has to be paid by destroying that particular forest is highlighted.
“We know about ‘provisioning’ values of forests such as the value of timber, but other services are often taken for granted,” said forests expert Professor Nimal Gunathilake. He explained the aims of the research forum were to share the existing knowledge on forest ecosystem services valuation, identifying new methodologies and identifying the drawbacks.
(Conservator General of Forests Anura Sathurusinghe)
Ecosystem valuation can be difficult and controversial, and economists have often been criticised for trying to place a “price tag” on nature. At the forum, a question was raised whether communicating the value of individual forests to the general public is prudent as people could start exploiting natural resources such as in the case of illegally stripping forests of “walla patta” trees and smuggling the resin-rich wood overseas.
Mr.Sathurusinghe revealed that a recent review of forests showed degradation was a bigger concern than deforestation. Deforestation means conversion of forest to another land use type while degradation is deterioration of the standing vegetation in density, structure and species composition due to human activities and natural causes.
The four main causes of deforestation are encroachment, infrastructure development projects and private agriculture ventures while drivers for forest degradation include illicit felling of trees, cattle grazing, forest fires, gem-mining, quarrying, forest undergrowth cultivations such as cardamom and non-timber forest product gathering such as weniwel or walla patta. A REDD+ Sri Lanka report states Anuradhapura is the district with the highest levels of deforestation and forest degradation.
Deforestation is taking place at a relatively higher rate in the dry zone due to the many development projects now occurring there. Experts cautioned that dry zone forests are as important as wet zone forests.
Source : October 2016 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/161002/news/what-price-for-natures-greenbacks-the-forests-211050.html
Sigiriya Under Threat
Sri Lanka is a beautiful country filled with nature, forest cover, ecological and water provisions, different species of birds wildlife and so on which also includes several world heritage sites declared by the UNESCO and reserved in the constitution by the government. One may agree the protection of nature and the environment in the nation is only given in the papers and is not implemented.
Sigiriya today is a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site and one of the best preserved examples of ancient urban planning.It is the most visited historic site in Sri Lanka. Destruction under the name of development takes place all around the country to which the environmentalists and the conservationists were unhappy of the plans of government as all projects in common, destroy the nature and the archeological values of them.
According to the ancient Sri Lankan record the Culavamsa, this site was selected by King Kasyapa (477 – 495 CE) for his new capital. He built his palace on the top of this rock and decorated its sides with colourful frescoes. On a small plateau about halfway up the side of this rock he built a gateway in the form of an enormous lion. The name of this place is derived from this structure the Lion Rock. The capital and the royal palace were abandoned after the king’s death. It was used as a Buddhist monastery until the 14th century.
Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress located in the central Matale District near the town of Dambulla in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. The name refers to a site of historical and archaeological significance that is dominated by a massive column of rock nearly 200 meters (660 ft.) high. The rock fortress is now under threat as nearly 15 acres of forest cover of the sanctuary has been cleared for luxury hotel constructions. Measures were in place to begin the constructions but were put on hold as the villagers and the environmentalists began objecting to the move with the support of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), and Department of Forest Conservation (DFC)just two years ago. Nevertheless, they have recently started the deforestation for hotel construction giving it a fresh start.
It is claimed that leading businessmen who were backed by the higher rank politicians of the country are involved in the luxury tourism hotel constructions.
From where exactly is the authorisation given to such businessmen and politicians, is the unanswered question that remains since the environmental issues began in the country. It is a sanctuary and more of a reserved place since 1993 and was protected and preserved for more than two decades. It is an valuable site since it was recognised as one of the world heritage sites of the country. The cause for the hotel construction within the buffer zone of the Sigiriya is to attract more tourists into the country apparently, causing destruction to a site that has such archeological values for nearly 800 years will not increase the percentage of tourists that come into the country, the environmentalists lamented.
It is pathetic that the government turns a blind eye to the destruction and if the authorities in charge of protecting the nature and the archeological sites of the country are properly acting against the corruption and the violation it can be stopped, the environmentalists claim. There are enough legislations and regulations vested in the constitution to protect the reservations of the country and there is no necessity to increase or include new laws but to implement them. “Implementation is what matters the most when it comes to the protection of nature or any laws in the country,” the Director for Center of Environment and Nature Studies (CENS) Ravindra Kariyawasam stated.
According to the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance (FFPO) the ordinance even prohibits the entry of the public or anyone with no proper permits, but how did these businessmen manage to get into the illegal clearing of forests and the clearing of economically valuable trees such as Kubuk, questioned the environmentalists. A numbers of trees which were older than 200 to 400 years were destroyed during the deforestation whereas they should be protected as the forest area is a reservation of the country.
“There are lands that belong to the WDC and the DFC within the buffer zone of Sigiriya and had been cleared by burning and cutting the valuable older trees which will take another 100 years to recreate the nature and it is an absolute destruction done to the valuable assets of the nation,” Kariyawasam said.
Not only is the buffer zone and the sanctuary being affected by the irresponsible tourism project construction but also the wildlife, the birds that live in it and especially the elephants.
There is an elephant path crossing the forest within the Sigiriya archeological site which is one of the most used elephant corridors in the country. We have been educated several times about the escalating Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) but a solid response is yet to be taken by the government.
In such a backdrop where the trees and the forest cover of the buffer zone is being cleared it also results in affecting the farmers and people who live in the close proximity of Sigiriya as the wild animals enter into the villages and their Chena cultivation areas. It also results in destroying the water resources of the village by cutting down trees and clearing the forests for hotel constructions.
The government is concerned about the major projects in the country but not the daily lives of poor people and the farmers. This might even lead the farmers to leave their native place if they could not continue with their farming and cultivation. The environmentalists request the government to look into the destruction taking place in the country under the name of development and to ensure that the National Environmental Act (NEA) and the FFPO to protect the environment and the archeological sites are implemented and take action if violated.
However, the Sigiriya and its buffer zone had been under threat since the Rajapaksa regime as they were in search of treasures including a few of the archeological sites in the country. The site was damaged by the archeological department itself under the directives of the Rajapaksa regime for treasures. Even though the search for treasures has been stopped under the new government, the destruction of nature has not been stopped.
Nevertheless, it is important to assess the impacts of the destruction and its results before any projects or development is being done within the reservation of the country to ensure their safety. An Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)is a crucial report that should be conducted before any changes are done to the reservations, but no such reports were conducted regarding the Sigiriya hotel constructions. It is also obvious that the reports will be against the hotel projects as it definitely would harm the archeological site.
The environmentalists alleged if they can destroy the reservations without any permission from relevant authorities they should be either an individual or a group of people who are backed by influential politicians of the government and the President as the Minister for environment should consider to protect the nature and to implement the laws. However, when contacted by The Sunday Leader the Director General of the Archeological Department of Sri Lanka Senarath Dissanayake said that the department is unaware of 15 acres of land being cleared within the buffer zones of Sigiriya for hotel constructions, and will look into the matter very soon.
Source : 14/08/2016 The Sunday Leader http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2016/08/14/sigiriya-under-threat/