Hemas partners MEPA to address marine plastic pollution
Evergreen Shipping Agency Lanka Ltd., a joint venture between Hemas Transportation Ltd. and Evergreen Marine (Hong Kong) Ltd., has partnered with the Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) to address marine pollution in Sri Lanka.
Evergreen Lanka has committed to the installation of an ‘Ocean Strainer’ floating trash trap at the Samanala Canal, Galle, and five ‘Beach Caretaker Projects’ across the country including Paranambala Beach and Luna Pokuna Beach. The partnership aligns with Hemas’ Environmental Agenda which strives to protect Sri Lankan Endemism through a three-prong action plan which includes responsible usage and disposal of plastic waste, safeguarding our ecosystem and protecting our natural resources.
Hemas Holdings Group CEO Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson said: “We are honoured to partner with MEPA in their efforts to ensure that we safeguard our marine ecosystem from plastic waste. As a part of the Group Environmental Agenda, we are committed to ensuring the reduction of the use of plastic that is harmful to the environment and the responsible disposal of plastic waste. This partnership is the first step in our efforts to reduce plastic pollution in our country by facilitating initiatives across the island to continuously collect community plastic waste disposed to the environment, while also working towards offsetting our plastic footprint.”
The beach caretaker program aims to keep the coastline clean through community-led conservation while empowering their livelihood, by providing caretakers with a reliable source of income. The initiative hopes to keep approximately five tons of plastic waste out of the ocean, assisting the conservation of Sri Lanka’s threatened and degraded
marine ecosystem.
“Sri Lanka is a nation that is rich in biodiversity and marine ecosystems, but unfortunately, this is under threat due to plastic pollution. As a responsible corporate that focuses on making healthful living happen across all communities we serve, we felt it is important that we play a role in ensuring the protection of our marine ecosystem. Clean and healthy oceans play a vital role in balancing ecosystems and water resources and mitigating the impacts of climate change. Through these initiatives we hope to reduce the plastic waste that enters the ocean and protect the marine ecosystem of Sri Lanka,” said Hemas Holdings Director – Mobility Sector Mushin Kitchilan.
With approximately 900 MT of plastic waste generated daily in Sri Lanka, the ‘Ocean Strainer’ floating trash trap will trap, collect, and remove plastic waste before it reaches the ocean. The Ocean Strainer floating trash trap initiative was conceptualised and developed by MAS Holdings, with the installation of the first Ocean Strainer in the Dehiwala Canal in August 2020. In its first year since installation, this floating trash trap has managed to keep approximately 67,000 kilograms of plastic waste away from the ocean. Believing in the power of open innovation and collaboration in problem-solving, MAS announced in early 2021 that they would make the Ocean Strainer technology openly available to interested parties, in order to replicate and scale up the solution.
The Application Of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Instruments To Manage Plastic Waste In Sri Lanka
On the invitation of the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) and BSL took part in a meeting to discuss the implementation of EPR for Plastic Waste management on January 6, 2021, at the CEA. The main purpose of this dialogue was to examine the pros and cons of two major EPR instruments: Product Take-back Requirement and Deposit Refund System. The Managing Director, Snackings (Pvt) Ltd shared a proposed Digital Deposit Refund System (DRS). As per the system proposed, PET bottles will carry a QR Code and consumers will be able to obtain a refund by handing over the used bottle to nominated outlets. For the return of these bottles, it is proposed to set up 5,000 outlets throughout the country. The consumers can return the bottles to these outlets and obtain a refund of LKR 10/-. On top of that, an EPR fee will be levied from brand owners to set up and maintain the system. During this discussion, it was emphasized that the country should focus on bottle-to-bottle recycling as it happens in other countries.
Mr. Chandrarathna Vithanage, Senior Assistant Secretary-General, CCC explained that CCC has facilitated the EPR dialogue for over 3 years and come up with the EPR Roadmap, proposing a Mandatory Reporting and Collect Back model which will assign a collect back target to brand owners based on their annual packaging consumption. The development of this EPR Roadmap was done adopting a broad, consultative process. CCC also conducted a Perception Survey on EPR through which, it was revealed that over 90% of the private sector stakeholders are in favour of this model and expressed willingness to implement it. He pointed out that plastic waste is an issue of national importance, and therefore it must be tackled diligently keeping national interests for environmental conservation in mind.
Mr. Roshan Salinda, Program Manager, BSL commended positive elements of DRS and acknowledged that DRS has delivered laudable results in raising PET collection and recovery rates in developed countries such as Germany, Norway, Denmark, and Lithuania. However, he pointed out that in no developing country where informal waste collection systems exist, has introduced DRS for PET packaging. When DRS is introduced, valuable waste items like PET, Aluminium cans, and glass will also get collected through the system, affecting the livelihoods of thousands of informal waste collectors, as PET contributes to a sizable portion of the income of informal waste collectors. Also, Sri Lanka’s socio-economic dynamics are not conducive for introducing DRS. As such, since Sri Lanka has a very active waste collection sector, DRS would unlikely be the best EPR model for the country. Citing an OECD report, he mentioned that Product Take Back requirements are the most dominant EPR tool used in the world. Sri Lanka can draw lessons from proposed EPR regulations in India. The main elements of Indian EPR regulations are mandatory registration of producers and recyclers, and targets for plastic waste collection, recycling, and the use of recycled content in packaging. He concluded that introducing DRS would have to be discussed widely with the private sector, as the Collect Back Model is currently being operationalized in the country with private sector agreement.
BSL and CCC teams visited SME member Zero Trash, General Member Eco Spindles to gather further information on the collection and recycling of plastic waste.
The 3rd Project Steering Committee meeting of the CCBO-CCC EPR Pilot Project was held recently under the leadership of the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and the CEO/Secretary General of the CCC
BSL Hosts “Beyond Borders” in Association With GIZ and DWC
A webinar was held on 27th January 2022, to showcase successful private sector-led efforts in contributing towards protecting critically important ecosystems through a livelihood-centered approach in the Wilpattu National Park’s (WNP) influence zone. The event focused on lessons learned and best practices implemented by the supporting WNP and influence zone management project in Sri Lanka.
Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL) was hired by GOPA Worldwide Consultants to co-ordinate private sector investments in connection with the activities falling under outputs c) and d) of the Project, namely, the local population in the park’s influence zone has better access to alternative, resource-friendly income-generating opportunities outside conventional agriculture and the use of the national park as a communication instrument for the purpose of raising environmental awareness and promoting peaceful co-existence has improved.
At the outset, two keynote addresses were delivered by Mr. Sharada Sosa, Director, Forbes & Walker Fine Foods (Pvt.) Ltd. and Ms. Shamodi Nanayakkara, Manager, Dilmah Conservation, on the topics ‘The Story of Cashew: Farmers, Middlemen, and Escapeways’ and ‘Women-led Community Skills Development in the Influence Zones of High Conservation Value Forests’ respectively. Session II was a panel discussion, featuring a diverse array of eminent panelists representing the business sector, science and conservation education, and academia and included Dr. Anura Indrajith, Department of Applied Entomology, University of Rajarata, Ms. Chandani Wilson – Deputy Director Visitor Services Management, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Mr. L. P. D. Dayananda – Consultant/Agricultural and Business Development Specialist of BSL, and Mr. Nirmal Hettiarachchi – Technical Head, Fresh Produce of John Keells PLC. The discussion was based on innovative business actions and approaches, income-generating business solutions, linkages between policy and legislative frameworks, and focused on successes and challenges.
More than 80 participants attended this very informative session, which provided many insights on involving the private sector in protected area management in the country. Despite the multitude of challenges faced, overall, the Project successfully implemented its ground-level activities. One of the biggest challenges was Covid19 related restrictions. One of the other challenges was the relatively short time span available for the implementation phase, which provided very limited time and opportunity for BSL to build a strong rapport with the private companies and the target communities. However, BSL by undertaking back-to-back field visits and through its field coordinator managed to interact with the target groups closely and openly forging many interesting private sector linkages.
The project concluded with the observation that potential exists for mutually beneficial buyback programs for agricultural produce via location-based associations/small informal groups and/or through lead farmers, and interested private sector, lending sustainability and marketing independent of middlemen. There is a need to continue a similar momentum at least for another year to forge stronger links with the farmers and the private sector, to derive effective mutual benefits and wean farmers away from encroaching further into the influence zone of the park.
BSL collaborates with UNDP and CEJ in designing a digital citizen engagement platform for reporting illegal environmental activities
The proposed project idea is a digital citizen engagement tool, which aims to connect citizens wishing to report unsanctioned environmental activities to government officials. The project will be in two phases – Phase 1, focusing on illegal deforestation and logging activities only, in collaboration with the Forest Department and Phase 2 – scaling up to include other illegal environmental practices, such as illegal wildlife poaching and trade and illicit activities contributing to wetland degradation, in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Customs Department, and other relevant government institutions.
The tool will facilitate a two-way portal, whereby citizens can take the initiative to report against harmful environmental practices and contribute towards crowdsourcing data on this. The tool will also allow citizens to track whether their complaint has been resolved. Officials will be able to obtain the information required to address such concerns and be able to use the record and inform other officials of complaints and issues that come to their attention via offline methods.
A preliminary meeting of the technical experts’ committee was held in January at the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation. Members of the committee representing various Government, Private Sector, and Civil Society institutions emphasized the need for a user-friendly solution, and the need to establish clear parameters for the pilot and subsequent phases of the proposed intervention. The meeting was chaired by Mr Ratnayake, Additional Secretary (Technical) of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation.
Re- opening the Secretariat for the New Year
The BSL Secretariat commenced work for the year 2022, on Monday 3rd January 2022. Amidst the lighting of the traditional oil lamp and new year sweet meats, the Chair of the Board of Directors, Mr. Dilhan C Fernando, our CEO Mr. Prema Cooray and Director, Mr. Chandrarathna Vithanage visited the office, offering guidance and words of advice.
Mr. Fernando, addressing the staff stated that Sri Lanka’s economic growth over the years has proceeded at the expense of the environment, and the prospect of accelerated growth in a post-war, post covid economy is leading to even greater environmental pressures. Although some success has been achieved in combating environmental deterioration with various programs and reforms, environmental indicators in both rural and urban areas are generally showing a declining trend. It is important to understand that sustaining growth and achieving sustainable development will critically hinge upon how well its environment and natural resources are utilized and managed. He expressed confidence that Biodiversity Sri Lanka’s work in assisting the private sector to make a paradigm shift in efforts to place true and realistic values on Sri Lanka’s natural heritage, setting and then reaching new ambitious targets to value and conserve the fundamental riches of life support systems and the wildlife and people that depend upon them was fundamental to this day and age.
He wished the Secretariat all success in its endeavors throughout the year.
Beyond Borders
On 27 January 2022, ‘Beyond Borders’, a virtual event showcasing and discussing private sector-led efforts contributing towards the protection of critical ecosystems through a livelihood-centered approach, was organized by Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL), on behalf of the ‘Supporting Wilpattu National Park and Influence Zone Management in Sri Lanka’ project supported by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and being implemented by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The event focussed on proven best practices and lessons learnt from the project, of which the overall objective is to better orient the management of the Wilpattu National Park (WNP) and its influence zone towards the development needs of local communities. Producer groups and partnerships are strong elements when strategizing market accessibility for small agricultural producers. Small-scale farmers engaged in the cultivation of cashew and Other Field Crops (OFCs), as well as vegetable and fruit farmers in the WNP’s influence zone, have been mobilized to strengthen market linkages with large-scale private sector agribusinesses.
Providing the opening remarks at the event, Director – Protected Area Management of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), Mr. Manjula Amararathna stated that “Since the establishment of the DWC in 1949, up to the year 2000, the DWC led a policeman’s role, prohibiting and punishing those who extracted natural resources from Protected Areas (PA) of the country. However, since 2000, the Department’s outlook and attitude towards conservation issues changed with the rest of the world, with the belief that conservation actions should be implemented in collaboration with the surrounding communities, and thereby changed its strategies to suit the new norm. Therewith, the DWC engages in several eco-development activities through its outreach programmes with the objectives of obtaining proactive involvement of the communities towards conservation, reducing the communities’ dependence on resources extracted from PAs and assisting communities of PA buffer zones to improve their socio-economic status through partnership building. Activities being implemented by the project in collaboration with BSL help secure these objectives through various initiatives”.
The Director of Forbes and Walker Fine Foods (Pvt.) Ltd, Mr. Sharada Sosa, delivered a keynote address on ‘The Story of Cashew: Farmers, Middlemen and Escapeways’, while Manager of Dilmah Conservation, Ms. Shamodi Nanayakkara, spoke on ‘Women-led Community Skills Development in the Influence Zones of High Conservation Value Forests’. The event also featured diverse and eminent panelists representing the business sector, science and conservation education, and academia, and was moderated by Advisor to BSL, Ms. Shiranee Yasaratne. Panelists included Lecturer – Applied Entomology, Department of Applied Entomology at University of Rajarata, Dr. Anura Indrajith; Deputy Director Visitor Services Management, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Ms. Chandani Wilson; Consultant/Agricultural and Business Development Specialist of BSL, Mr. L. P. D. Dayananda; and Technical Head, Fresh Produce, John Keells PLC, Mr. Nirmal Hettiarachchi.
A network of over 85 private sector members, BSL has been conducting learning events, roundtable discussions and technical capacity building programs on various topics in line with its objective to promote national cooperation and the exchange of ideas and information relating to biodiversity conservation. The scope of this objective was broadened further recently to encompass a wider variety of topics which have influence and impacts on as well as depend on ecosystems and the environment at large.
The project “Supporting Wilpattu National Park and Influence Zone Management in Sri Lanka” is implemented by the Department of Wildlife Conservation of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project combines the conservation efforts within the Wilpattu National Park with the sustainable development of its influence zones. The project aims to improve Wilpattu National Park’s management capacity with emphasis on the Park Operations, Environmental and Visitor Use Programmes, in technical and specialist terms, in support of the Wilpattu National Park Management Plan (2019-2024) and targeting to improve the livelihood activities of the local communities, in the terrestrial and marine influence zones of the Wilpattu National park.
