Biodiversity Sri Lanka joined hands with the French Embassy, Bandaranaike Center for International Studies (BCIS), Dilmah Conservation, Commercial Bank, and MAS Kreeda in featuring world-renowned scientist, Sri Lankan author, and educator Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, as the keynote speaker at BSL’s flagship event in celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity and World Environment Day, 2022.
The event was held on June 8th, 2022 at the Bandaranaike Center for International Studies (BCIS), Colombo 07. French Ambassador H. E. Mr. Eric Lavertu and Ambassador Sumith Nakandala delivered the opening remarks on behalf of the French Embassy and the BCIS respectively. Brief interventions followed by event sponsors, Commercial Bank and MAS Kreeda. As the first Carbon Neutral Bank in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank shared recent experiences from mangrove restoration efforts in Koggala and a Marine Turtle Conservation Program in Panama. MAS Kreeda presented the company’s iconic aerial reforestation project in Nochchiyagama which was done through seed bombing technology for the first time in the country. Other projects that MAS has carried out include invasive species removal in Lunugamwehera National Park, and the setting up of ocean strainers, collecting trash for recycling.
Introducing Dr Rohan Pethiyagoda, Mr Dilhan C Fernando, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of BSL stated that he is Sri Lanka’s leading naturalist and taxonomist of freshwater fish of Sri Lanka, recently winning the prestigious “Linnean Medal” awarded by the Linnean Society of London – the world’s oldest active society devoted to natural history. This medal is awarded annually by the council of the Linnean Society alternately to one or two biologists (in any field), as an expression of the society’s esteem and appreciation for service to science. Dr. Pethiyagoda is the first Sri Lankan scientist, and the second Asian scientist honored with this award since the program began way back in 1888. He also won the Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2000 for his 25-ha Agrapatana montane forest restoration initiative. Besides the restoration work, the forest was home to a conservation-breeding center for rare species of lizards, mice, shrews, and frogs. As the forest’s tendrils regrew, hundreds of long-absent wild creatures began to appear – leading to the discovery of over 200 species new to science. One of Dr. Pethiyagoda’s first books was a comprehensive color guide to the freshwater fishes of Sri Lanka – a best seller.
In his keynote speech titled “LEVERAGE OR LIABILITY?” Conserving Biological Diversity in an Economic Collapse, Dr. Pethiyagoda pointed out that the country we live in today is fundamentally different from Sri Lanka one year ago. He said it is crucial to pinpoint the cause of this situation, to understand the consequences of the current instability in the country. In such situations, it is inevitable that the environment falls to the bottom of the list of priorities. So, for us, as a country to benefit from our situation, we must recognize and grab whatever available opportunities there are despite the bleak picture. Pointing out some of the flawed policy decisions made in the recent past in Sri Lanka, he indicated that sometimes, wrong decisions are made with good intentions. He emphasized that environmental sustainability should be at the heart of any national policy framework. If not soil fertility, biodiversity, water, and health issues would inevitably result. With reference to the ban on agro-chemicals in Sri Lanka, Dr. Pethiyagoda elaborated that the Government failed to recognize the long-term implications of such a decision resulting in an enhanced likelihood of future food shortages in the country.
He proposed leveraging biodiversity to provide for dealing with protein deficiencies and child malnutrition in Sri Lanka. Pointing out that while Sri Lanka has 10,000 freshwater reservoirs which could be used for fish harvesting, most of which are in the dry zone where the poverty levels are the highest, only 7.6% of this freshwater extent is used for fish harvesting. Such opportunities should be garnered. He noted that the country needs to reduce fossil fuel-based energy usage primarily by increasing the production of fuelwood. He was of the view that wind and solar energy will also be helpful in ensuring energy resilience, but it will take a lot of time and money to eliminate at least 40% of the country’s liquid petroleum requirements. He calculated that the country will require around 130,000 ha of plantation forests to replace all the liquefied petroleum gas that it now imports. We cannot achieve this, because Sri Lanka has only 80,000 ha of fuel wood plantations available to us, but we can at least replace half of our LP gas requirements with timber from fuel wood plantations. So, harvesting existing fuelwood and planting new timber trees could become an opportunity. He also suggested that mature plantation forests be harvested over the course of next year which will provide the timber we need for building materials. He recognized blue-green bonds as a credible financial instrument for funding projects with positive environmental effects. Sri Lanka lags behind in introducing these financial instruments but, he opined it is never too late. We may perhaps issue green bonds to facilitate the tourism industry to go off-grid on power as electricity supply is one of the major issues we are currently experiencing.
He concluded that as we handle biodiversity problems and possibilities in the coming decade, there are many additional things that could be done to assist in the current situation, but in the words of Dr. Pethiyagoda, “let’s try to stick to what is feasible, practical, and essential”.
