Opinion
Biodiversity
by Dr. Ranil Senanayake
The word biodiversity is gaining both interest and currency worldwide as a result of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), an internationally binding set of agreements ratified by most nations on this planet. The articles of the CBD are legally binding and used today to address many aspects of nature and the role that biodiversity plays in natural processes. Thus, it is critical to appreciate the true nature of biodiversity and what role it has in our future.
Biodiversity is often expressed as ‘the measure of the variability of living organisms at any spatio-temporal point’, i.e. the number of different species at any place at any given time. It does not mean wild, endemic, rare or even native, it is merely a measure of diversity of life at any place. This measure has various meanings, from indicating a potential for conservation to indicating changes in the environment. It is also significant in affecting the way natural cycles of substances such as carbon, oxygen or water function in the biosphere. The conservation of biodiversity refers to sustaining these patterns of life.
But in considering the management of biodiversity on any landscape, it has to be evaluated on the stated goals for that land. If conservation is the goal, exotic species are an anathema and have to be removed. If production or human habitation is the goal, exotic species are an important component of the local biodiversity. Therefore, biodiversity on any landscape must be measured as two distinct states, natural and anthropogenic
Natural biodiversity exists as a product of a long history of interactions between organisms, landscape and climate at any given place. It is high in some ecosystems and low in others. The natural biodiversity of stable ecosystems provides the indicators and measurements that define the sustainable state for that ecosystem. A loss of biodiversity, means a loss of the variety of organisms that comprise that ecosystem and suggests disturbance and unstable states.
Anthropogenic ecosystems are those influenced by humans in such a manner that their natural evolutionary processes are massively disrupted. Most rural land other than natural ecosystems are regions where exotic species replace native species to some degree. However, all agricultural and other anthropogenic land use systems, also have a biodiversity measure or value as represented by its biological components. If the frequency or intensity of disturbance in any area is high there is a loss of biodiversity. If the frequency and intensity of disturbance is low there is a corresponding gain in biodiversity. This gain is obtained through a hybrid population of natural and exotic organisms. In traditional societies there is often a sophisticated knowledge of the use of native biodiversity. There is a correlation between the increase in biodiversity and establishment of stability in traditional systems.
This relationship also holds in anthropogenic ecosystems such as modern agricultural fields where the development of biodiversity demonstrates clear links to the development of sustainability.
Thus, biodiversity provides a very effective summary of the prevailing ecological condition. Studies on agricultural diversity suggest that high measures of diversity are often correlated with environmental stability. A rapid loss in biodiversity, for instance, suggests a loss in ecological stability. Therefore, the measure of biodiversity is a useful indicator of the health of an ecosystem.
The pattern of increasing ecological stability with increasing diversity in land use is also corroborated by studies of traditional land managers, whose management systems are sustainable and conserve a much higher level of biodiversity than conventional responses. High levels of diversity in the agricultural field produce positive effects of biological control, spread the risk in marketing and production, as well as distributing labor needs to fit with a single-family unit. These traditional methods of land management have much to contribute to biodiversity management.
A major problem in the setting of biodiversity or measuring the number of species at a given point is the question of scale. For instance, alpha diversity will tend to show a series of peaks and troughs if an ecosystem is measured along a scalar gradient. A clump of grass extracted from a forest meadow provides an illustration. If roots of the clump are examined microscopically it will yield high biodiversity values, in bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi etc. As we expand scale to reflect the plants in the clump at the scale of the grass plant, it will have low biodiversity value, again at the scale of the meadow the grass will be a component of a system with high biodiversity with other plants, while at a landscape scale, of forest and meadow, the system can have low diversity.
This suggests the need for an index that accommodates the phenomenon of scale, perhaps a measure of some indicator species that confirm the condition of the cascade of smaller ecosystems which is needed by that particular species for its survival may be of utility. Finally, all ecosystems are temporal in composition. They are constantly changing in time depending on the organisms that comprise it and their well-being. Thus, all ecosystem or biodiversity values attributed to a place, must be time bound.
The first and only tsunami that Sri Lanka experienced was on Boxing Day(26th) of December 2004. My wife and I, as usual, went down to Modara in Moratuwa to purchase our seafood requirements of seafood from our familiar fishmonger, Siltin, from whom we had been buying fish for a long time. Sometimes we used to take a couple of friends of ours. But on this day, it was only both of us that went on this trip.
We made our purchases and were returning home and when we came up to the Dehiwala bridge, many people were looking down at the canal from both sides of the bridge. This was strange, as normally if there was something unusual, it would be on one side.
Anyway, we came home unaware of anything that had happened. A school friend of mine (sadly he is no longer with us) telephoned me and asked whether I was aware of what had happened. When I answered him in the negative, he told me to switch on the TV and watch. Then when I did so and saw what was happening, I was shocked. But still I did not know that we had just managed to escape being swept away by the tsunami.
Later, when I telephoned Siltin and asked him, he said that both of us had a narrow escape. Soon after we had left in our car, the tsunami had invaded the shore with a terrifying wave and taken away everything of the fishmongers, including their stalls, the fish, weighing scales and money. The fishmongers had managed to run to safety.
This had been about five minutes after we had left. So, it was a narrow shave to have escaped the wrath of the demining tsunami( the name many Sri Lankans came to know after it hit our island very badly}
HM NISSANKA WARAKAULLE
Sri Lanka has recorded a staggering 375 elephant deaths in the past eleven and a half months due to a multitude of causes, according to the Department of Wildlife Conservation. U. L Thaufeeq, Deputy Director – Elephant Conservation said the deaths include 74 from gunshots, 53 from electrocution, 49 from hakka patas (explosive devices hidden in food), seven from poisoning, 10 from train accidents, three from a road accident, and six by drowning. It makes such diabolical reading!
“The causes of other deaths are due to natural causes or causes that could not be identified. Most of the elephants that died were young,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the human-elephant conflict has also taken a toll on people, with 149 human deaths reported this year.
Accordingly, human-elephant conflict has resulted in 524 deaths of both elephants and humans in 2024.
In 2023, a total of 488 elephants and 184 people have died consequent to the conflict, according to Wildlife Department statistics.
The human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka has escalated to unprecedented levels with reasons like habitat destruction, encroachment, and the lack of sustainable coexistence measures contributing to the issue.
This is an indictment of the Wildlife Department for just giving the sad yearly statistics of shocking losses of our National treasures !
Given the fact that Sri Lanka boasts of 29.9% of the country declared as protected forests, Sri Lanka is a haven for nature lovers. Boasting 26 national parks, 10 nature reserves including 3 strict nature reserves, and 61 sanctuaries, the national parks in Sri Lanka offer an incredible variety of wildlife experiences.
Taken in that context, the million dollar question is why on earth the Wildlife Department is not being proactive to capture these magnificent animals and transport them into protected sanctuaries, thus effectively minimising dangers to villagers ?
Being a Buddhist country primarily, to turn a blind eye to these avoidable tragic deaths to mankind and wild elephants, we should be ashamed !
As a practising Buddhist myself, I think our clergy could play a major part in calling upon the Wildlife Department to get their act together sooner rather than later to protect human elephant conflicts !
Sri Lanka being a favourite destination amongst foreign tourists, they are bound to take a dim view of what is happening on the ground!
If the top brass in the responsible department are not doing their job properly, may be there is a case for the new President to intervene before it gets worse!
All animal lovers hope and pray the New Year will usher in a well coordinated plan of action put in place to ensure the well being of wildlife and villagers !
Sunil Dharmabandhu
Wales, UK
This has reference to the article from the Aircraft Owners and Operators Sri Lanka, titled ‘Closer look at regulatory oversight and its impact on Tourism’, published on Tuesday, 24th December 2024.To explain further, in the beginning there was the Air Navigation Act No 15 of 1950 which was followed by the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) of 1955. This was long before the national airline had acquired pressurised aircraft, intercontinental jets, sophisticated navigation equipment, satellite communication and automatic landing systems, and ‘glass’ flight-deck instrumentation.
Today, civil aviation in Sri Lanka is governed by Civil Aviation Act Number 14 of 2010. Yet the Air Navigation Regulations (ANR) promulgated back in 1955 remain in force.
These outdated regulations still stipulate rules forbidding the carriage of passengers on the airplane’s wings or undercarriage (landing gear). In short, they are neither practical nor user-friendly. In contrast, the Air Navigation Regulations of other countries have progressed and are easy to read, understand, and implement.
To overcome the problem of outdated regulations, as an interim measure in 1969 the then Minister of Communications and Transport, Mr E.L.B. Hurulle issued a Government Gazette notification declaring that the Standard and Recommended Procedures (SARPs) in Annexes to the ICAO Convention signed by Ceylon in 1944 shall be made law.
Even so, nothing much was done to move with the times until updating of the Civil Aviation Act 14 of 2010, while the Air Navigation Regulations remained unchanged since 1955. However, these regulations were modified from time to time by the promulgation of Implementing Standards (IS) and General Directives (GDs) which were blindly ‘cut and pasted’ by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL), from the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) Annexe ‘SARPS’ without much thought given. To date there are literally 99 IS’s starting from 2010.
The currently effective air navigation regulations are not in one document like the rest of the world, but all over the place and difficult for the flying public to follow as they are not regularly updated. This sad situation seems to have been noticed by the current regime.
The National Tourism Policy of the ruling NPP states, “Domestic air operations are currently limited due to high cost and regulatory restrictions. The current regulatory and operational environment will be reviewed to ensure domestic air connectivity to major tourist destinations. The potential of operating a domestic air schedule with multiple operators is proposed. Additionally, domestic airports and water aerodromes in potential key areas will be further developed, for high-end tourism growth.”
“The tourism policy recognises Sri Lanka’s potential to develop Sri Lanka’s aviation-based specialised tourism products, including fun flying, hot air ballooning, paragliding, parachuting and skydiving, and scenic seaplane operations. To facilitate the growth of these niche markets, existing regulations will be reviewed with the aim of attracting capable investors to develop and operate these offerings.”
It remains to be seen whether the NPP government lives up to those promises.
Note:
That OPA report talks of two funds: ‘Connectivity’ and ‘Viability’ for a limited period like three or five years to help jump-start the domestic aviation industry.
The ‘Connectivity Fund’ will cap the seat price for local passengers to a more affordable value to destinations while the ‘Viability Fund’ will assume that all seats are occupied and compensate the operator for any unutilised seat. The intention is to popularise domestic aviation as a safe, quick and convenient mode of transport.
Capt. Gihan A Fernando
RCyAF/ SLAF, Air Ceylon, Air Lanka, Singapore Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines.
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