By Ifham Nizam

Nearly 20 leading environmental/wildlife organisations have teamed up to make an appeal to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to ensure the environmental security and rights of future generations of Sri Lanka by immediately putting an end to the ongoing forest destruction in the Dahaiyagala sanctuary.

Environmental Scientist Hemantha Withanage yesterday said environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts countrywide urged the government to end the ongoing environmental destruction in the country, allegedly being undertaken in the name of chena cultivation, agriculture expansion and lands for housing, etc.

“We are greatly concerned about your apparent endorsement of land grabbing, and encroachment on forests, thereby destroying precious wildlife habitats and water catchment areas,” the team has said in a letter to President Rajapaksa.

Withanage said Sri Lanka had less than 17% of true forests remaining; the rest being degraded lands or tree plantations. The remaining forest habitats were home to over 7, 500 species of flora and over 15,000 species of fauna – much of this was endemic to Sri Lanka.

Small forest corridors such as the Dahaiyagala sanctuary, the Flood Plains Reserve, etc., were very important for all wildlife and especially for elephant migration, he said.

The ongoing forest destruction was an issue the country had to deal with as it was working towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, senior environmentalist Dr. Jagath Gunawardena said, adding that Sri Lanka had to go for foreign loans based on the performance of the17 SDGs.

There was no such thing as other forests. “Sri Lanka laws do not provide for utilising lands coming under the Fauna and Flora Ordinance Act for other purposes”.

Gunawardena, who is a lawyer, said the President, Prime Minister, Wildlife Minister or the Director General had no right to go beyond the existing laws.

Gunawardena also expressed concern about experts and professionals keeping quiet about the distribution of forest lands.

Representing Lak Sobha Sanrakshanaya (Senior Group of YZA), Samantha Gunasekera said the current development move would not eradicate poverty here, but further aggravate the existing economic problems.

Citing examples, he said the country should focus on tapping natural resources, citing examples, a mere 10 grammes on bio resources would fetch USD 3,300.

He said that Pulmuddai was full of natural resources and if nano technology was used in exploiting them in an environmentally friendly manner, Sri Lanka could be on par with Singapore economically.

The former Customs Department, Biodiversity Head also warned that forest land distribution would lead to floods and drought.

Environmentalist Nayanaka Ranwella, who returned from Dahaiyagala, yesterday, said 14 groups were carrying out forest clearance and most of them were outsiders.

“President Gotabaya Rajapaksa should be held responsible for this forest rape. We urge President Rajapaksa not to do a Donald Trump. I remember what happened to President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015 and what happened to the disastrous combination President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.”.

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL), Federation of Environmental Organizations (FEO), Movement for National Land and Agriculture Reform (MONLAR), Protect Wilpattu, Wildlife Conservation Forum (WCF), Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Climate and Forest Action Network (SLCFAN) , Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle, Center for Conservation and Research (CCR), Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust (BECT) , Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle (BCRC), Friends of Wilpattu (FOW), Elephant Forest and Environment Conservation Trust (EFECT) and Young Zoologists Association of Sri Lanka have jointly launched a public signature campaign in protest against the destruction of forests.