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Wildlife conservation in crisis: Researcher warns of systemic collapse and calls for remedial action
Sri Lanka’s wildlife conservation is teetering on the brink of collapse due to systemic neglect, mismanagement, and a crippling shortage of trained personnel, warns veteran conservation researcher Sameera Weerathunga.
Speaking on the state of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), Weerathunga said the institution — once a respected guardian of Sri Lanka’s unique biodiversity — is now being stripped of its core identity and responsibilities through arbitrary restructuring and short-sighted policy decisions.
“We are watching the dismantling of the country’s premier conservation body in real time,” he said.
“These aren’t reforms. This is erosion.”
Weerathunga pointed to the recent rebranding of frontline conservation staff under different service categories such as Civil Security, Integrated Services, and Multipurpose Services. Now relabeled as part of the Grama Arakshaka Sevaya, the original identity and professional dignity of trained conservation officers are being erased.
“Soon, even identifying who is actually a conservation officer will become impossible,” Weerathunga said.
“We’re sacrificing professionalism for administrative convenience.”
This, he argued, is not just a naming issue — it reflects a fundamental loss of recognition for those dedicated to protecting Sri Lanka’s wildlife.
Weerathunga emphasised that the DWC lacks a proper operational hierarchy. Unlike in other professional services, there is no second-tier of trained officers, no clear succession plan, and critical cadres such as veterinary assistants and field-level supervisors are absent or underqualified.
“We have no trained second line, no third line. No trained reserve officers. No veterinary assistants. Even trained wildlife rangers are scarce,” he noted.
“If a single senior officer retires, there’s no one to take the baton.”
This leadership vacuum, he argued, is setting the stage for institutional failure.
Instead of grounding policy in scientific frameworks, Weerathunga accused decision-makers of relying on ad hoc interventions and politically motivated directives.
“It’s like groping in the dark. We’re using painkillers for a broken leg. There’s no evidence-based planning.”
From elephant corridors to human-wildlife conflict zones, critical ecological issues are being addressed reactively — not through long-term, scientifically sound strategies.
Weerathunga also acknowledged the marginalisation of experts and field voices.
“Those of us who speak out are labelled as the problem. Those who stay silent are rewarded,” he said.
“But if no one raises these alarms now, by 2040 there may not even be a Department of Wildlife Conservation left to save.”
With mounting pressure from unregulated tourism, encroachment, climate change, and poaching, the DWC’s current state of dysfunction could have catastrophic consequences.
Weerathunga is calling for a comprehensive overhaul, not to weaken the department further, but to rebuild it:
Reestablish the dignity and autonomy of conservation officers.
Invest in training and deploy a second tier of professionals.
Create a structured scientific policy framework.
Restore respect for expert voices and field data.
As political attention sways toward militarisation and bureaucratic reshuffling, Sri Lanka’s fragile ecosystems and its world-renowned wildlife are being left defenseless.
“The extinction we’re facing isn’t just of animals — it’s of a legacy, a profession, and a public trust,” Weerathunga concluded.
By Ifham Nizam
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) yesterday accused the government of seeking to use the proposed Protection of the State from Terrorism Act (PSTA) to suppress popular political activity, claiming that some of its provisions were more repressive than those of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
FSP Education Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda told a media briefing, in Nugegoda, that the definition of terrorism in the Bill was so broad that it could be used to label almost any form of popular political activity as terrorism.
He said the Bill’s approach to defining terrorism was based largely on attempts to compel a government, or an international organisation, to do, or refrain from doing something, rather than on internationally recognised criteria, such as killings, causing serious bodily harm, kidnapping or acts intended to spread terror among the public.
Jayagoda also alleged that the Bill transferred substantial powers from the judiciary to the executive, while extending powers of arrest, investigation and detention to the armed forces, in addition to the police.
He claimed that the government had sought to portray the Bill as a replacement for the PTA while retaining or introducing provisions that could facilitate political victimisation and repression.
The FSP also questioned the government’s decision to proceed with the Bill, despite having previously sought public views on an earlier draft.
Jayagoda said a draft had been published earlier this year, with the period for public submissions ending on February 28, but the Bill subsequently gazetted was essentially the same draft with some provisions rearranged.
Jayagoda also referred to a letter reportedly sent by Attorney-at-Law Saliya Peiris, a member of a Committee, chaired by President’s Counsel Rienzie Arsecularatne, that had been appointed to draft the legislation. He said Peiris had stated, in the October 06 letter, that changes had been made to the draft prepared by the Committee.
“This means that even the Committee, appointed to prepare the Bill, was a deception,” Jayagoda alleged.
He said that the PSTA was fundamentally similar to the Anti-Terrorism Bill introduced by the previous government, in 2023, which the National People’s Power (NPP) opposed and challenged in court.
“If the NPP opposed that Bill then and is now bringing the same legislation before Parliament, the government must explain its position,” he said.
Jayagoda called on NPP MPs to oppose the PSTA in Parliament and urged trade unions and other groups to build a broad public movement against the legislation.
He challenged the government to an open debate on the Bill.
Former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa was yesterday remanded until 13 October after being produced before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court following her arrest by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
Shiranthi, wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was arrested at her residence on Poorwarama Road, Kirulapone, after CIABOC officers recorded a statement from her for nearly two hours.
According to the CIABOC, the arrest was made over allegations that Rs. 10 million obtained from the National Savings Bank through the Siriliya Saviya organisation was misappropriated.
The money was allegedly obtained to provide a Computed Tomography (CT) scanner to the children’s hospital. Investigators allege that the scanner was not provided and that the funds were instead unlawfully used.
CIABOC is investigating alleged offences under the Public Property Act and corruption-related provisions in connection with the transaction and other financial activities involving Siriliya Saviya, which was headed by Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka on Monday night on a flight from Malaysia after travelling overseas for medical treatment. She left for Singapore on 16 September after being admitted to a private hospital in Colombo on 15 September following an illness.
She had been due to appear before the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) on 13 October in connection with its investigation into the financial affairs of Siriliya Saviya.
Meanwhile, her lawyers filed an anticipatory bail application before the Maligakanda Magistrate’s Court on Monday, seeking an order preventing her arrest in connection with the FCID investigation.
Former National Savings Bank (NSB) Chairman Pradeep Kariyawasam was yesterday granted bail by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court following his arrest by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC).
Kariyawasam, husband of former Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake, was arrested in connection with the Bribery Commission’s investigation into the ‘Siriliya Saviya’ account linked to former First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa.
The investigation concerns financial activities involving the Siriliya Saviya initiative, which was headed by Rajapaksa, wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
CIABOC is continuing investigations into the alleged financial irregularities relating to the account.
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