Next election – Dr. Pilapitiya
Taking the journalists back in time, the former Director- General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya described how the ancient rulers managed the forest cover in the country.
The central highlands have thick forests while the Dry Zone does not have adequate water and is drought- stricken. But the ancients developed the Dry Zone rather than the central highlands. Why, he asked.
“This was to save the central highlands which had within its fold the watershed areas. The ancients were masters at ‘ sustainable development’ even though that term had not even been coined then. They were also more concerned about the nation’s development rather than the next election,” he said.
Looking at deforestation from the 1800s to 1985, Dr. Pilapitiya pointed out that it was carried out for the cultivation of plantation crops for export, timber exploitation and land settlement. After 1985, equal or more harm was done and continues to be done for four drivers – encroachment largely with the complicity of politicians, infrastructure and private and government ventures which include medium and longterm projects. However, most of these have not yielded the high benefits expected of them.
Deforestation goes on unabated, said Dr. Pilapitiya, adding that political interference was a catalyst while there was poor or sub- optimal coordination among government agencies engaged in implementing the Land Policy. What many people forget is that forests are not only valuable for their timber but also play a pivotal role in providing ecosystem services.
He said: “There is a misconception that small Sri Lanka can- not be a big contributor to climate change. But what we forget is that Sri Lanka is an island with limited land space, declining natural resources and an increasing population. The system will surely collapse, unless we do something right now. Otherwise, we are heading for disaster.”
Explaining that an integral part of the government’s good governance policy should be proper management of the environment, he stressed that mismanagement would be a form of corruption because we are depriving future generations of their rightful heritage. Sri Lanka has the best regulatory framework but it is not implemented largely due to political pressure. “Give freedom to the relevant agencies to implement the law to the letter and then hold them accountable,” urged Dr. Pilapitiya.