Lost forever – Dr. Jayakody

Forest Department estimates suggest that the total forest cover of Sri Lanka is currently about 1.95 million hectares which represent 29.7% of the total land area, said EFL Director Dr. Sevvandi Jayakody, garnering the figures from the UN-REDD (the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) website.

The denudation of forests can be linked to the growth of the export plantation economy; commercial timber extraction policy; and land settlement and irrigation development in the Dry Zone, according to her.

Why are forests important and why does it matter when forests are cut down, asked Dr. Jayakody, reiterating that forests play an important role in biodiversity, indigenous wildlife, food for all, raw material for industry, bio-fuel, energy-con- servation benefits and also act as barriers in the spread of disease.

Getting back to statistics, she said that according to UN-REDD, there is a steady annual deforestation rate of over 7,000 hectares spread throughout the country. The deforestation is higher in the northeast Dry Zone compared to the southwest Wet Zone.

She pointed out that a National Conservation Review (NCR) was conducted “to define a national system of conservation of forests in which watersheds important for soil conservation and hydrology are protected, forest biodiversity is fully represented and cultural, economic and social needs are met”. Before the NCR, an Accelerated Conservation Review of 30 lowland rainforests was carried out.

The NCR collected data from across the country except in the north and the east from 1991 to 1996, with forests over 200 hectares being assessed for biodiversity, hydrology and soil conservation. The NCR is among the most detailed, comprehensive and innovative evaluations of its kind carried out in any tropical country, she said.

Dr. Jayakody’s lament was that since the publication of the NCR in 1997, no action has been taken to date, to declare and protect the 85 forests identified as extremely important for soil protection and flood control or interception of fog in the case of those located above 1,500 metres.

The NCR was never used. The data were kept under lock and key and now they are gone, she said, adding that she herself served on two committees appointed under two Ministers to enact the NCR recommendations which never happened.