Yala safaris: Battle over wilderness
Govt. allows more vehicles to enter national park, but envi ronmentalists say Lanka's treasure being turned into a market Drivers insist on full capacity of 1,000 vehicles, but wild life activists say it will adversely affect life patterns of animals
Following protests, the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has agreed to allow more Safari jeeps to enter the Yala national park from the main entrance after imposing a ceiling -- but the move has drawn angry reactions from environmentalists and wildlife activists.
Wildlife Director General M.G.C. Sooriyabandara told the Sunday Times that following discussions with Safari jeep owners, they decided to allow one hundred more vehicles to enter the park through the main entrance.
Accordingly, instead of 300 vehicles from the main entrance at Palatupana, now 400 will be allowed while 50 will be allowed from the Kataragama-Katagamuwa entrance.
The Director General said the department believed it was reasonable to allow 200 vehicles from 5.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and another 200 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. From Katagamuwa 25 safari vehicles would be allowed in the morning and 25 in the evening.
Mr. Sooriyabandara said a limited number of buses carrying Kataragama pilgrims would also be allowed so they also could enjoy the sites in the wildlife park.He said that they would strictly implement the 450-vehicle limit but would make adjustments during tourist seasons.
“A park overcrowded with vehicles does not attract tourists. There have been negative comments on social media regarding this," he said.
The DG said foreign tourists had expressed concern and the park would lose tourists and eventually would lose its status as a wildlife attraction, if the park was not managed in a sustainable manner.
However environmental groups questioned the basis on which the department decided on the number of vehicles.
Biodiversity Conservation and Research Circle spokesman Supun Lahiru Prakash said wildlife authorities should carry out studies on the park's capacity to accommodate vehicles before taking decisions.
He said a national park's prime purpose was to conserve wildlife within a natural environment. The secondary purpose was providing tourists an opportunity to visit and observe the wildlife while the third purpose was to raise revenue to sustain the park.
A park official said that on normal days, the earnings range from Rs. 500,000 to 700,000. But during the tourist season from November end to January the earnings soared to as much as Rs. 4 million a day.
Environmentalist Prakash said the Yala national park had become a cash cow for politicians and officials who were more concerned about the revenue that could be earned than the damage caused by allowing an uncontrolled number of vehicles to enter.
He said the drivers' movements also needed to be regulated within the park and they should be allowed to travel only on one way roads at a moderate speed which would cause less harm to the park and its wildlife.
Mr. Prakash said the drivers also needed to be educated because if the park was damaged they too would lose income.
Environment Conservation Trust Director Sajeewa Chamikara said the Government and the Department had apparently opted to market the natural resources of the wildlife parks.
He said the animals' natural behaviour patterns, migration and reproduction among other matters were affected as a result of increased exposure to vehicles.
He said that in one instance, some sloth bears were found dead due to pneumonia during the dry season after they had apparently inhaled large amounts of dust created by an excessive number of safari vehicles passing by.
Mr Chamikara said that when the DWC allowed more safari vehicles into the park, monitoring and regulating the vehicles too needed to be enforced. But with the shortstaffed department focusing more on the tourism aspect of the park, poaching was inevitable.
He said that they notified the Wildlife Minister and the DWC administrative officials at meetings and even sent memoranda to the President. But their requests were not heeded and much damaged had been caused. They were now compiling a new report on the damage caused by allowing too many safari vehicles and would send it to the Government.
But safari vehicle owners had a different view. They said they were not satisfied with the number of vehicles allowed and would insist on their full capacity of 1,000 vehicles to enter the park daily.
P.D Keerthi, who heads the Independent Safari Jeep Association said that for the present, they would accept the new vehicle limits and resume their operations.
However, he said they were also displeased over the time schedules given to them.
He said that department had decided to open the ticketing booths at5.15 a.m. and close at 8 a.m.
Only foreigners were at the gate early and Sri Lankans usually turned up around 8.30 am.m. Therefore many of their safaris were cancelled due to the closing of the counters, Mr. Keerthi said.
“For a session only 200 vehicles can enter. Other safari jeeps have to wait. At the Katagamuwa entrance also, the number of safari vehicles had been reduced from 75 to 50," he said.
Meanwhile the World Bank in a statement had raised the importance of managing vehicular traffic in the Yala national park.
"But, it’s not simply the Bank that has been raising the importance of managing this resource carefully, many Sri Lankans who have visited the park believe that the time is now to manage the resource before any significant irreversible damage is caused," the statement said. "Simply closing a block in the park is not a holistic nor sustainable solution and not the type of
solution that the Bank would propose." It said holding back funding would defeat the purpose of supporting better management.
Earlier safari jeep owners had claimed that the Government was introducing restrictions in the park on the advice of donor agencies such as the World Bank.
Meanwhile the strikes, the protests and the disputes regarding the number of safari vehicles entering the national park had resulted in the cancellation of safari tours during the past week.
In addition, because of the early closure of ticketing booths in the mornings, many tourists and locals were unable to enter the park. They had to wait for the evening tour or go back.