Archive for the ‘Environment’

Cutting down trees to make Colombo beautiful?

Small Road

Trees that have stood for decades are being wantonly cut down in Colombo today. Being a Poya Day, there’s not much of people and traffic in Colombo, which make the task of those around Independence Avenue easy. We received a flurry of SMS messages mid-day from people who at first didn’t believe what they were seeing. The Weeping Willows down Independence Avenue, which have been around since we are told the 1970′s, are being cut down today. View Independence Avenue in a larger map Currently they are cutting down the trees only on one side of the road, the side the National Library and Documentation Services Board is on. Groundviews spoke to the workers cutting down the trees under the supervision of Army personnel, who were present driving tractors bearing Army insignia and giving instructions on how to cut the trees down. The workers laughed when we noted that what they were doing was a joke and defacing Colombo, noting…

Continue reading »

Can a ‘Sinhala patriot’ explain pesticides, arsenic and fertiliser?

20627

Photo courtesy Arsenic and toxins found in baby rice food – what you need to know There is a new Sinhala nationalist political trend that now throws out a completely novel discourse, which ties up mythical gods as superior to “Jewish Christian Western Science” and claims, the entire Sri Lankan agriculture needs revamping. The Christian Jewish based MNCs have been providing us pesticides and fertiliser with “Arsenic”, these patriots claim. This has created many conflicts within this regime, that prompted the Agrarian Services Minister Chandrasena to publicly say and ask, “We were told to promote rice over bread and now they say rice has Arsenic. What do they want us to eat ? Grass?” And the same minister told the parliament on 06 July, the government has found the soil now has toxic contents in excess and would therefore control chemical fertiliser use by pruning its subsidy. The argument against the use of pesticides and chemical fertiliser goes thus. All…

Continue reading »

Future of Farming in Sri Lanka

sri_lanka_h_(600_x_450)

Original photo from asianews.it Farming in a sustainable, productive manner has been a hallmark of every human tradition that has endured history. There are many traditional farms existent today that have been productive for hundreds of years. Agrarian societies with long histories, posses the credibility of having sustained themselves successfully under the rigor of survival in a natural world. Having no access to fossil fuel driven technologies, they relied on renewable agriculture based upon energy sources internal to that society or region.  Expansion of farming was constrained by the environment and ecosystem of each area. The advent of fossil fuel changed all this.  The gasoline to power tractors, the biocides and fertilizer salts produced by fossil oil enabled agricultural productivity to transcend environmental constraints. It was not that movement to fossil fuel went unquestioned, when a display of the new ‘ agricultural tractor’ was done in Sri Lanka around 1933. A race was set up between the traditional buffalo drawn…

Continue reading »

Right to Food: Ecologically based agriculture

132030

Gannoruwa Agriculture Park. Photo credit Chaminda Wijesekara Background: “We” said the villager holding his dying child in that unspeakable agony only parents in such situations know, “don’t want the right to vote, just the right to live”.  In that statement lies the truth that seems to elude most development work.  There is a deeper human need than democracy or the right to vote, the right to life.  The more we look to science to validate modern society, the more evident becomes the conclusion that we humans share the same evolutionary heritage as all other life on this planet.  This evolutionary heritage, one of evolving to sustain genetic information through environments that vary in time, tells us that adaptation can only be made within finite limits.  All living things stressed beyond these limits die.  It is as simple as that.  Heat or cool a bacterium, algae or elephant beyond a certain threshold and they die.  The same holds true for all…

Continue reading »

Elephant Walk revisited: Mixing Tea, Jumbos and Monsoons

Movie Poster - Elephant Walk

[Editors note: For an in-depth interview on Sri Lanka's human-elephant conflict, see Humans vs. elephants: Sri Lanka’s tragic on-going conflict] If those hardy Englishmen and Scotsmen who ran large tea plantations in Ceylon were far removed from the local people and realities, western movie makers were much more so. They could just as well have come from another planet to catch glimpses of an exotic island. But feature film makers everywhere enjoy the artistic license to create whole new worlds, and we willingly suspend our disbelief when watching their creations. Elephant Walk (103 mins, colour), released by Paramount Pictures in April 1954, may not be the most artistic or technically perfect movie from that era. Yet, more than half a century after it was shot on location in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), the film can still hold an audience captivated with a sense of drama and intrigue. Elephant Walk was directed by William Dieterle, and based on the 1948 novel with…

Continue reading »
  • 13 May, 2011
  • 4 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Environment

Humans vs. elephants: Sri Lanka’s tragic on-going conflict

Screen shot 2011-05-13 at 4.08.32 PM

The Daily Mirror a few days ago noted that in a bid to ease the growing human-elephant conflict in the country, the Wildlife Conservation Department had undertaken moves to restrict the habitat of rogue elephants to a 2500 acre jungle area in Veheragala, Lunugamvehera and Horawapathana. Quoting the Wildlife Conservation Department’s Director General, Chandrawansa Pathiraja, the paper noted that rogue elephants from other areas would be trans-located to these locations, which will be bordered with electric fencing. Similar efforts, however, in the past have failed. Jayantha Jayewardene is the Managing Trustee of the Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust shared some thoughts on the human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka on a televised interviewed. We begin our conversation by looking at precisely why there is a human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka, looking at the issues over land use (framing) and demarcation (fencing and other means). Giving a detailed explanation of the nature and extent of the home range and the size of…

Continue reading »

In conversation with Iranganie Serasinghe: Environmentalist and cinematic icon

Screen shot 2011-04-18 at 6.01.10 PM

Iranganie Serasinghe needs no introduction to many Sri Lankans. For decades she has graced stage, cinema and televisions with characters indelibly etched in memory. I grew up with Iranganie playing Sudu Hamine in Yashorawaya as staple viewing, as much as her role in Doo Daruwo which over 5 years was an epic narrative played out on our televisions every week. Iraganie is part of the old guard of actors, trained in English method acting, starting out in theatre and then branching out to cinema and television. Her entry into cinema was with Rekava, the first Sinhalese film which was fully shot in Ceylon, the first in the country to be shot outdoors and to date, the only Sri-Lankan film to be nominated for the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes. Film-making was fundamentally different over 50 years ago, and Iranganie begins our conversation by recalling what it was like to be part of Rekava directed by the famed Lester James Peiris….

Continue reading »

Old Mannar Road and IDPs Access

35287799

Photo of Mannar-Puttalam road, courtesy Panoramio Environmentalists have gone to courts demanding that the road connecting Mannar and Puttalam that runs through the Wilpattu National Park be permanently closed. The opening of the old Mannar-Puttalam Road on January 24 2010 was seen as a crucial step in supporting the Northern IDP return process, especially for Muslims displaced from Mannar district. The Southern-most division of Mannar, Musali had the largest concentration of Northern Muslims and was the only Muslim majority division prior to the expulsion in 1990. This road provides easy and low cost access from Puttalam to Musali in Southern Mannar as opposed to the other route that goes via Medawachchiya, which takes double the time (Puttalam- Medawachchiya – Marichchukadi 235km vs Puttalam – Wilpattu – Marichchukadi – 77km) and triple the cost, from Rs. 320 versus Rs. 100. Saving Rs. 220 per trip means a lot to the IDPs. For this cost, an IDP family struggling to have one…

Continue reading »

The Wild Elephant Census in Sri Lanka

Ele2

The proposed elephant census that is to be conducted in a few months’ time by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) has generated a lot of interest among the public. Obviously, it is not something that happens every day, and there is much discussion and interest being generated in the press, as well as in other discussion forums. An elephant census is not a simple activity.  Many of us would perceive that an elephant census would involve a large number of people going around counting elephants physically.  Although the elephant is a large animal, sightings can be quite difficult in many areas because of forest cover. Also by nature elephants are wary of humans and will retreat into denser habitat when approached.  So, counting elephants and making a census, is a much more complex procedure. What is a Census? Understanding animal abundance, distribution and movement patterns is a very important aspect of wildlife management.  Measuring abundance of animal populations essentially…

Continue reading »

Monsoons: Another western conspiracy against Sri Lanka?

18 May 2010: Colombo, Sri Lanka: The unusually heavy rain and storm activity over Sri Lanka during the past few days could be the result of another international conspiracy against the resurgent island, a citizens’ science group says. “The timing and intensity of the inclement weather is too much of a coincidence, just when we were preparing to celebrate our armed forces’ great victory over the LTTE exactly one year ago,” said the Vidyartha Patriots’ Institute for Science and Society (VPISS). They added: “We suspect that a foreign hand, possibly a western country, may have tampered with our seasonal rainfall patterns. We ask the government to investigate if this could be the case.” While the south-west Monsoon rains are typically expected to commence in mid May over the western and southern areas of Sri Lanka, the intensity of the rain has surprised even experienced meteorologists. The Department of Meteorology said on 17 May that a storm was developing over Sri…

Continue reading »

The future of tourism in Sri Lanka: A conversation with Renton de Alwis

Renton de Alwis was one time Chairman for Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. As noted on this website, he has over 35 years experience in marketing, communications and tourism related areas, having worked in an international environment covering over 30 countries. In this interview we talk about the future of tourism in Sri Lanka. Renton comes out strongly in favour of the greening of Sri Lanka and eco-tourism in line with our traditions and culture. I asked him about the Akon incident, but he said he didn’t know enough to comment. After speaking at length about the environment, Renton in the last minutes of the interview went on to ardently support the commercial use of land in Kalpitiya, owned by the State, for tourism purposes. He noted that the best use for this land would be to turn it into a gambling centre, modelled on the lines of Macau. Details about the proposed developments in Kalpitiya can be found on…

Continue reading »

A Reply to Tissa Devendra on Rebuilding Sri Lanka

[Editor's note: Devanesan Nesiah provides a rejoinder to Tissa Devendra's vehement response to his article 'Rebuilding Sri Lanka' that was published first on Groundviews and then later in the Island.] The venomous response of Devendra in the Island of 16th March does not merit a reply but I need to set the record straight. As I said in my original entry, “The primary fault is with neither the visitors nor the locals” which is very different to what Devendra seeks to imply. He takes offence over my citing the critical observations of a very distinguished Sinhalese. Rebuilding Sri Lanka requires self-critical acknowledgement of the damage done to the Sri Lankan nation over the decades by the racist policies of Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim leaders and by insensitive conduct and practices. It also requires a willingness to engage in corrective action. The corrective action includes not only political reforms but also sensitizing the population and lowering the barriers to inter ethnic communication. The…

Continue reading »
  • 9 Mar, 2010
  • 3 Comments
  • Colombo,
    Environment

Death of a Green Activist: Tribute to Piyal Parakrama (1960 – 2010)

L to R - Nalaka Gunawardene, Mark Harvey (Internews) & Piyal Parakrama in Nepal, Oct 1996

Piyal Parakrama on Sri Lanka 2048 TV show Piyal Parakrama’s smile was regular and genuine, but it could be also be a bit misleading. Those who engaged him found that there was a keen mind, passionate heart and a sharp (yet always courteous) tongue behind that disarming smile. Opponents dismissed him lightly at their peril. In public and media debates, Piyal could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. That flutter and buzz are now abruptly silenced with his sudden death on March 3 at age 49. Another public spirited player has left the stage all too soon. Piyal combined the roles of environmentalist, educator, researcher and media personality. He wasn’t part of the Colombo elite dabbling in a bit of green activism (mostly concerning wildlife or garbage) in their spare time. Instead, he straddled the parallel worlds of grassroots reality and the often ephemeral preoccupations of Colombo. Not many knew him in formal capacities as the Executive…

Continue reading »

Rebuilding Sri Lanka

A perceptive and sensitive Sri Lankan has noted; “It is reported that the people of the North, especially in the Jaffna district, have developed a feeling of dissatisfaction, disaffection and contempt towards the people of the South, who post the end of the war are now engaging in pilgrimage and sightseeing related visits to the North in large numbers, and in the process totally disregarding the need for privacy, encroaching on meagre infrastructure resources and services of the district, causing significant negative impact on the environment/cleanliness and pollution in the area, and behaving in a manner unacceptable by the cultural and religious values of the Northerners. These negative feelings are expressed in relation to the following issues highlighted in support of the claim; 1. Large and unrestricted numbers of pilgrims are traveling from the South to the Jaffna District especially to visit Naghadhipa, Nallur Kovil, Madhu Church and other places of religious worship and there are no adequate infrastructure facilities…

Continue reading »

Concentration camps for animals

Some of the recent deaths of animals in captivity in our zoological gardens, had been blamed on the visitors. The real blame should be accepted by the authorities who manage these prisons. Who collect innocent animals from around the country, and from around the world and who keep these animals in small cages for life. The only escape for the animals is through death. Death would be a really welcome relief for them. These animals and birds are captured, separated from their parents and siblings and separated from their habitat, their food, their playgrounds, their hunting grounds. We bring animals who live in very cold climates and also from tropical rain forests and deserts. We bring animals who are used to changing seasons, who migrate from one place to another with the seasons, who hibernate. Then we also send our own animals to live in arid climates or permanently cold regions. We try to train some of these animals to…

Continue reading »
Page 2 of 3123

About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

cezarneaga.eu
canakkale canakkale canakkale balik tutma search canakkale vergi mevzuati bagimsiz denetim vergi mevzuati ozurlu engelliler