You’ve probably seen this:

Sri Lanka lacks forest data for REDD+ funds, 23 April 2012,
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/sri-lanka-lacks-forest-data-for-redd-funds.html

Politicians try to play havoc with ecology:

Can elephants survive in a a place without a lot of trees?

http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=33364
Orphaned elephants to be sent to Mullaiththeevu, 10 January 2011

The word sustainable development is bandied around when in actuality the lifestyles we lead are far from sustainable. We talk about reducing the carbon footprint, water foot print etc but these do not compensate the debit we have with mother nature. We want to clean up and landscape places giving them a clinical urban look by destroying the huge trees and shrubs which were part of the natural vegetation. Our idea of beauty is to have huge concrete structures interspersed with a few mangy looking trees here and there.

Until and unless there is a concerted effort to develop new policies, strategies and technologies using scientific methods to redress and maintain the natural balance, we will continue to transgress and destroy our habitat. A redefinition of sustainable development and sustainable living is required. Otherwise we are merely fooling ourselves and tipping the balance towards large scale ecological disaster.

Dear Peter,

Thank you for your suggestion. We have begun an initiative in Sri Lanka http://conservecarbon.org and http://conservationcarbon.org we will initiate contact with soilcarboncoalition.org . A useful reference in addressing Soil Carbon is. Senanayake, R. 1993 Soil Ecology, Agriculture and the Greenhouse Effect. Australian Journal of Soil and water Conservation 6 (1) : 27-30.
Your direction is appreciated.
Best
Ranil

Hello George,

Thanks for your query. The 1% increase in albedo can give us respite from the current trend. It does not mean that it will allow us to continue polluting. Its like holding a better umbrella in the rain it will stop us from getting wet for a while, but if there is no let up in the rain (ie GHG’s) we will eventually get wet. Remember that we have reduced the albedo by our actions in clearing the forests of the planet, it is one of the few things can affect global warming with without getting into geo-engineering.

From my perspective, geo-engineering is a very dangerous exercise . It is unproven and the consequences, if negative will be disastrous. I believe that the precautionary principle, must be invoked in all geo-engineering proposals and no application in the real world be allowed until the benign nature of that particular technology is proven.

Regards,
Ranil

As always an interesting read. I however am not convinced with this statement: “Creating a 1% cooling by albedo can help definitely stabilize the climate”. It’s categorical nature gives pause for concern.

Can we continue to load the atmosphere with GHGs at the rate that we are currently doing and expect a 1% albedo affect to take us out of the current climate change mess? The climatic system is a lot more complex than that and I don’t believe there are simple fixes.

I hope you are not someone who subscribes to the geo-engineering approaches currently gaining currency in some quarters of the climate change debate; they dream of large solar reflectors in outer space to divert sunlight away from earth!

Cheers
GTBP

But to move in a constructive direction will require more than fighting fossil fuel addiction. There also needs to be a move to grow power, manage for what people want and need, such as increased soil organic matter.

One suggestion I have for Sri Lanka is to start a Soil Carbon Challenge using local expertise. It is a bottom up rather than top down strategy, and involves monitoring soil carbon change on creative, committed land stewards. It is strategy to grow power, literally at the grassroots.

soilcarboncoalition.org/starting-challenge

much more info on this website.

regards, and happy to share information

Peter Donovan
soilcarboncoalition.org

http://www.sangam.org/2012/04/Turbulent_Waters.php?uid=4670

http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=1513921377

do.

The ecological health of coastal areas of a small island is inseparable from that of the inland.