Colombo Port City: Consequences of reneging a promise
I am sure that I speak for many of us who took the promise of the Prime Minister that the Port City’ project was to be scrapped. Now, it seems that it…
Author: Ranil Senanayake
On Restoring Forests
It is rumored that the Government will set about the task of having 35% of Sri Lanka covered with forest. If so, that is a laudable goal. But one hopes that this…
Rape of the Giants
Do you remember what a large tree looked like? Once they were all around us, not just the forest giants like the Hora or Palu, but the fine old Mango and Jak…
The Right to Life: Is it a fundamental human right?
Image courtesy “We don’t want the right to vote, just the right to live” the villager said, holding his dying child in his arms. This is the simple truth that seems to…
Ode
The following poem was read out to the Sri Lanka parliament by the Hon Lakshman Jayakody and appeared in the Hansard 1998. It was reprinted in the ‘Anthology of the Galle Literary…
Vesak Reflections
Image courtesy This Vesak Day I was reflecting on the centuries of Buddhist tradition and the cultural response, recorded in the magnificent constructions and spiritual art that withstood centuries of exposure to…
Gratitude for Life
While the word biodiversity is gaining currency worldwide as a result of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) an internationally binding set of agreements. Whose articles are legally binding and used today…
Dead men do tell tales
Photo courtesy Sri Lanka Guardian Watching the current commentary on the mass grave in Matale “There are allegations that the bodies are those of victims of a small pox outbreak from a…
Unseasonal Rains
Devo vassatu Kalena (may the rains fall in due season) Sassa sampattu hetu ca (may there be a rich harvest) Phito bhavatu loko ca (may the world prosper) Raja bhavatu dhammiko (may…
Echoes of Cuba
Photo by Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg, via Bloomberg I walk the hills rising from an azure blue Caribbean sea, and try to envision the history that I have been told, a history of an island,…
On the felling of trees
Photo courtesy Dushiyanthini “The trees being cut-down on Reid Avenue are the perfect example of the kind of ‘development’ that Colombo, and some other parts of Sri Lanka, are now facing.” (http://groundviews.org/2012/12/03/the-felling-of-a-tree/) …
Forests: Beyond The Wood II
According to the FAO, 28.8% or about 1,860,000 ha of Sri Lanka is covered by trees. Of this only 9.0% (167,000) is classified as primary forest, the most biodiverse and carbon-dense form…
Forests: Beyond The Wood I
It is time to recognize the fact that much of the investment in “forests” up to date has missed the forest for the wood. We have engaged ourselves in actions that addressed…
Facing an Uncertain Future: A ‘non-suba anagathayak’
Photo courtesy Bindaas Madhavi While the so-called ‘rulers’ prance about in their hubris, ignoring the global events that will also affect us, there is very serious concern that ‘We Are ‘Entering A Long-Term…
Protecting Sri Lanka’s Ocean
Sri Lanka is exposed as the worst polluter of the Indian Ocean. The new maps on human impact on the world’s oceans are now on the web (http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/globalmarine ). Although there had…