The Felling of a Tree
Photo courtesy Dushiyanthini When I heard that the large, beautiful trees that pave Reid Avenue in Colombo were being felled, my heart broke. I was so stirred inside – and it was…
Environment
Whose beaches in Sri Lanka?
Photo by AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe, via Sulekha During the last week of October this year, the BBC Sinhala Sandeshaya service featured a story about Sri Lankan tourism, which was in turn aired…
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…
Monsoons and Intermonsoons
Photo courtesy The New Zealand cricketers should not be surprised that their matches are being rained on. The following is from an article titled “The Language of Climate in Sri Lanka” (…
Manel Tampoe: Perceptive Chronicler of Sri Lanka’s DDT Generation
Manel Tampoe, school teacher turned journalist and environmentalist, was a force to reckon with – but she didn’t look the part. Beneath her soft spoken and demure personality, she harboured a keen…
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…
The Urgent Need of a National Water Resources Policy
Sri Lanka is endowed with rich and sustainable water resources emanating from the central highlands. The island wide average of rainfall is about 1,900 mm, almost two and a half times more…
The National Soil Question: Part 2
Read Part 1 here. The effect of clearing the forests and allowing erosion of the soil, especially on the mountain areas became obvious to scientists who visited this country. Dr. Strange, an…
The National Soil Question: Part 1
There are some very disturbing trends in the management of the land of this nation, that cries out for action, but who will hear the cry? We are ever ready to talk…
Towards an Informed Water Vision: Part 2
Through the nation water quality has become a serious problem. The Nitrate and Nitrite pollution of the groundwater on the Kalpitiya peninsula, the eutrophication of the hydroelectric reservoirs during low flow, the…
Towards an Informed Water Vision: Part 1
The three basic substances of our biosphere, Air, Water and Soil share the characteristic that they are all dynamic and vary in quality and quantity from place to place on this planet….
Rio+20 interview: “Green Economy should not justify Greed Economy!”
Environmental activist Hemantha Withanage talks to Nalaka Gunawardene in Rio de Janeiro In early June, a group of 50 Lankan civil society organisations (CSOs) active on environment, development and human rights, issued…
The Green Revolution and Rio
It has been many years of writing in the Sri Lankan media of the stupidity of the so-called Green Revolution that successive governments in Sri Lanka aided by their ‘knowledgeable ‘ scientists…