Conservation in 2021: A Year Like No Other
In 2021, the Covid-19 pandemic devastated the world and under its malevolent cloak, Sri Lanka’s environment, wildlife and wilderness had to face some of the greatest threats they have ever had. Not…
Environment
A Disastrous 2021 and Conservation Challenges in 2022
Environmental conservation in Sri Lanka is as challenging as the economy of the country. Environmental degradation is fully supported and carried out with the blessings of corrupt politicians. This has been the…
Making Cash from Trash
The organic fertilizer ship from China was one of the hotly debated topics in Sri Lanka. The quality of the fertilizer shipment, which resulted heated exchanges between the stakeholders, almost sparked a…
Smashing Fertilizer Myths
About a decade ago, a statement by a medical doctor in the United States made overnight headlines. He was a popular television personality too. When he learned about the presence of arsenic…
Gotabaya Rajapaksa: A Two Year Timeline
To coincide with the end of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s second year in office, the Centre for Policy Alternatives produced a video timeline detailing some of the defining moments of the President’s past…
Study Shows Civil War Caused Long Lasting Trauma in Birds
Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war left a lasting impression on humans and animals. For me, being part of this study gave me the opportunity to be the first person in my family…
Sri Lanka at COP26: Hypocrisy and Doublespeak
While President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his ministers make glib statements on their commitment to preserving and protecting the environment and Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity, the conditions on the ground are at odds…
Scattering The Gathering: Intentional or Unintentional?
In a media release dated October 21, 2021 Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Environment, in requesting a National Eco-tourism Plan to promote the tourism industry as well as environmental…
Rivers Sustain a Fragile Planet
World Rivers Day is celebrated on last Sunday in the month of September. Rivers provides us many goods and services. Yet the value of rivers has been ignored by both people and…
The Sordid Tale of the Captive Elephant Industry and Legitimation of Wildlife Crime
Not long after the dust had settled following the government’s long war with Tamil separatism and terror, news filtered in of the kidnapping of baby elephants from the wild. Some dry zone national parks…
All We Need Is the Air That We Breathe
“Tiny, invisible particles of pollution penetrate deep into our lungs, bloodstream and bodies. These pollutants are responsible for about one-third of deaths from stroke, chronic respiratory disease, and lung cancer, as well…
Realistic or just Rhetoric? The Ban on Chemical Fertilizer
In early 2021, a survey conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, found that farmers faced food insecurity as a result of the measures that had been put into place to…
Development or Survival? Why We Need Trees
Sri Lanka’s country statement to the 21st Conference of the Parties (known as COP21) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Paris in 2015 stated, “We are aware that…
Development or Survival? Out of Balance
Sri Lanka’s country statement to the 21st Conference of the Parties (known as COP21) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Paris in 2015 stated, “We are aware…
Development or Survival? The Heat is Killing
In 1979 an official communique displayed in the news media proclaimed, “No oil means no development and less oil less development. It is oil that keeps the wheels of development moving.” But…