Ecosystem Restoration is Not a Choice But an Imperative
Making of a blue-green planet Planet Earth was formed nearly 4.5 billion years ago. As far as we know it is the only planet that supports life. Life evolved and flourished in…
Environment
The X-Press Pearl Fire – A Disaster of Unimaginable Proportions
After 12 days, the ship MV X-Press Pearl finally sank about 9.5 nautical miles from the Colombo harbour. It has not sunk fully because it is touching a coral bed. The ship…
Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees
The Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku or forest bathing, is now used as a de-stress practice in many western countries. The idea is to be in a forest, preferably alone, just sit…
Human–Elephant Conflict: Lessons Not Learnt
In 1949, a year after Sri Lanka gained independence, a Committee on the Preservation of Wildlife (Sessional paper XIX – 1949) recommended that when development takes place, elephants living in the proposed…
Saving Sinharaja: Many Layers of Protection But Threats Continue
Sinharaja’s conservation status is of “significant concern”. According to the World Heritage Outlook, published by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Sinharaja has been assessed in 2020 as a World Heritage…
Saving Sinharaja: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Sinharaja Rainforest has been in the public eye for a few weeks now. Is it being threatened by encroachment and development? Will it lose its UNESCO World Heritage status? Are there…
Preserving and Protecting Precious Water Sources
World Water Day 2021, at the start of a critical decade for climate action and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), opens with an outcry by stakeholders about the impacts of ongoing rampant deforestation…
Where Journalists Self-abduct and Ecocide is Green
To mark the Global Climate Action Day, the youth wing of the Wild Life and Nature Protection Society put up a massive mural decrying ecocide. The President’s environmental-loving soul was lacerated by…
When Crying in the Wilderness is Just Not Enough
“Knowledge is power: You hear it all the time but knowledge is not power. It’s only potential power. It only becomes power when we apply it and use it.” Jim Kwik These are…
Environment, Development and Farmers’ Struggle in Walsapugala
These are some of the ideas that were heard recently from various parties in the dialogues and debates on environment and development. The essence of these expressions is the notion that the…
Conservation of Sri Lanka’s Iconic Pair of Land Mammals
Although Sri Lanka is a richly biodiverse island and is accordingly famed for its wildlife abundance, its varied eco-systems spread throughout the island, two land mammals in particular have achieved an iconic…
Obliterating the Future by Committing Ecocide
Oxford Languages Every day in Sri Lanka, newspapers, television and social media platforms cite examples of ecocide, a terrible crime that spells doom to the future of all life, human and otherwise….
Geneva and Other Fateful Trysts
The Defence Secretary is shocked, outraged, and flummoxed. The National Security Council has discussed the ongoing environmental devastation. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men (airmen too) have been mobilised…
Committing Ecocide: The Desecration of a Green and Pleasant Land
Whenever President Gotabaya Rajapaksa embarks on a “discussion with the villagers” visit, Sri Lanka’s environmental defenders shudder in anticipation of yet another verbal executive order resulting in the destruction of more trees,…
Other State Forests and the Conservation of Sri Lanka’s Rainforest Biota
Circular MWFC/1/20201 issued on 4 November by the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation has caused widespread concern and consternation. This circular seeks to make all Sri Lanka’s other state forests (OSFs)…
