Water holes around Mattala closed to keep away birds and animals

By Leon Berenger

The Civil Aviation Authority has started to cover up the water holes in and around the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) to prevent birds and other wildlife species from entering the area since they could pose a serious threat to aircraft, a senior official said yesterday.

Civil Aviation Director General H.M.C. Nimalsiri said they were also removing sources of fodder such as grass, weeds and seeds that could attract the birds and the animals to the area.�In addition, flares and crackers were also being exploded to scare away the birds and the animals shortly before the arrival or departure of an aircraft, he said.

Mr. Nimalsiri claimed that this was a part of the “eco-friendly action plan” that had come into effect since the opening of the MRIA on March 18. “The only way to prevent the birds and animals from interrupting aviation traffic is to deprive them of their water and fodder. The birds descend on the water holes in search of fish and their presence goes on to attract wild animals in search of food,” the Aviation Chief explained.

He also ruled out any plans to shoot down the birds since it was not environmentally friendly and not the right thing to do.The MRIA is situated in the heart of a large bird sanctuary that attracts thousands of migrant birds each year, and environmentalists have expressed serious concern for their future wellbeing as they could get entangled with flying aircraft.

Since the airport came into operation, there have been two reported cases of mid-air collisions between aircraft and large flocks of birds.

Source:http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130407/news/water-holes-around-mattala-closed-to-keep-away-birds-and-animals-40385.html

Sethu project harmful to Lanka’s resources — SL experts

BY S. VENKAT NARAYAN Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI April 4: A high-level team of Sri Lankan marine scientists, environmentalists, geologists and marine engineers, appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, has found that the Sethusamudram Shipping Channel Project (SSCP) is detrimental to the maritime and environmental resources of the island nation.

According to a report published in The Pioneer newspaper here today, the experts were shocked to learn that India had blatantly violated all global norms like the International Law of Seas and MARPOL Convention, in conceiving the project.

In a report submitted to the Sri Lankan government, the high-powered team has expressed dismay that though the 167-km long channel lies close to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between India and Sri Lanka, the Indian government has not taken into account the environmental and maritime impact the project could have on Sri Lanka.

As per the International Law of Seas accepted by the United Nations in 1968, India should have sought the concurrence of Sri Lanka before launching the project.

"The Sethusamudram Channel lies close to the IMBL between India and Sri Lanka. Both countries should get the concurrence of each other for any construction activities which fall near the IMBL. India has violated this age-old practice and Sri Lanka will definitely take up this issue," the newspaper quoted an unnamed source close to the Sri Lankan government as saying. He said that the Sri Lankan leaders, irrespective of party affiliations were upset over the indifference shown by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government towards the island nation while taking up the SSCP.

"You can expect a strongly worded statement by the Sri Lankan government any time now. The Sethusamudram Project in all likelihood will end up in the United Nations," said the source.

The MARPOL Convention (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) is a marine environmental convention designed to minimize pollution of the seas including dumping, oil spillage and exhaust pollution.

It was formed on October 2, 1983 (as a mark of respect to Mahatma Gandhi) and as of December 2005, 136 countries, representing 98 per cent of the world’s shipping tonnage, are parties to the Convention. It has been accepted all over the world that the Gulf of Mannar as well as the Palk Bay are ecological hot spots and nothing should be done to disturb their present status.

The scientific team found that the initial dredging, infinite maintenance dredging and subsequent shipping through the channel will be disastrous to Sri Lanka.

Ariyaratne Hewage, Secretary, Sri Lankan Education Ministry, was the chairman of the committee while Professor Shantha Hennayake, a geologist of international repute and deputy vice-chancellor of the University of Peradeniya, was the vice-chairman .

The report submitted by the committee to the Sri Lankan Government has noted that, though the region through which the channel is being built is an ecologically and environmentally fragile area, no action has been taken by the Indian Government to minimize the environmental and maritime impact it could have on Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan experts have noted that the studies, primarily the project document and the Environmental Impact Analysis (EIA) study carried out by India prior to the commencement of the SSCP, are inadequate.

"These studies have not identified and evaluated the full extent of the impact. The channel design has not been optimized for minimum impact. The most pressing concern for Sri Lanka is that none of the Indian studies have proposed any mitigation measures for the impact occurring on Sri Lanka," Prof Hennayake told the Indian daily.

He said Sri Lanka has nothing against India building any channels or canals so long as they do not disturb the ecological and environmental balance of the region.

"However, this is a project which is detrimental to both India and Sri Lanka. Any dredging work along the placid waters of the Palk Bay is a sure recipe to environmental disaster.

"Strangely, India confined the study of the environmental and ecological impact of the project to their side and forgot the existence of Sri Lanka. This is saddening," he said.

The experts have warned that the marine wealth (especially fish) in the region will be destroyed permanently with the commissioning of the SSCP.

"The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Bay, lying between the two countries, are unique, biologically rich areas linking two large marine ecosystems. This stretch of the sea is a rich source of all types of fish. Unless we accurately forecast and adequately mitigate the impact of the dredging of the channel this could destroy this sensitive and fragile marine ecosystem located between the two countries. It would also impact the fishing communities on the northern and north-western coast of Sri Lanka as they mainly fish in the potential area of impact on the Sri Lankan side of the channel," said the recommendations submitted by the expert committee.

The study found that modelling studies were also inadequate. "Modelling needs to be backed by better field data to reach levels of accuracy required to satisfy the requirement of such a major undertaking. Increase in volumetric water exchange across Adam’s Bridge due to the canal and its impact on the ecology of the region has not been studied," said the report.

Source:http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=76232

Four more elephant sanctuaries to be set up in Sri Lanka next year

The Sri Lankan government has taken measures to set up four more elephant sanctuaries in the country by next year, Deputy Minister of Wildlife and Agrarian Services S.M. Chandrasena has said.
The four sanctuaries are to be set up in Horowpathana, Lunugavehera, Maduru Oya and Galgamuwa.
The wild life officials will capture and kraal the wild elephants entering into villages and harming the people and their crops in these sanctuaries.

The Minister says this move would help to minimize the human-elephant conflict and protect the elephants.
He has said that 75 percent of the sanctuary in Horowpathana in a land extent of 3,000 acres has been completed and that Rs.225 million has been allocated for the project.
Sri Lanka's wild elephant population has dwindled in the recent years and an elephant census conducted by the Wildlife Department in August 2011 found that 5,879 elephants were roaming Sri Lanka's jungles.

Source:http://www.colombopage.com/archive_12B/Nov23_1353651744JR.php

කොකාවිල් කඳවුරට ආ අසරණ අමුත්තා

යාපනයේ කොකාවිල් හමුදා කඳවුර දෙසට
විශාල කළු ගුලියක්‌ ඉකුත් 30 මහ රෑ එමින් තිබිණි.

හමුදා නිලධාරීහු එන හැම දේකටම මුහුණ දීමට සූදානමින් සිටියහ.

මේ කළු ගුලිය පිළිබඳව විපරමින් පසු වෙද්දී පෙනී ගියේ එම කළු ගුලිය යෝධ වලසකුගේ ඡායාවක්‌ බවය. මෙම යෝධ වලසා පැමිණියේ කොකාවිල් හමුදා කඳවුර ආසන්නයේ පිsහිටි වතුර වළකටය. මෙම වලසා මහත් අසීරුවෙන් ඇවිද්දේය.

කවුරුන් හෝ දඩයක්‌කාරයෙක්‌ ඇටවූ උගුලකට හසු වූ වලසා එම උගුලට සම්බන්ධ විශාල ලී කොටයක්‌ කොන්දේ රඳවාගෙනය.

බැලූ බැල්මට මෙම විශාල කොටය නිසා වලසා ඇවිද්දේ මහත් අසීරුවෙන්ය.

මෙම වලසාගේ කොන්ද බාගෙට කැඩී ඇතැයි හමුදා නිලධාරීහු විශ්වාස කළහ.

වනජීවී අඩවි නිලධාරි හේරත් මහතාට මෙම යෝධ වලසා පිළිබඳව දැනුම් දී ඇත.

පැය කාලක්‌ යැමට මත්තෙන් වනජීවී නිලධාරීන් කණ්‌ඩායමක්‌ කොකාවිල් හමුදා කඳවුර ආසන්නයට පැමිණියේය. විශාල ලී කොටයක්‌ රඳවාගෙන මහත් වේදනාවෙන් සිටි යෝධ වලසා අසුවී ඇති උගුල ගැලවීමට වනජීවී නිලධාරීහු උත්සාහ ගත්හ.

වලසා ළඟට කිට්‌ටුවීමටත් බැරිය. ඌ සිටියේ මරුවිකල්ලෙනි.

වනජීවී නිලධාරීන් මහත් අසීරුවෙන් උගුලේ බැමි ලිහන්න පටන් ගත්තේය.

පැය දෙක තුනක පරිශ්‍රමයකදී වලසා හසුවී සිටි උගුල සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම ගලවා දැමීමට වනජීවී නිලධාරීන්ට හැකිවිය.

තමන්ට වනජීවී නිලධාරීන්ගෙන් කරදරයක්‌ හිරිහැරයක්‌ නොකරන බවට තේරුම්ගත් මෙම යෝධ වලසා බැමි ලියා දැමීමෙන් පසුත් වනජීවී නිලධාරීන් අසල ගැවසුණේ හීලෑකරගත් වලසෙකු ලෙසිනි.

මඳ වේලාවකින් පසු මෙම වලසා කැලෑව තුළට රිංගා ගත්තේය.

අඩවි වන ජීවී නිලධාරි හේරත් මහතා අපට කීවේ උගුලකට හසුවූ සතුන් අතරින් වලසකුගේ ජීවිතය බේරාගත් පළමු අවස්‌ථාව මෙය නොවන බවය.

සිත්පිත් නැති මිනිසුන් මහා කැලෑවේ අහිංසක සතුන්ට තනනු ලබන මර උගුල්වලට හසුවෙන සතුන් අතර මිනිසුන්ද සිටින බව වනජීවී නිලධාරියකු පැවසීය.

වල් ඌරන් මුවන්, ගෝනුන්, ඉත්තෑවන්, හාවන් අල්ලා ගැනීම සඳහා දඩයම්කරුවන් මහා රෑ මෙසේ මර උගුල් තනන බව වනජීවී කාර්යාලය කියයි.

නෝමන් පලිහවඩන

Source:http://www.divaina.com/2012/11/11/feature07.html

Are environmental resources being embezzled?

Environmentalists claim the country’s nature reserves and wildlife in general are under severe threat due to actions of some government politicians and the ‘inaction’, and in some cases open connivance of the authorities. The main problem according to them is the sad state of affairs prevailing at the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC).
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has been in existence since 1949. The DWC is responsible for 22 national parks, 65 sanctuaries, five nature reserves, and three strict nature reserves, covering some 15 percent of the total protected areas both on land and at sea. However, environmentalists claim that the DWC is currently unable to carry out its duties efficiently due to a number of reasons and that this has resulted in many instances of wildlife coming under threat.
Sajeewa Chamikara of the Environment Conservation Trust (ECT) accused the authorities of allowing the DWC to become a “demoralized and confused” institution. “Honest officials at the Department are unable to carry out their duties and the department is losing the respect it inspired in the public and fear it inspired in wrongdoers,” he added.
Among the main reasons for the problems at the Department is the failure to fill the vacancy of the post of the DWC’s Director General (DG). The post has been vacant for well over a year now with the Secretary to the Ministry of Agrarian Services and Wildlife serving as acting DG. However, the conduct of the DG has come in for severe criticism from environmental groups, who accuse him of a host of irregularities and acts of corruption.
Environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardena and other environmentalists were “deeply puzzled” by the failure to appoint a person to the topmost position at the DWC, particularly as there were more than enough qualified individuals within the Department to fill the vacancy. “There are officers from the scientific service within the Department who are qualified for the position and yet it’s puzzling as to why the ministry secretary continues to serve as the acting DG,” he told The Nation.
Environmentalists also pointed the finger of blame at former Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife S M Chandrasena, who is now the deputy minister in charge of the same ministry. They claim the minister also chose to look the other way despite numerous instances where the conduct of the acting DG came into question.
Among the latest allegations levelled at the acting DG are that he has illegally given approval for 4,000 acres of land belonging to the Elahera-Girithale reserve to be distributed among 1,041 families in the area, and also for allowing a massive stone quarry to operate inside the reserve. The reserve functions as a major elephant corridor for herds moving from the Wasgamuwa National Park to the Minneriya National Park, according to environmentalists.
Addressing a press conference in Colombo this week, environmentalist Pubudu Weeratane accused the acting DG of transferring officers at the Department who were actively engaged in the protection of wildlife. “Even the head of the division in charge of conducting raids has been transferred,” to a national park he alleged.
A few weeks ago, environmentalists and the media shed light on the issue of private ‘eco-tourism’ operators illegally operating permanent campsites inside several of the country’s main national parks, including Yala and Wilpattu. However, Deputy Minister Chandrasena and the acting DG of the DWC rejected the accusations at the time. However, the sites were promptly removed after President Mahinda Rajapaksa issued a directive when he was informed of the activities while attending district development committee meeting in Hambantota.
When The Nation contacted Secretary to the Ministry of Agrarian Services and Wildlife and Acting Director General of the DWC Udeni Wickramasinghe regarding these allegations, he stated he would prefer to answer them in a face-to-face interview. “They (environmentalists) have been levelling many such allegations at me for a long time. I cannot answer all of them just now, but am prepared to go over them one by one and answer in an interview,” he said.
Attempts made to contact Deputy Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife S M Chandrasena proved futile as we were told he was attending a string of meetings in Anuradhapura.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa is now the Minister of Agrarian Services and Wildlife. The ministry automatically passed onto him when S M Chandrasena resigned from his post to make way for his brother S M Ranjith to become Chief Minister of the North-Central Province. As such, environmentalists point out that the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the island’s wildlife now rests on his shoulders. While welcoming the President’s directive to remove national park campsites, they point out that it is inevitable that he will be judged on his conduct in the future as well, with regard to issues facing the country’s wildlife.

Source:http://www.nation.lk

Kalutara to have first wildlife sanctuary

Various types of flora and fauna found in Kodigahakanda forest. Picture by Nissanka Wijerathna

The Kodigahakanda forest in the Olabouwa North Grama Niladhari division in Horana will be declared a sanctuary in November under the Forest Conservation Department, MEDEF President K.Munagama told the Daily News.

"This is the first wildlife sanctuary in the Kalutara district," he said.

Kodigahakanda bio-diversity centre at Gonapola was opened by Kalutara district Parliamentarian Vidura Wickramanayake on Sunday.

Various types of flora and fauna found in Kodigahakanda forest. Picture by Nissanka Wijerathna

Kodigahakanda Conservation Society and Mihithala Mithuro Environmental Development Foundation (MEDEF) with the financial support of Global Environmental Foundation (GEF) through United Nation's Development Program (UNDP), built this centre to conserve the biodiversity of the forest with the participation of the regional community. The initial financial allocation for the centre was Rs 1.5 million.

Kodigahakanda is an 18 acre secondary scrub jungle on top of a granite based hill rock, 378 feet above sea-level at its highest point. It is located in a 600 acre coconut plantation. Though the land belongs to philanthropist Rohan De Soyza, he has kept the forest without exploiting it for economic gains. He had wanted to keep the jungle unharmed for the benefit of diverse creatures living there.

According to studies, the forest has 133 varieties of flora,18 types of reptiles, 4 types of amphibians, 16 types of fish, 45 types of butterflies, 72 types of birds and 17 types of mammals.

The villagers of the region had established the Kodigahakanda Conservation Community Foundation and Mihithala Mithuro Environmental Development Foundation 16 years ago to minimize the harm caused to the forest.

Kalutara district Parliamentarian Vidura Wickramanyaka addressing the opening ceremony of the biodiversity centre, said the government should have a firm and clear policy on environment and a productive dialogue among the public to preserve the environment for the next generation. A memorandum will be presented to Parliament to declare Horana as a special environment region, he said.

The Global Environment Fund through its Small Grants Programme (SGP) provided grants to Kodigahakanda biodiversity center to improve the global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods.

Source:http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/09/29/news45.asp

Sri Lankan government denies opposition's charge of illegal sand dredging and encroachments in Wilpattu sanctuary

Sept 24, Colombo: Sri Lanka's main opposition United National Party (UNP) has alleged that illegal sand dredging was taking place in lands belonging to the Wilpattu National Park in the northwest.
UNP parliamentarian Dayasiri Jayasekera has told parliament that 15,000 cubes of sand from the Modaragan Aru river, in the park have been illegally dredged.

He has also charged that a government minister had illegally settled some families in land belonging to the sanctuary.

Jayasekera has shown photographs in parliament to prove his allegations.
Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S.M. Chandrasena however has denied the accusations saying there was no sand dredging in Modaragan Aru, except when the navy had dredged the river bank to prevent a possible flood.

As for the families in sanctuary lands, Chandrasena has said the UNP parliamentarian had shown photographs of low income families taken from elsewhere.
 Source:http://www.colombopage.com/archive_11A/Sep24_1316840687JR.php

US firm clearing virgin forests to grow banana, CEA in the dark

The Central Environmental Authority (CEA), which issues the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on any development project in the country, is unaware that more than 60,000 acres of virgin forest land have been cleared by a US based multi- national company for banana cultivation in SriLanka.

A group of environmental activists including Piyal Parakrama of the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) disclosed at a press briefing in Colombo on Thursday (18) that vast stretches of virgin forest in various parts of the country would be given to Dole Food Company.

EFL Convener Ravindra Kariyawasam pointed out that the areas that had come under Dole’s banana cultivation project included 15,000 acres from Chunnakkadu Reserve in Kantale, 11,600 acres at Kandakaduwa in Somawathiya National Park, 3,000 acres at Uva-Kudaoya in Lunugamwehera and 500 acres at Wekandawewa in Buttala.

 When The Island contacted Chairman of CEA Charita Herath for comment, he said that he was unaware of those projects and that only a narrow road inside the Sinharaja forest had been built with the CEA’s permission as it had zero impact on the forest.

Herath summoned one of his officials to verify whether the EIA reports had been obtained for the projects of the US company and the officer said the CEA had refused to approve several projects. But, clearing of 3,000 acres of forest land in Kandakaduwa in Somawathiya National park was on. Without any approval from the CEA, those projects were going ahead, she implied.

"In most of these forests vast stretches have been cleared and cultivation has commenced. In Wekandawewa, an ancient tank has been encroached on thus cutting off its water to the villagers," Kariyawasam said claiming that Galle, Puttalam, Dambulla and Hingurakgoda were likely to lose forest land to Dole banana project in future.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation report, Sri Lanka has been ranked the 4th worst country in the world in terms of deforestation for the period 2000-05.

The CEA Chairman also said that Sections 5 and 6 of the Amended Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance No. 22 of 2009, had laid down guidelines to prevent harm to the environment, therefore the environmental pressure groups were seeking legal advice on it.

Source:http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=33014

Near extinct fish faces death by dynamite

Dynamited to death in the Mahaweli Ganga at Waratenna, Getambe, has been the fate of an ‘endangered’ endemic freshwater fish which has not been sighted for at least five years and was believed to be extinct in Sri Lanka.
While for three weeks blasts have been rocking the peaceful environs of Waratenna close to the Seemamalakaya on the Peradeniya-Katugastota Road, the sudden activity in connection with the groundwork for a mini-hydro power project has left the gadeya or Green Labeo (Labeo fisheri) dead, the Sunday Times learns.
The belief was that the gadeya was extinct worldwide, says researcher Pradeep Samarawickrama, explaining that about four months ago it was re-discovered by him at Waratenna. Earlier this fish was found in the Mahaweli system, at Polgolla and near Victoria, but with the construction of the dams under the accelerated Mahaweli Scheme, their habitats were submerged and changed.

The Waratenna area in which the fish was found. Pix by Pradeep Samarawickrama

Then it was assumed that the fish may be extinct but with Mr. Samarawickrama picking up the dead and decomposed fish it now indicates that the gadeya had made the Waratenna area its home.
“These sites should be preserved,” he stressed, without indiscriminate dynamiting of the rocks embedded in the riverbed.
Another serious concern that this researcher raised was the impact of such blasting in an area which is heavily landslide-prone, with the government on one hand requesting people to be cautious.
Adding his voice to the concerns expressed by Mr. Samarawickrama including the need to preserve the ‘last habitats’ of this nearly-extinct fish, environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardena quoting Section 27 of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act said that any act or negligence that causes the death of any fish by the use of explosives is an offence.
He questioned the integrity and inaction of the Mahaweli Authority, which being the project-approving body, has the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the project that it had approved in the first instance.
Referring to the gadeya, Mr. Gunawardena said it was earlier found in areas such as Lewella, Tennekumbura and the lower regions of the Hulu Ganga but in the early 1980s it was predicted that 75% of the known habitats of this fish would go under water due to the construction of the Victoria reservoir.
“But now we realize the gadeya has been able to re-establish itself upstream,” he said.
He lamented that due to short-sighted policies, these areas too would be destroyed. “L. fisheri has been assessed as ‘endangered’ due to its restricted range (extent of occurrence less than 5,000 km2), continuing decline in habitat quality and the fact that the species is considered to be found in less than five locations,” according to the 2011 Global Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
This species is found only in the mid to upper reaches of the Mahaweli Ganga basin, it states, explaining that L. fisheri may already be extinct, as a result of habitat loss following the Mahaweli Ganga development project.
Referring to habitat and ecology, the Red List states: “L fisheri is a benthopelagic species that only inhabits deep, fast-flowing sections of the river. It has not been recorded from unshaded, silty or turbid waters. It moves fast through the water, staying close to the bottom.”
It was way back in 1980 that Ranil Senanayake predicted that the Polgolla and Victoria projects of the Mahaweli Scheme would destroy the gadeya’s habitat while in 1990, Dr. Eric Wikramanayake said that this fish may already be extinct.

Bigger than originally believed

It was believed to grow only to 30 cm. but researcher Pradeep Samarawickrama has found a gadeya which is nearly twice that size, close to 60 cm. in length.
Sadly the fish is dead, due to companies which think only of short term gain and government authorities which do not do their jobs, said a conservationist while many others joined their voices to his, in pointing an accusing finger at the Mahaweli Authority for not acting quickly, even now, to stop the destruction of the gadeyas’ habitat and re-evaluate the project.
Earlier, the known maximum length of this fish as reported by Dr. Paul Deraniyagala in his ‘Vertebrates of Ceylon’ Volume I published in the 1950s; the ‘Freshwater Fishes of Sri Lanka’ published by Rohan Pethiyagoda in 1991; and all other references was 30 cm.
However, a dead fish picked up by Mr. Samarawickrama is nearly twice that length.

Blasting going on despite warning

The company involved in the project has been warned to halt the blasting with immediate effect, said Mahaweli Authority Director-General D.M.C. Dissanayake who has sent a three-member inquiry team to the spot.
I am waiting the report, he said. However, the Sunday Times learns from residents in the area that work has not been halted and the blasting was going on even yesterday, with the whine of backhoes dumping the blasted rock onto one side continuing throughout the day, aggravating the already disturbed habitat.
Meanwhile, Central Environmental Authority Chairman Charitha Herath said that the CEA has not given its concurrence for the latest work at that spot.
The CEA has asked all stakeholders including the company involved to come for an urgent meeting on Tuesday, he said, detailing the background to the Sunday Times.
In 2007, a proposal was put forward to set up a mini-hydro power plant there and environmental approval sought. The Mahaweli Authority as the project-approving agency set the terms of reference for an environmental impact assessment (EIA). The EIA was reviewed by the Mahaweli Authority and the CEA asked for concurrence and as there were no public comments it was given, says Mr. Herath.
The concurrence was for a three-year period from February 2007 to February 2010, during which time they were supposed to build the plant. However, the project was not started and the approval expired on February 2010. Recently, CEA concurrence was requested once again, but we have not given it. That’s why we called a meeting on July 26 to discuss it. However, we have received complaints that the project has been started.
Environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardena, however, cites Section 24 B of the National Environment Act, according to which the CEA can issue a directive ordering the suspension of all activities of a project that is implemented without its permission. If this directive is not heeded the CEA can go to the Magistrate’s Court and get it implemented as a court order, he adds.

Source:http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110724/News/nws_69.html

Sri Lanka, a wildlife 'Hot Spot' - The West Australian

Sri Lanka is a wildlife Hot Spot, boasting more than 400 species of birds and large game such as buffalo, crocodile and elephant, while also reputedly being the best place in the world to spot leopards, The West Australian said. Writer Liam Creedon states after throwing off the shackles of a war, Sri Lanka has woken up to its vast tourist potential.
As a result, Sri Lanka is fast becoming a top wildlife destination and a six-day tour promised to provide a glimpse of the island's impressive diversity, he said.
Sinharaja rain forest reserve is an amphibian hotspot, with new specimens still being discovered, The West Australian added. "Our next destination was the Yala national park the island - the home of Sri Lanka's other great feline icon - the leopard," the writer said.

Courtesy www.priu.gov.lk