The empty forests

Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society:

by Ravi Corea and Samantha Mirandu

There are not many cultures in the world or religions that can boast of giving consideration to the environment or nature as part of their core inherent values or beliefs.

This is where the traditional Sinhalese culture imbedded in the concepts of Buddhism stands out amongst a multitude of global cultures that for the most part has practised or still practising an agenda of exploitation and plundering of nature.

The environment values that is apparent today in global societies is mostly driven by the awareness of the material (scientific and economic) value of nature rather than due to any inherent cultural or spiritual value.

Ahimsa is an important tenet of Buddhism (and also of Hinduism and Jainism) that bars the killing or injuring of living beings and it has been a guiding principle of traditional Sinhala culture.

Ahimsa is closely associated with the belief that violence entails in negative karmic consequences. This could be one of the reasons why even after nearly 500 years of European colonial rule much of Sri Lanka's wilderness as well as biodiversity had survived, at least until now.

Sri Lanka is a country that can pride itself of having created one of the first sanctuaries for wildlife in the world. Soon after converting to Buddhism one of the first acts of King Devanampiyatissa (307 - 267 BC) was to create a sanctuary for wildlife.

Unfortunately for a country with such an incredible legacy - in the recent past Sri Lanka has been dogged with civil strife and conflicts with wildlife.

Both have and in fact are indelibly contributing to the current rampant destruction of forests and wildlife, which will leave Sri Lanka devoid of her greatest natural assets that earned her accolades such as Serendib, Taprobane and "one of the best islands in the world."

Human elephant conflict has been one of the most conspicuous environmental issues that have grabbed media headlines and the attention of the government and the public for several years now. While human elephant conflict can be claimed as one of the biggest environmental and socio-economic crisis in the Dry Zone of rural Sri Lanka today there is a far more serious issue that is cause for concern.

Due to perceived threats from scattered terrorist groups weapons have been distributed amongst rural villagers and Home Guards. The Home Guards have been armed with T-56 automatic rifles while farmers have been given shotguns to protect themselves from armed terrorists.

Today firearms have become ubiquitous in the rural backwoods. The situation is further exacerbated by the large number of trap guns that are laid in forests as well as in cultivations. Observations made while conducting fieldwork in areas such as Lahugala, Seruwila and Lunugala shows poaching is happening everyday.

In the Lahugala area the average toll due to indiscriminate poaching by Home Guards and farmers is 7 animals per week. In Seruwila the situation is even worse gunshots can be heard practically throughout the day.

According to local sources game meat is freely available, which was supported by the observations that were made. Game meat is openly transported in old fertilizer bags and gunny bags. There was an instance where a Home Guard was observed selling game meat from a bicycle.

Based on these observations it is obvious the situation in other parts of Sri Lanka must be similar or worse. Compared to the prices for chicken which sells at Rs. 380-480 per kilogram, beef at Rs. 300 per kilogram and pork at Rs. 420 per kilogram, the price of venison and wild boar is Rs.300 per kilogram. Field surveys conducted in Lahugala and Hulannuge over the past 3 years show a very obvious decline of all the large wild animals.

At the beginning of the field surveys 3 years ago the physical presence and signs left behind by large wild animals were frequently encountered in the Lahugala forests. Today mostly squirrels are to be seen and there is a marked absence of large wild animals.

In addition to poaching the illegal clearing of forests for encroachment and illegal logging are devastating these forests that were once teaming with wildlife.

What is most unfortunate is that these forests have been hardly studied to record their biological wealth.

It is apparent that efforts must be made to educate the Home Guards as well as the farmers to increase their awareness about the consequences of indiscriminately annihilating the wildlife and destroying the forests in their neighbourhoods.

There is a ray of hope in some villages where the Home Guards themselves have created Societies called Meththa Samajaya which they run very actively.

It is of utmost importance to give these societies all the encouragement and support. It is also important to develop awareness programs in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense especially for the Civil Security Forces since they will continue to play a vital role in providing security to rural villages that are in the former conflict and border areas.

If these steps are not taken immediately then Sri Lanka will be left with vast empty spaces to remind us of our own negligence, lack of stewardship and appreciation of the natural wealth of our country. It would be a sad day indeed when we will have only empty forests to show for the incredible legacy that was left behind for us by our forefathers.