Equilibrium between environment and development a must

By Minister Patali CHAMPIKA RANAWAKA

"It is indeed a great pleasure and a privilege to be with an important group of knowledgeable persons of your calibre this morning, and to participate in the proceedings of the Ceremonial Session of the Institute of Environmental Professionals Sri Lanka.

The Environment profession is not new to Sri Lanka. For over two thousand years Sri Lankan professionals proved their capacity by constructing a network of thousands of man-made reservoirs and world architectural wonders.

The philosophy of conservation dated back to King Devanampiya Tissa (247-207 BC). During his hunting trip at Mihintale, Arahat Mahinda son of the Emperor Asoka of India explained the first principle of modern environmental law - the principle of trusteeship of resources - explaining in His own words "O great King, the birds of the air and the beasts have as equal a right to live and move about in any part of the land as thou. The land belongs to the people and all living beings; thou art only the guardian of it". This is a Buddhist notion of not causing harm to others and it is well translated into environmental attitudes.

The country embarked on a historical journey. During the recent period large-scale infrastructure development projects started in all parts of the island such as second international airport in Hambantota, Hambantota harbour, Colombo- Matara Expressway, Colombo Katunayaka Expressway, Colombo- Matara railway line, Thermal Power Plant in Norocholai, Moragahakanda irrigation and settlement project and Upper Kotmale hydro-power project. In addition to the above, the most urgent need is to resettle the internally displaced people (IDPs) in the North. In order to maintain the balance of environment and development, capacity enhancement in all sectors is an urgent need. The need to incorporate environmental considerations in the development process is well recognized in Sri Lanka. Environmental Impact Assessment of large scale projects is now a well established process in Sri Lanka.

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a process whereby the environmental impacts of policies, plans and programs are assessed prior to implementation. Although SEA is very well established in many western countries it is not very widely practised in our region. Strategic Environmental Assessment is a powerful tool to assess the possible impacts of strategic decisions such as policies, plans and programs. Sri Lanka is well ahead of other countries in this region as we have already carried out SEA for the Trincomalee development plan and the SEA for Hambantota has just commenced. Plans are also underway to carry out a similar exercise for the Northern Province. With the expected large scale development in the North, a Strategic Environmental Assessment at this point of time will be timely and will ensure a sustainable development process for the North.

The private sector is one of the main stakeholders of the present development process. Therefore, efficient mobilization and building partnerships with the private sector is needed to facilitate the above construction process. Professionals in the field of environment must keep in mind to work in harmony with private sector agencies as the main stakeholder. In return, it is a social obligation of the private sector to initiate sponsorship in the areas of protection and development of environment. In this process, the task of the professionals is to maintain the correct balance between environment and development and not to misuse environmental rules and regulations.

The global economic crisis has proved beyond any doubt that the current mode of development practised by many countries is not sustainable in the long run. The focus on short term profits and lack of attention to environmental degradation has resulted in a huge ecological deficit. The current indexes used to measure development does not take into account the natural resources which are being exploited in order to maintain lifestyles, especially in the west.

The long term solution to the current worldwide crisis is the adoption of green economy concepts. Adoption of such concepts is not foreign to us in Sri Lanka as our ancestors were well aware of the need to protect the environment for the use of future generations while making use of it for the present generation. There is an urgent need to bring back such concepts into our development process. The contribution of environmental professionals is vital in this regard and the Institute of Environmental professionals can play a big role in this regard.

Awareness of the future generation on the need to protect the environment and to adopt lifestyles which do not add an unnecessary burden on the environment is essential if we are to preserve the earths resources for future generations.

The Institute of Environmental Professionals has an important role to play in the maintenance of high standards in the environmental field and its professionals. I feel that the institute though established very recently, is going in the right direction and has achieved quite a lot within the short period of its existence. I wish the Institute success in it endeavours to improve the profession in Sri Lanka."

Above is the address made by Minister of Environment and Natural Resources at the ceremonial session of the Annual Convention of the Institute of Environmental Professionals in Sri Lanka held at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute, last Friday.