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| Sunday, 31 October 2004 |
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Features |  |
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New order pirates Loopholes in the law safeguarding flora and fauna of the country has made gene piracy a serious threat to Sri Lanka's bio-diversity. by Shanika Sriyananda
It was almost mid-night. The staff at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake were busy issuing boarding passes and screening passengers checking in. A young German woman in a 'big' leather jacket was standing in the queue. She appeared to be pregnant and travelling alone. However, her 'frequent visits' to the ladies restroom made the customs officials suspicious. And the suspicion was proved valid when a lady officer followed the young woman to the restroom and discovered she was not pregnant. The bulk that 'appeared' to be the protruding belly was in fact a baby monkey hidden inside her big leather jacket. The tiny creature, resting in a small baby carrier inside the leather jacket, was bottle- fed by the 'white mum' during her frequent visits to the rest room. Customs officials acted swiftly in apprehending the woman and taking the monkey into protective custody. Smuggling endangered fauna and flora out of the country without permission is a punishable offence and those attempting to sneak out these species be it even an 'adorable monkey cannot be condoned. The incident with the German woman and the monkey occurred way back in 1992. But customs officials who have tightened up the loose end s and prevented many gene pirates from succeeding in their task, recall the incident as a turning point to heightened vigilance .
They recall how the young woman pleaded with them to give the monkey back to her claiming to have found it in a remote village while it was in a critical condition due to injuries sustained from a fall. Calling the monkey her son, she had pleaded : "Give my baby back. He can not live without his mum. Please...!", After a hard struggle the officials had taken her to her scheduled flight and the tiny creature to the Dehiwala Zoo. Since the incident custom officers at the BIA have been keeping a watchful eye on what's being taken out of the country. But the Sri Lanka Customs Department (SLCD), which has prevented a large number of the country's indigenous natural resources from being smuggled out during the past few years, lament its lack of power to nab gene hunters. In the recent past, dedicated nature lovers keeping a 24-hour vigil at the BIA have been able to expose several rackets involving the import of dried jackal heads, tiger nails and teeth and elephant hair for distribution among some local kovils, the import of bumble bees, and the export of 'kothala himbutu' and edible birds nests. According to records of the Bio-diversity Unit, Export Division of the SLCD, the main culprits of gene piracy are gene hunters coming to the country disguised as 'researchers', who exploit indigenous plants. The plants have immense medicinal value and the potential for curing many serious ailments. Samantha Gunasekara, Head, Bio-diversity Unit, Export Division of the SLCD, claims that loopholes in the law, soft punishments and the low fine system coupled with political blessings for gene hunters hinder their efforts at controlling gene smuggling. The detection records of the Division give an indication of the efforts taken by the customs officers to bring the gene pirates before the law since its establishment. Among the detections are bird feathers, snake skin (hand bags), edible bird nests, deer skins, butterflies, butterfly cocoons, animal parts - paws, nails, teeth, jackal heads. tube worms, snail skin brief case and various varieties of rare indigenous flora. According to Gunasekara, loopholes in No. 02 of the Fauna and Flora Ordinance of 1937 and its amended Act No 49 of 1993 and No 02 of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Act of 1996, make the controlling of gene piracy difficult due to contradictions in certain regulations of these two Acts. " Under Section 40 of the Flora and Fauna Ordinance no one can export any part of species of birds, fish, snakes and coral without a permit from the Director DWLC. But under section 30 of the Fisheries Act, the authority for export regulations lies with the Minister", he pointed out. Gunasekara also claimed that very rare indigenous fresh water fish species was threatened due to over exportation and lack of legal protection. "Exportation of these fish species are not banned according to 1036/13 and 1098/03 gazette notifications issued under the Fisheries Act. The fish that cannot be exported under these regulations are the very common ones with poor export demand. These fish do not need any protection", he pointed out. Gunasekara said that country's aquatic resources had been seriously threatened due to the surprising contradictions in the laws. According to him, under Section 37 of the Flora and Fauna Ordinance a permit from the DWLC Director is essential to export fresh water fish species, which are very rare and indigenous, listed in annexure iv of the Ordinance. "Though the international Conventions such as CITES and IUCN are seriously considering conservation measures for sharks, crabs and lobsters, we have still not thought of them. They are highly depleted due to over exploitation because they are not covered by any of the country's laws. ", he lamented. Laws and regulations to cover plant exports are not strong enough to prevent rare and indigenous herbal and agricultural plant species from being taken abroad illegally. " The country's medicinal and rare plants as well as agricultural germ plasm piracy cannot be controlled due to the loopholes in the law. Under the Forest Ordinance, forest produce cannot be exported, but the definition of forest produces is very difficult to implement. When an exporter declares that the plants are nursery propagated, we cannot apply the regulations in the Forest Ordinance. Therefore we have problems in controlling germ plasm. Under Plant Protection Ordinance and the Water Hyacinth Ordinance (Japanjabara Ordinance) there are regulations to control plant export but they have not been implemented so far", Gunasekara pointed out. An animal quarantine comes under Quarantine and Prevention of Diseases Ordinance. The SLCD does not have the authority to control the import and export of domestic animals. The Department lacks power to ban the imports of used equipments like cages that come under BOI projects. "Infected animals may come to the country but we are helpless. But we cannot control this due to BOI regulations", he added. Jagath Gunawardna, an environmental lawyer said that those who engage in bio-piracy and bio-theft are not uneducated, but highly knowledgable. According to Gunawardena, the Flora and Fauna Ordinance and Forest Act are adequate to tackle gene piracy but the regulations under these laws should be implemented soon. Apart from the weak laws, the Customs, according to Gunasekara, faces practical problems such as lack of coordination with other departments, shortage of officers with poor knowledge in flora and fauna and attempts by the Board of Investment (BOI) to overrun the national legislations. "The involvement of academics in gene piracy have also gone up. Two academics, one Sri Lankan researcher from the Sri Jayawardenapura University and a team of Italian academics connected to the Ruhuna University were detected with plant materials during the last few months. It is easy for researchers to become gene hunters taking advantage from the privilege they have as researchers. Compared to normal profit, the profit from the illegal trade is 200 per cent ", he added. Gunasekara, who faced death threats from high government officials including ministers, 'professors and doctors' on several occasions after massive detections, claimed that they have difficulties in doing their duty due to political pressure urging them to 'throw the cases to the dustbin'. "But as true nature lovers and officers with limited resources, we do our best from dawn to dusk to protect the country's plants and animals from being taken abroad illegally", he said, requesting the assistance of foreigners and locals to bring the unscrupulous gene hunters before the law. ************** Is he the right man? The appointment of a professor implicated in gene piracy, for the highest post of a government research institute has infuriated many environmentalists who fear he will use his position to smuggle out significant gene plasm. The professor was caught by the SLCD while he was attempting to smuggle out genes of some medicinal plants in the form of extractions. According to SLCD sources, though the inquiry into the smuggling incident was completed one year ago, the charge sheet is yet to be handed over to him by the inquiring officer. Eco-groups also alleged that the professor is very 'popular' for gene piracy and he has connections with some of the 'notorious' international companies, involved in gene piracy from third world countries. "He has political influence", said environmentalists who are dissatisfied with the government's decision to appoint him to such a high position, where he can smugglle more genes of medicinal plants easily using his official status. The professor is out of the country and was not available for comment. |
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