
Botanical gardens in each Pradeshiya Sabha area
Sri Lanka has many botanical gardens such as the Peradeniya Gardens,
and most of you would have visited at least one of them.

If it was the distance that prevented you from visiting them, it
won't be a problem any more! Why? Because the Botanical and Zoological
Gardens Promotion Ministry has drawn up plans to set up a botanical
garden in each Pradeshiya Sabha area.
This will be a public attraction and will beautify the environment
too.
The first stage of this programme will see botanical gardens being
set up under 10 Pradeshiya Sabha areas. They are Kuruwita, Dambulla,
Beliatte, Tamankaduwa, Wennappuwa, Minuwangoda, Bibile, Weligama,
Mawanella and Galgamuwa.
The project will facilitate the conservation of rare species of trees
and medicinal plants in those areas, and the imparting of valuable
botanical knowledge to researchers.
This will be a good opportunity for you too.
Once this project is completed, you can visit a botanical garden
which is situated closer to you, without having to travel halfway around
the country.
Yan Oya irrigation project
Remember, recently we wrote about the government's plans to set up
several reservoirs to provide drinking water to the people. On a similar
plane, the government has now started construction work on the Yan Oya
irrigation scheme. The biggest ever irrigation scheme to get under way
within the dry zone, after the Mahaweli project, it's estimated to cost
over Rs. 300 million.
The Yan Oya project will start from the south bank of Ellepothana,
while work on the left bank will start from Wadigahawewa. Both banks of
the oya will provide irrigation facilities to 20,000 acres - 10,000
acres each - in the Trincomalee, Horowpothana, Kahatagasdigiliya and
Pulmuddai areas during both seasons.
Meanwhile, with the Yan Oya being dammed, water will be provided to
another 40 smaller tanks. Agricultural lands will receive water through
these.The irrigation scheme consists of three stages, and with the
completion of all three stages, 100 tanks and reservoirs will be
rehabilitated to provide irrigation facilities to 20,000 acres of paddy
land. All three stages are expected to cost over Rs. 1,000 million.
The North Central Province and a part of the Northern Province are
facing a severe water problem, and this project is expected to provide a
lasting solution to this problem.
Measures to control marine, coastal pollution
The marine and coastal areas have an impact on the whole Earth, and
pollution of these areas have a damaging effect on all living
environments. Thus, new measures are to be taken to control marine and
coastal pollution, as outlined in a report released by the Marine
Pollution Prevention Authority (MPPA).
The report highlighted the connection between marine pollution and
the harmful effects it has on the whole environment.
The National Oil Spill Contingency Plan (NOSCP) prepared by the MPPA
provides guidelines on controlling such activities which threaten the
environment. An NOSCP report also outlined the steps which should be
taken in this regard.
The ocean provides many resources to us, but oil spills reduce the
value of these resources. They cannot always be prevented however, and
when they happen, the consequences have to be faced and dealt with.
Pollution in the ocean affects not only the ocean itself, but the whole
biosphere.
The MPPA is the agency designated to carry out marine pollution
prevention-related activities, through the Marine Pollution Prevention
Act No. 59 of 1981. One of its more important functions is to handle
environmental threats from marine pollution.
The NOSCP, which has been prepared by the MPPA, provides guidelines
to control such activities threatening the environment. The report
emphasised the challenges faced in creating such an environment.
The cooperation of the public is essential to address marine
pollution, and the MPPA appealed to District Secretaries for assistance
in conducting public awareness campaigns in this regard. Such a campaign
is already under way in the oceanic zone from Chilaw to Puttalam.
UNESCO's World Heritage list
Less than half of the 37 sites nominated for a place on UNESCO's
prestigious World Heritage list have been provisionally approved for
inclusion on the list, an official of the UN cultural body said in
Lithuania recently.
"Our experts have recommended 14 sites to be included on the World
Heritage list, but this does not mean that only these sites will be
included," Ina Marciulionyte, Chairwoman, UNESCO's World Heritage
Committee, told a recent media briefing.
"Four countries have withdrawn their nominations," she added, but
refused to specify either the sites that have passed the first hurdle
and been approved, or those that have been withdrawn.
UNESCO officials were due to examine cultural or man-made sites,
natural sites and the so-called mixed sites from 30 countries around the
world, which have been nominated for inclusion on the list, when they
met in the Lithuanian capital.
Although the UN's Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
does not officially publish its list of heritage candidates, some of the
nominated sites have already been announced. These include the
archaeological site of Bisotoun near Kermanshah in western Iran, which
is home to temples and monuments spanning more than 1,000 years.
The countries that have proposed sites are Austria, Azerbaijan,
Bolivia, Britain, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Colombia, the Czech
Republic, Ethiopia, France, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Israel, Italy, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Oman,
Poland, Senegal, Spain, Syria and Tanzania.
UNESCO's World Heritage List, created in 1972, includes some 812
sites around the world - from the Giza Pyramids in Egypt to the Great
Wall of China. The sites are based in 137 countries; 628 of them are
cultural, 160 natural and 24 mixed. |