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.