Earthhope

Reflecting Southern life

Galle Maritime Museum rebuilt after tsunami:

Sajitha PREMATUNGE

As a small island nation the effects of the ocean on Sri Lankan life is enormous. And it is never more obvious than in the Southern Coast of Sri Lanka, being the hardest hit by the 2004 tsunami. But natural disasters as terrorism, could not halt Sri Lanka's development process.

The Dutch warehouse where the museum is located	The Bryde’s Whale skeleton

After being destroyed by the 2004 tsunami the Galle Maritime Museum finally open to the public. The museum was originally opened on May 9, 1992, and recently reopened in a Dutch warehouse in Galle Fort. This was a collaboration effort by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and the Government of the Netherlands. The renovation process was a three year task that was funded by the Sri Lanka Netherlands Cultural Cooperation Program. The International Museum Day was celebrated in the Museum on May 18.

Complete with two sections - Biology and Anthropology - it is the best place to acquire a complete understanding of the close relationship the southern coast of Sri Lanka has had with our ocean.

The first section which is totally devoted to Anthropology, focuses on how the ocean influenced the coastal lifestyle. "Coast dwellers depended heavily on oceanic resources," said Director, Museums Department, Dr. Nanda Wickramasinghe. "Consequently a whole new sub culture with different beliefs, language and traditions is borne." Accordingly the museum concentrates mostly on traditional fishing and the lifestyle of coastal communities.

The Anthropology section provides information and showcases models that depict their culture as well as several impressive models of traditional fishing boats, the originals made of local raw material. But the most impressive feature is probably the models of the last of the renowned Patuwathawithana Vessels, also referred to as the `Maha Oruwa', donated by the chief incumbent of the Dodamduwa Kumarakanda Piriwena, Dodamduwa Dharmasena Thera. The original vessels were made completely of local raw material. `Maha Oruwa' was the last of its kind, out of some 40 ships.

The model of the Patuwathawithana Vessel also known as ‘Maha Oruwa’	Egg laying model of a Green Turtle

The second section which is devoted to marine biology is divided in to three galleries - Zoology, Botany and Geology. "We attempted to include the whole of marine biology in the Zoology gallery," said Manori Goonatilake, Assistant Director Entomology, Museums Department. It consists of an extensive invertebrate classification, specimens of existing species and diagrams of extinct species, including corrals, mollusc and seven local and rare mammals.

It also exhibits different panels and showcases of common edible fish and a large collection of shells and a collection of stuffed sea birds. Models made of fibre glass that were salvaged from the former museum after the tsunami is also exhibited in special tanks, to give it an underwater effect the new museum. An egg laying model of a turtle is also showcased using the real carapace of a Green Turtle.

The main attraction of the Zoology gallery is probably the skeleton of a complete whale, the second such in the country, the first is of the Blue Whale in the Colombo Museum. The skeleton was obtained from a Bryde's Whale that beached in the Colombo harbour in 2003. Unfortunately it was buried for five years when the Galle Maritime Museum made plans to exhume it and salvage the skeleton in 2008. "The massive creature would have been 13.2 metres when it was alive," said Manori Goonatilake.

The Botany gallery features vegetation in the coastal ecosystem. It exhibits models of threatened ecosystems like mangroves and the Southern sea shore and marine plants and algae.

Model of a stilt fisherman in the Anthropology gallery

The mangrove information section includes photographs of mangrove species, main features of the ecosystem, common plant species and distribution.

The sea shore vegetation section also include photographs, common sea shore plant species and sea shore plant characteristics. The Botany gallery also exhibits a marine algae classification with photographs and details.

The Geology gallery which consists of a panel and models on the tsunami is the third segment of the Biology section.

The panel focuses on the factors that triggers a tsunami, how tectonic plates converge to create an earthquake that could result in a tsunami, the first indicator, precautions and remedial action taken for the 2004 tsunami.

The three models demonstrate the three stages - before, during and after the tsunami. It illustrate wave formation during the tsunami and how height of the wave increases as it reaches shallow waters.

In addition to its exhibits the Galle Maritime Museum conducts a lot of education programs, such as weekly seminars and as an invaluable source of reference for school and university students. Museum publications and leaflets can be obtained from either of the museums.

Any requests should be addressed to The Director, Nanda Wickramasinhe or Curator, Maritime Museum D. Kandambi.

Global warming must stay below 2 C or world faces ruin

Mark HENDERSON-Science Editor

World carbon emissions must start to decline in only six years if humanity is to stand a chance of preventing dangerous global warming, a group of 20 Nobel prize-winning scientists, economists and writers declared today.

The United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December must agree to halve greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 to stop temperatures from increasing by more than 2oC (3.6F), the St James's Palace Nobel Laureate Symposium concluded.

While even a 2oC temperature rise will have adverse consequences, a bigger increase would create "unmanageable climate risks", according to the St James's Palace memorandum, signed today by 20 Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry, economics, peace and literature.

The temperature target "can only be achieved with a peak of global emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2015", the document said. If emissions continue to rise after that date, the required cuts would become unachievable.

Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, director of the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, a convenor of the symposium, likened the urgency for action on climate change to the threat of thermonuclear weapons during the Cold War.

"We are facing a crisis as deep as the arms race of the 1950s and 1960s and the Cold War notion of mutually assured destruction," he said. "Today we have mutually assured increases in greenhouse gases."

He said the memorandum echoed a manifesto signed in 1955 when Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein and nine other intellectuals called for world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to international conflict. "Global climate change represents a threat of similar proportions and should be addressed in a similar manner," the memorandum said. The extent of the climate threat is also highlighted today by a report that suggests global warming is already killing an estimated 300,000 people per year - equivalent to the loss of life that resulted from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

The report from the World Humanitarian Forum, an independent organisation led by Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, claims that 90 per cent of those deaths are related to gradual environmental degradation resulting from the warming climate - principally malnutrition, diarrhoea and malaria. The remaining 10 per cent are linked with weather-related disasters.

The study, due to be presented this morning by Annan, was reviewed by distinguished experts in the field, including Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York.

It projects that by 2030, the number of annual deaths directly resulting from the warming global climate will rise to 500,000.

The St James's Palace memorandum was agreed after three days of discussions attended by 60 leading scientists, policymakers and intellectuals.

Participants included Steven Chu, the US Energy Secretary and Nobel physics laureate, Wole Solinka, the Nigerian literature laureate, and Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

The symposium, for which The Times was media partner, was organised by the Potsdam Institute and the University of Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, under the patronage of the Prince of Wales.

The memorandum called for an emergency package of financial support for tropical forest nations, as the loss of forests is responsible for about 18 percent of global carbon emissions.

"The St. James's Palace memorandum calls for a global deal on climate change that matches the scale and urgency of the human, ecological and economic crises facing the world today," the final document said.

"It urges governments at all levels, as well as the scientific community, to join with business and civil society to seize hold of this historic opportunity to transform our carbon-intensive economies into sustainable and equitable systems. We must recognise the fierce urgency of now."

(Timesonline)

Your planet needs you

Dhaneshi YATAWARA

Focusing on the climate changes and related broader consequences of environmental changes the World Environment Day (WED) for 2009 falls on 5th June. Under the theme `Your planet needs you! Unite to combat climate change' focus will be more on educating the public more on the responsibilities of the societies.

Mexico will hold the international celebrations of the World Environment Day drawing attention to some of the impacts on environment from human activities. It highlights the urgent need to change attitudes and behaviour of the world communities and inspire political and community action.

The official event of the national celebrations will be held on June 5 at 10 a.m. at the Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo, Ministry of Environment informs.Prime Minister Rathnasiri Wickramanayake will be the chief guest at the national event. On the same day, an islandwide school program is also scheduled. The National Environmental Photography exhibition organised by the Central Environment Authority will be opened for the public on June 4 at 9 a.m. at the National Arts Gallery. The exhibition will be open till June 6. The National Environment Exhibition organised by the Environment Ministry, will be held at the Vihara Maha Devi Park in Colombo from June 4 to 6.

A special workshop on bio-diversity will be held on June 4 at 2 p.m. where the Ministry will also hold an event appreciating contribution of the Environmental Journalists. Under the Ministry, special programs will be launched to increase awareness on environment conservation.

Nearly extinct?

Source: (Kostermans, 1992)

Family: Dipterocarpaceae

Scientific Name: Balanocarpus

kit ulgallensis Kosterm.

Status: Critically Endangered, Endemic

Balanocarpus kitulgallensis belongs to Dipterocarpaceae family (Hora family) which consists of fifty eight species, all of which are restricted endemic. Genus Balanocarpus consists of two species among them B.kitulgallensis is only recorded from the Kitulgala area.

It is a tree of medium size about 6m in height. The bark of the tree is thin, smooth the light brown in colour. Branches are slender, hanging medium in a loose arrangement with dense hairs.

Identification features are, small leaves with 3 (rarely 4) pairs of lateral nerves and a little network structure and typical horizontal, parallel secondary veins, few much smaller flowers along branches, fruits almost directly attached to the stem and elongate-ovoid in shape. According to the 2007 Red List of Threatened Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka B. kitulgallensis is critically endangered species. This species may go extinct in the future due depletion of forest (especially tea cultivation), logging, habitat destruction, etc...

References:

1. Kostermans, A.J.G.H. (1992) A handbook of the Dipterocarpaceae of Sri Lanka. Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka.

2. IUCN Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (2007) The 2007 Red List of Threatened Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

By Dilup Chandranimal

IUCN (The International Union

for Nature Conservation of Nature)

Sri Lanka-Country Office