Rs. 100 million allocated for child welfare

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Child Development and Women's Affairs Ministry has focused attention to the development of early childhood education in the country, while providing needy children with nutritional food.

Accordingly, the Finance and Planning Ministry has allocated Rs. 100 million to be released among Government Agents and Provincial Child Development Ministries to carry out the programme in their respective areas smoothly.

Child Development and Women's Affairs Minister, Tissa Karaliyadda told the Junior Observer that it is vital to look into the development activities of the child population considering that they are the future leaders of the country.

He said even in other countries, special state institutions have been set up to look into the welfare of children.

He said in addition to providing welfare for children, it is also important to protect them from outside elements and save them from various forms of child abuse.

The Minister recently conducted a seminar in Colombo to create an awareness among the District Secretaries and Provincial Probation Commissioners about the programme.

Minister Karaliyadda directed the officials to visit houses, preschools and children's homes in their respective areas to identify the needs of children, so that necessary funds could be released as early as possible. A team of Ministry officials will be deployed to check whether the funds are misused without utilising it for the welfare of children. The Minister also directed officials in Northern and Eastern provinces to look into the basic needs of children and distribute nutritional food among them through healthcare centres which have already been established by the Health Department.

Rare glimpse of world's rarest gorilla

Conservationists working in Cameroon's Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary have collected the first camera trap video footage of the Cross River gorilla. With fewer than 250 individuals remaining, Cross River gorillas are the world's rarest gorilla and a notoriously elusive species rarely observed directly by field researchers.

Collected from one of four video camera traps set up by researchers in the protected area, the footage reveals eight Cross River gorillas casually making their way along a forest path.

“This video gives us all a spectacular view into the hidden world of one of our closest relatives, which is in dire need of our help to survive,” said Steve Sanderson, WCS President and CEO.

Christopher Jameson, Director of WCS's Takamanda Mone Landscape Project, added: “The video represents the best images to date of Cross River gorillas, normally shy animals that flee at the slightest hint of human presence. The footage provides us with our first tantalising glimpses of Cross River gorillas behaving normally in their environment. A person can study these animals for years and never even catch a glimpse of the gorillas, much less see anything like this.”

Running at almost two minutes in length, the video begins with the entry of one gorilla, which sits at the base of a tree while others emerge from the dense forest. At one point, a male silverback appears, surveying the area (and perhaps aware of the camera) before running past the camera lens giving a classic “chest-beating” display. Another gorilla (appearing in the footage at around 1:18 in the sequence) appears to be missing a hand, a healed injury but a disquieting indicator of the presence of snares within the family group's range in the past before increased patrolling in the now-protected area.

“Cross River gorillas occur in very low densities across their entire range, so the appearance of a possible snare injury is a reminder that continued law enforcement efforts are needed to prevent further injuries to gorillas in the sanctuary,” said Dr. Liz Macfie, Gorilla Coordinator for WCS's Species Program.

The Cross River gorilla is the rarest of the four subspecies of gorilla, with fewer than 250 individuals remaining across its entire range, limited to the remote forested mountainous terrain on the border region of Nigeria and Cameroon. The subspecies is listed as “Critically Endangered” and is threatened by both habitat destruction and hunting,as the entire population lives in a region of high human population density and heavy natural resource exploitation. Local community residents in the area surrounding Kagwene do not directly hunt Cross

River gorillas due to traditional beliefs, but they do set snares for other forest animals, and these could occasionally injure gorillas.

The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary was established by the government of Cameroon in 2008 for the sole purpose of protecting the Cross River gorilla and evolved out of the “Gorilla Guardian” community network, created by WCS to improve gorilla survival prospects in the most vulnerable unprotected forest sites in Cameroon.

The sanctuary is now managed by a conservator (chief warden) assisted by two ecoguards, all appointed by the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife (MINFOF), and a strong team of local staff from the eight villages near the protected area.Kagwene is the only site where daily monitoring of Cross River gorilla movements takes place.

“Spectacular footage such as this, which we've never had before for Cross River gorillas, is absolutely vital to inspire local people, the governments of Nigeria and Cameroon, and the global community to care about and to save this unique subspecies,” said Dr. James Deutsch, Executive Director for WCS's Africa Program. “Continued research of this kind will help fine-tune management plans to protect this rarest of apes.

ScienceDaily

News in Brief

BY Rohana JAYALAL

National action plan to cope with climate change National action plan to cope with climate change

Environment Minister, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa who was the chief guest at the inauguration of the regional workshop on Decentralisation and Climate Change held in Colombo recently said that a national climate change policy has already been drafted to cope with the impact of climate change in the future.

He said that “as a developing country and an island, Sri Lanka has to face a number of difficulties due to climate change.”

He said that Sri Lanka's coastal towns are especially threatened by rising sea levels due to global warming, and measures have to be taken to address such issues by making the public aware of climate change.

Nine monumental stupas to be built

The Government plans to erect nine monumental stupas in the nine provinces in appreciation of the noble service rendered by the Armed Forces and the Police to bring lasting peace in Sri Lanka, defeating terrorism. Work on the Sandahiru Seya at the old Kurunegala junction, the southern entrance of the Jayasirimaha Bodhi in Anuradhapura has commenced with President Mahinda Rajapaksa donating Rs. 25 million for this project at Temple Trees recently.

The 285 foot heigh stupa with an extent of 215 ft will be constructed at a cost of two billion rupees.

Dengue threat heightens

The public has been warned to be extra vigilant concerning the dengue epidemic following new evidence about the behaviour of the mosquito.According to the Ministry of Health, the dengue mosquito has now started to breed inside domestic wells in addition to receptacles, overhead gutters and discarded tyres and other objects that collect water.The Ministry's Research Entomological Unit has also disclosed that the mosquito has changed its life pattern and not only started laying eggs in wells but also changed its sting times.

The mosquito which was said to be active from 6.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. has extended its stinging period to 11 p.m.