Meanwhile, elephants, which need about 5 sq km of land each to sup-
port their 200kg-per-day appetites, no longer seem to have sufficient
stock of food staples in the small wildlife safety zones where they are
protected. Hunger (and perhaps curiosity) is driving them to seek fodder
in other areas – manmade ones abutting their ‘secure’ habitats. The re-
sulting conflict pits elephants against farmers – both just trying to secure
their own survival.
Contributing to the vicious circle is unfortunate behaviour on both
sides. Electric fences installed in the national parks to contain elephants
have been knocked down by farmers seeking to graze their cattle illegal-
ly on park land. Elephants leave the parks through the compromised
fences and bedevil the farmers. Also, as can be seen at Uda Walawe
National Park, vendors have set up fruit stands where the park bor-
ders the highway, so that tourists can feed the elephants. An increasing
number of elephants now hang out all day by the roadside waiting for
their tasty handouts. The idea of actually foraging for their normal diet
is soon forgotten.Possible Solutions
Some people are looking for long-term solutions to the conflict. One in-
volves fencing humans in; or, rather, fencing elephants out of human
areas. This approach has been proven effective by the Sri Lanka Wildlife
Conservation Society, an award-winning wildlife conservation group.
Another is to give farmers alternative livelihood solutions and land prac-
tices that incorporate elephants. The collection and commercial use of
elephant dung is one such possible enterprise (you can see the resulting
products at the Cottage Craft shop in Colombo). Spreading around the
economic benefits that come from scores of visitors coming to see ele-
phants is another solution.Deforestation & Overdevelopment
Arguably Sri Lanka’s biggest environmental threat is from deforestation
and over-development leading to serious habitat loss. At the beginning of
the 20th century about 70% of the island was covered by natural forest.
By 2005 this had shrunk to about 20%. Worse, in recent years Sri Lanka
has had one of the highest recorded rates of primary-forest destruction
in the world: an 18% reduction in forest cover and 35% loss of old-growth
tracts. You only need to see the huge old-growth trees being cut up at the
roadside lumber mills between Matale and Dambulla to understand that
threats to the rainforest are ongoing.
Chena (shifting cultivation) is blamed for a good part of this de-
forestation, but irrigation schemes, clearance for cultivation and land
‘development’, armed conflict, and, obviously, illegal logging have all
been contributing factors.
The boom in Sri Lanka’s economy after peace is also bound to put
even more pressure on the environment. With tourism increasing rap-
idly, new construction projects are proliferating. And the track recordSri Lanka’s
Natura l
Unesco
Worl d
Heritage
Sites
Sinharaja Forest
Reserve (p189)
Central Highlands,
encompassing the
Sri Pada Peak
Wilderness Reserve
(p163), Horton
Plains National
Park (p173) and
Knuckles Range
(p161)ENDANGERED SPECIES
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species
counts more than 60 species in Sri Lanka as either critically endangered or endangered.
They include the Asian elephant, purple-faced langur, red slender loris and toque
macaque. All five of Sri Lanka’s marine turtle species are threatened, as are the estuarine
crocodile and the mild-mannered dugong, all of which are killed for their meat. Also
under threat are several species of birds, fish and insects.the sacred bodhi
tree was brought
from india
when Mahinda
introduced the
teachings of the
Buddha to Sri
Lanka in the 3rd
century BC. Most
Buddhist temples
have a bodhi tree,
but the most
famous is the Sri
Maha Bodhi of
Anuradhapura,
the oldest
historically
authenticated
tree in the world.Environm
En
tal
iss
u
E
s
(^) D
E
for
E
S
t
At
ion &
o
v
E
r
D
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v
EL
o
P
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nt