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Strong request to revise Wildlife Conservation Agreement

by Florence Wickramage

A strong request urging the Government to revise the Protected Area Management & Wildlife Conservation Project, Sri Lanka (Loan No. 1767-Sri (SF) as the wording of this Agreement affects the sovereign rights of the country and the rights of the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation, has been made to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources by the Chairman of the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) Ravi Algama.

The letter follows a consensus reached at an open forum held recently with the participation of environmentalists, NGOs, interested individuals, Academics, the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) and representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.

The forum critically discussed the contents of the Agreement and voiced disapproval of its non-transparency at the project planning stage.

EFL's letter points out that the wide scale eco-tourism proposed in fragile environs, with park bungalows and buffer being privatised and exploited would inevitably result in further degradation. The Government of Sri Lanka too will have no control over certain aspects of this project being implemented on its sovereign territory, because the State's own enforcement arm, the Department of Wildlife Conservation will be effectively cut out of the decision making process. Moreover, these aspects of the project with fiscal and revenue implications have been made tax-free.

Ravi Algama has pointed out that since the project did not follow an open process within the country, several Non Governmental Organisations and individuals have made their observations and expressed their disagreement to the President of Sri Lanka and the President of the ADB to which there had been no response to date.

He also mentions that a New Wildlife Policy has been drafted and approved by the then Cabinet to accommodate the needs of this project despite the opinion of the Task Force appointed by the President which was chaired by the present Director of the Project, that some aspects of the project "would be detrimental to Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka".

EFL has copied this letter to the Presidents of the ADB, the World Bank and the Ambassador of the Netherlands in Sri Lanka, co-funding agents of the project. 

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