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| Tuesday, 1 March 2005 |
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by Florence Wickramage Sri Lanka must have a clear policy on Forestry Management which must define and recognize our forests as the `common property resource' of the nearby village communities. The Government which legally owns the forests must hand over its management to the nearby local communities and evolve a mechanism to work in partnership with them. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse made these observations when he inaugurated the 17th Commonwealth Forestry Conference at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) yesterday, Monday, Feb. 28th. The Prime Minister said that we have not struck a healthy balance between the needs of an increasing population for new homesteads and farm-lands on the one side and the ecological imperatives of the country for conserving our natural resources for sustainable living on the other. If any proof of this situation is needed, the extent of the destruction of life and property that accompanied the tsunami of December 26th has provided it in a cruel but dramatic way, the Prime Minister added. He said if we had protected our mangroves, not dug out the corals along the coast and if we had conserved our sand-dunes, the impact of the tsunami on our coastal communities would have been significantly less damaging. Prime Minister Rajapakse further said that forestry mismangement is known to result in the drying-up of water sources, soil erosion, alteration of rainfall patterns which in turn affect the productivity of agriculture in the long run thereby increase poverty. Forestry mismanagement also destroys wildlife habitats; causes conflicts between communities and wild animals and also affects hydro-power production through silting reservoirs used for generation of electricity. Emphasising that the Government must implement a forestry action plan with a strong political will, the Prime Minister stressed that the Government must not undermine the forestry management responsibilities of local communities by permitting interference from higher levels - both political and administrative. Environment and Natural Resources Minister A. H. M. Fowzie also addressed the inaugural sessions of the 6-day Forestry Conference. Others who spoke were Environment and Natural Resources Ministry Secretary P. M. Leelaratna, Chairman, Standing Committee on Commonwealth Forestry Tim Rollinson and Chairman, Commonwealth Forestry Association Professor Jeff Burley. Conservator General of Forests Sarath Fernando proposed the vote of thanks. |
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