Selfish actions of man lead to natural disasters

Hanwella group corr.

"Environment destruction caused by unscrupulous actions of man lead to natural disasters such as droughts floods, earthquakes, tidal waves and even tsunamis," said Environment and Natural Resources Minister A.H.M. Fowzie.

He was addressing a meeting held at Meepe Community Centre Padukka, after inaugurating a tree planting campaign along the High Level Road organised by Seethawake P.S. Member Sirisena Rajapakse (PA).

He said that after he assumed duties as the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, he had been telling the people at every meeting that a tidal wave would occur at any moment due to the excessive heat of sea water, caused by the massacre of trees. The Minister said that 100 years ago our country's forest cover was 88% out of total land area.

"But due to the growing needs by man, development activities and village expansion schemes, it has come down to 21% creating grave environmental problems and drastic climatic changes.

Therefore it is a prime need to grow trees as far as possible," he said. "As a solution to the problem, my Ministry has launched a program to educate schoolchildren on the potentials of tree planting and the value of environmental preservation, he said.

He said that his intention was to plant one million trees islandwide commencing from October 15 this year.