Parasites' Knuckled fist casts long shadow over 'Lanka's Alps'

BY FLORENCE Wickramage

THE mist was softly lifting off the Dumbara hills with the touch of the rising sun, when we reached the Riverston peak of the range. The air was cool and balmy and the Knuckles Range slowly focussed clearly into view.

The air was laden with the aromatic, spicy and tantalising fragrance of Cardamom which is grown as an undergrowth beneath the many types of forests prevalent in the Knuckles range.

Is Cardamom - though continuing to be a foreign exchange earner to fill the country's coffers, becoming a boon or a bane for the protection of the Knuckles Range - identified as Sri Lanka's first Conservation Forest poised to become a World Heritage site in the near future?

The Knuckles Range, the tropical parallel to the Swiss Alps and a storehouse of rich biodiversity has been caught up within the `knuckles' of rich mudalalis who have carried on a lucrative Cardamom business under successive governments much to the dismay of environmentalists and those interested in preserving the Knuckles Range as a natural heritage of the future generations.

Many of the natural resources, of this unique eco-system, some endemic - within the Knuckles Range are fighting for survival against a backdrop of extinction due to gene piracy and development encroachers.

Rich mudalalis have enticed unsuspecting`small cultivators' with monetary benefits as exchange for toiling in their large cardamom plantations.

Reaping the benefits of the mountains as a livelihood of villagers in the periphery has overshadowed their view of `sustainable development' as against large employment opportunities offered to them on a platter by influential `mudalalis'.

Environmentalists say the Cardamom business has now gone out of proportion with as much as 51 barns established within the mountain range for storing Cardamom.

Streams, waterways and tanks have run dry due to Cardamom and pinus plantations sucking the ground water table.

The fauna and flora of the Knuckles Range and the community themselves living in adjacent villages have become victims of this vicious circle which is destroying the country's natural resources, in the Knuckles Range - and the Sinharaja, the Ritigala and several other biodiversity storehouses in other parts of the country.

Knuckles

Knuckles or Dumbara Hills was declared a National Man and Biosphere Reserve by the government in April 2000. But the history of Knuckles as a Climatic Reserve dates back to 1873. Called the `Mini Alps', its formation, "a series of abrupt peaks and gorges arising out of a tiered landscape arrangement of plains and deep escarpment slopes from almost sea level 6,250ft. (about 1,000 metres), which according to scientists is the tropical parallel to Swiss Alps.

The 30,000 ha. of ancient Dumbara Hills is currently confined to 18,000ha.

Knuckles has derived its name out of the shape of a clenched fist and is also known as by the villagers as Dumbara (Mist laden) or Cloud mountains.

The mountain range consists of around 35 peaks including Gombaniya (1904m), Knuckles (1862m), Kirigalpottha (1646m), Dumbanagala (1642m), Kalupahana (1628m), Vamarapugala (1558m), Dotalugala (1553m), Kehelpothdoruwagala (1528m), Patanagala (1514m), Telembugala (1331m), and Lakegala (1317m).

A research project conducted by the Forest Conservation Department with IUCN (World Conservation Union) and funded by NORAD a couple of years back has listed 288 plant species out of which 85 species are endemic to Knuckles. Of these 11 species are locally threatened and 25 species globally threatened.

There are also 50 species of birds (19 endemic), 10 species of reptiles, 16 species of butterflies, 17 species of Moucses, 18 animal species and 11 species of amphibians found in the Knuckles Mountain Range.

Receiving a rainfall of 2500 - 5100 mm. there are five climatic conditions enveloping the mountains. Numerous waterfalls, streamlets, waterways and tanks within the mountain range have enriched the mountains as an important watershed for the Hulu Ganga, Heen Ganga, Kalu Ganga and the Mahaveli Ganga.

Some areas of the mountain range receive ground frost during January to March and at certain seasons strong winds (60 mph).

All these factors have contributed to Knuckles an array of natural vegetation types and a rich composition of fauna and flora. The forest cover belongs to four major formations and a distinctive vegetation type known as `climatic climax'.

The tropical or lowland semi-evergreen forests at the lowlands or foothills; between montane rain-forests and lowland are tropical mid-elevational evergreen forests; the dry sub-montane evergreen rain forests in the drier slopes and upper montane rain forests are unique to the Dumbara hills.

Coffee Plantations had been undertaken in this range as far back as 1800 which had been gradually replaced with illegal cultivation of Cardamoms. The forest cover has also depleted due to illegal tree felling and clearing of land for agriculture and chena cultivations.

Cardamom

The soil and forest conditions in the Ambagallena, Thangappuwa, Kalupahana, Gonawala, Dawatagala, Kumbela, Garandithalawa, Alugallena in the central region of the Knuckles range have contributed to the extensive planting of Cardamoms.

Cardamom requires a shady landscape and is grown as an undergrowth plant. This has required the axing of secondary and lower canopies of trees and shrubs to prepare the ground conditions for Cardamom plantations.

The Cardamon menace does not end here but has adverse impacts on the forest cover. Timber is felled within the forests for kilns for the drying of Cardamoms.

Until recently a silent war had been waged by Forest conservators to protect the Conservation Areas of the Knuckles Range against influential, politically backed business tycoons from expanding their Cardamom business.

The Laggala-Kalupahana Riverston Peak and the Pitawela Patana area of the Knuckles Range are considered environmentally sensitive areas. Human activities have polluted waterways, springs, tanks, streamlets which have impacted adversely on the natural resources of the range as well as on human health.

Due to lack of proper sewerage facilities waterways had been used by villagers for their ablutions thus polluting watersheds and springs. Visitors too have partly contributed to this situation.

At present Riverston has attracted many local tourists as an ideal holiday camping site to spend a day of relaxation. The natural tanks and streams afford them luxurious river bathing facilities.

Lack of garbage disposal and toilet facilities has resulted in springs and tanks being polluted with human and solid waste such as polythene, plastics, empty bottles, cans and other throwaways.

The Riverston area will be brought under the Conservation Forest Area and will be developed with the provision of pure drinking water facilities to the villagers, observation decks, information centre, nature trails, bird-guides, visitor/tourist facilities, camping sites, parking lots and study and research facilities.

National policy

The Environment and Natural Resources Ministry will be adopting a national policy to protect the Knuckles Forest Range as a Conservation Forest and it will be upgraded to World Heritage Status.

Presently only 17,000ha. have been gazetted as a Forest Reserve. Human activities such as illegal poaching, illegal timber felling, illegal cultivation and plantations etc. have been prevalent in the balance 4,000ha.

New boundaries will be demarcated on the 4,000 ha. state lands where cardamom growing, agricultural activities, tea growing land (now abandoned), pasture grasslands created by villagers to graze their cattle etc. will be vested with the State.

New environmental laws will be gazetted for the protection of the Knuckles as a Conservation Forest.

A multi-faceted development program involving direct community participation is now in force. Cardamom growing and other commercial activities will be discouraged and no new permits will be issued for Cardamom growing.

Setting up of forest fires and cattle grazing will be banned; kilns, barns and other structures established for the Cardamom trade will be demolished; and tourist resorts will not be allowed within the Conservation Area. The interests of communities living in villages adjacent to the Knuckles Conservation Forest

Area will be ensured with alternate avenues for their livelihood and economical benefit.

Local bodies, the police and armed personnel have been empowered to apprehend and initiate legal action against those contravening the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and the Forest Ordinance, irrespective of their social status and other considerations.

The current development programme spearheaded by the Environment and Natural Resources Ministry hopes to restore to the Dumbara mountain range the pristine glory that was once hers in the years past, before man's actions plundered her beauty.

The underlying theme being "Environment looks after those who looks after the environment because the country's natural heritages belong to our future generations".