Campaign to declare Gulf of Mannar a World Heritage Site
An unprecedented international campaign to protect the Gulf of Mannar
from destruction by the planned Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP)
is to be launched in London, UK, next month.
The Gulf of Mannar, which separates the South Eastern tip of India
from the West coast of Sri Lanka, is one of South Asia’s largest
biosphere reserves and a site of recognised scientific, environmental,
religious and cultural importance. In 2006, when dredging commenced for
the SSCP, to provide a navigation route for large vessels around the
whole of the Indian peninsula, there was a chorus of disapproval from
environmental, humanitarian and religious and cultural organisations
worldwide.
Now, for the first time, many of these organizations are to meet to
provide compelling multi-disciplinary evidence encouraging the
Governments of India and Sri Lanka to ask UNESCO to designate the Gulf
as a World Heritage Site.
This would effectively end plans for the SSCP and ensure the Gulf -
home for many endangered plant and animal species as well as being the
site of the world-famous Adam’s Bridge, or Ram Sethu, a structure sacred
for Hindus - is protected. The first international meeting to call for a
permanent cancellation of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP)
and for the Gulf to be designated a World Heritage Site will be held at
the London headquarters of the world’s oldest biological society, The
Linnean Society, on November 25 and 26.
It will be attended by scientists, biologists, environmentalists,
economists, NGOs, religious leaders and civic authorities worldwide.
Chairing the meeting will be Peter Bunyard, a fellow of The Linnean
Society, co-founder of The Ecologist magazine, and a respected worldwide
authority on climate change; Dr. Ranil Senanayake, a leading systems
ecologist who has worked with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP),
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Bank on matters
of biodiversity and forest rehabilitation; Maaike Hendriks, of Both ENDS
in Amsterdam. Both ENDS strives for a more sustainable and fairer world
by supporting organization in developing countries to fight poverty and
to work towards sustainable environmental management.
The meeting has been championed by Kusum Vyas of the Living Planet
Foundation. She says many leading environmentalists and scientists
recognise that the SSCP is a flawed venture which has been inaugurated
without any detailed review of devastating impacts to the invaluable
biodiversity of the Gulf of Mannar.
She also argues the SSCP ignores critical environmental and
humanitarian issues - including the impact on the livelihood of
thousands of fishermen in the area - and that the project has not taken
into sufficient account views expressed by environmentalists,
seismologists, oceanographers and those living along the coastline.
“As world leaders contemplate ways to save the earth’s environment,
all responsible citizens of the global community must recognize that
dredging and destroying one of the world’s few remaining hotspots in
terms of its exceptional biodiversity, to create a ship channel in the
region of the Gulf of Mannar translates into an ecological disaster,”
says Kusum Vyas. “If this project goes ahead, more than 100 species of
corals and thousands of sea turtles and endangered sea animals such as
dolphins and dugongs will be irrevocably harmed.
“We know the shipping lanes will bring pollution into the area and
mankind will lose forever a part of its precious and fragile
environment. Such action simply can’t be justified on the grounds it is
convenient for people and helps the economy.
To do so would be a sin not just against nature, but also against our
own children and generations to come. On the other hand, if the
Governments of India and Sri Lanka work to declare the Gulf of Mannar a
World Heritage site, they can leave a lasting legacy for their people
and the citizens of the world.”
India Post News Service
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