2010, the International Year of Biodiversity:

Kanneliya to cheer the eco

Chamikara Weerasinghe

The UN has declared 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversity. Throughout the year countless initiatives will be organized to promote and protect biodiversity around the globe. The aim is to encourage the governments, organizations, institutions, companies and individuals to take active participation to reduce the constant loss of biological diversity from the planet.

Sri Lanka has mobilized necessary biodiversity action plans to protect its eco systems intact more effectively than any other country, says Environment and Natural Resources Development Minister Champika Ranawaka.

“This is our last chance to establish environment friendly development for the longevity of the planet and the entire human race. The governments and politicians will not be able to hold the earth’s ecosystems with all their powers unless the people understand and act to protect the planet,” said the minister.

“A highly diverse ecosystem is a sign of healthy ecosystem,” Ranawaka said as he gazed at the the trees of the forest before him. The minister was sitting on a fixed wooden chair in the verandah of the Forest Department circuit bungalow at the Kanneliya forest.

It was early evening hours at the forest with salmon skies turning thick black with the chirping of the crickets seemingly increasing by every minute, and not to mention the intermittent attacks from mosquitoes that warned us (media persons) to wear Leech proof socks and hard leather boots if we should dare forest- sightseeing that night.

The minister took away his glasses and was looking at them thoughtfully. It was not so long since he had returned to the country from his tour of Denmark to participate the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Denmark.

“What happened at the Conference?” we asked. “Nothing, but as expected it ended without a proper Cooperative Action Plan has been made to address the issues of climate change from a global perspective with the developed countries adapting evasive tactics to get away from their responsibility of paying the developing countries for the damage they have caused so far to the environment.”

The minister said, the developed countries have not met their Green House Gas (GHG) reduction targets in view of the provisions of Climate Change Conventions and its Kyoto Protocol. And they do not seem to show their commitment as responsible countries, he said.

The minister went to the dining hall and finished his dinner. The concept of preserving natural environment for all living beings is embedded in our ancient civilization and most other Asiatic civilizations in the Asian region. But will it be possible to preserve our local ecosystems without their commitment to preserve the planet in the long run. What will be the fate of local rain forests, such as Kanneliya, one of Asia’s floristically richest forests?

The declaration by the UN that 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity can loom to be meaningful if the developed countries show some commitment to burn their calories instead of fossil fuel for their creature comforts. In short the planet is suffering at the comfort of the industrialized nations. Sri Lanka has adopted Green Lanka (Haritha Lanka) program to mitigate the effects of climate change under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

We (the media group) entered Kanneliya forest the next morning after participating a comprehensive presentation on climate change made by Minister Ranawaka at the Lecture Hall. Kanneliya-Dediyagala -Nakiyadeniya in the Southern region, also known as KDN was named as a biosphere reserve in 2004 by UNESCO. It is the last large remaining rain forest in Sri Lanka beside Sinharaja.

The forest area covers 10139.3 hectares and is a major catchment area for Gin and Nilwala rivers with series of mountain rangers and valleys between them. The land draws from 60 to 425 metres above mean sea level.

The diversity of plants and species in Kanneliya has been kept intact that the forest gives the nature lover a floral, mineral and aquatic welcome with its variety of plants, trees, flowers, gushing water passages, singing birds and aeronautic monkeys.

The monkeys in the forest can give you the impression that they were guardian angels of the forest as they can follow you unnoticed on the up in the dense forest. They may even show you how well they have brushed their teeth in a misty morning, or may throw a twig or two at an environmentalist for taking snaps of some endemic plants or bird species.

There are over 300 identified plant species in Kanneliya. 159 of them are woody plants. Forty one of them are endemic. The vegetation of the complex is dominated by Doona - Hora - Na (Shorea - Dipterocarpus – Mesua).

To a discerning botanist, the field of vision in Kanneliya can bring thoughts of diverse glassware and clay pots that he may have to buy from the marketplace or from a chemist, to keep them for their study.Many medicinal plants such as Wenivelgeta (Concinium fenestratum), Kothala Himbutu, (Salacia reticulate), Rasakinda (Tinospora cordifolia), Kuda hadaya (Lycopodium Squarrosume) and Maha hadaya (Lycopodium phlegmaria) are found in the forest.

However, the botanists and indigenous medical practitioners in Sri Lanka have got a lot to share with the world about the medicinal properties of these plants for almost all these plants be they endemic or not are very well known to our local folk.

As we pushed on further into the forest I hit my nail on a certain blister on my left cheek and it started bleeding.

And there was our environmentalist guide and a few village folk who directed me to one of the plants among a cluster of tall trees and said I may apply some minced Thaapasa Bulath leaves on my broken skin and the bleeding would stop. There was no grinder, I chewed the leaves and then applied it on my face as several well mannered persons looked at me with an allergic interest. It did work. The bleeding stopped by the grace of Thaapasa Bulath.

We have to share our knowledge on plants with the world with due respects to our Ayurvedic medicinal culture. Fortunately, the Government advised by President Mahinda Rajapaksa has started this month to explore possibilities of obtaining financial assistance from a fund maintained by the World Health Organization to promote Ayurvedic research in the country. The President disclosed his plans to develop a mechanism for integrating the indigenous medical practicing system into the country’s development by promoting it in foreign countries. The move was appreciated by Ayurvedic students who met the President at the Temple Trees.

Around 220 fauna species are found in the KDN complex with 41 endemics. Home to 86 mammals, the forest complex include 26 endemic bird species. Sri Lanka Spurfowl, Sri Lanka Jungle fowl, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Red-faced Malkoha, Orange-billed Babbler and Sri Lanka Blue Magpie are some of them.

Twenty per cent of the country’s freshwater fish are also found in the forest’s Gin river and Nilwala River

There are 36 species of snakes, of them 17 endemic and belong to six families. There are 23 species of lizards living in the forest.

This is not only a hotspot of biodiversity to interact with the natural world, but also a center of eco- tourism that can generate revenue for the country and for 78,000 people who live around it.