Do you know how Kanneliya celebrated Independence Day, Mr President?

Ask any little child about rainforests and that child will murmur ‘Sinharaja’. Few, though, children or adult, would have heard about Kanneliya. Kanneliya was in ancient times part of the Sinharaja Rainforest. It was declared a Forest Reserve in July, 1933. Ignorance, greed and poor policies including the sanctioning of selective felling from 1949 to 1969 and handing over the area to the Plywood Corporation on a 20-year lease (mercifully interrupted by the second JVP insurrection) resulted in a severe loss of density and caused untold damage to the overall ecosystem.

Today the Kanneliya Forest Reserve is 10,133 hectares in extent. Of its flora approximately 80 percent happen to be endemic. Times have changed and the thinking has changed for these are days of global warming and climate change, carbon emission and all kinds of international conventions, mindless haggling and foot-dragging. The staff at Kanneliya, I found in a recent visit, to be highly informed about the entire gamut of issues pertaining to the environment, bio-diversity, the importance, particularities and fragility of specific ecosystems and the need to protect and conserve.

A five minute conversation with Sunil Ranaweera, Range Forest Officer, a veteran with 25 years of service behind him, who is in his fourth year at Kanneliya, having earlier served in Sinharaja, or any of the four field officers or five guides would immediately convince you of how much they know and how much they love their work. Their commitment to the matter of custodianship over the 10,133 hectares and all creatures within this area is absolute and speaks of a real time, real space, here-and-now patriotism that is far more worthy of salutation than the flag-waving, anthem-singing, kiribath-eating versions that are more visible.

Tough job. Low salaries. And so much love. That’s how I would describe their situation. I am not an expert on these issues but I strongly recommend a visit to Kanneliya because it will give some perspective of how ancient our land is, how new and how small we are, and how callous and irresponsible we are in our daily lives. We breathe, in short, because people like Sunil and his staff go beyond the call of duty to keep these green pockets alive. You will learn a lot about the creatures, their behaviour patterns, the marks they leave etc., and also about the plant life, from the various types of grasses to the gigantic trees and the breathtaking beauty of the magnificent pus wela.

You might be taken around by a man called Chithrasekera who is a living encyclopedia and gives the impression that he knows every inch of the forest and is personally acquainted with every creature and every plant for that’s how he would introduce you to these ‘friends’. It does not matter if Chithrasekera is not around, for the entire staff at Kanneliya is driven by the same love, same work ethic, same sense of responsibility to the earth, her creatures and this little island called Sri Lanka.

And you will understand why I am out of my mind with indignation at some two-bit politician and his entourage of thugs, believing their puny lives to be more important than some species of algae, flout all rules and regulations, throwing their weight around and assaulting those tasked with the clearly thankless job of protecting the rainforests for us, for our children and indeed the benefit of the children of the self same brigands.

It happened on Independence Day. A minister hailing from the Southern Province had arrived for a ‘meeting’. There had been over 200 persons attending this meeting and the movers and shakers in the crowd who had arrived ahead of the minister had thrown their weight around bandying the minister’s name. They didn’t have any documentation from any responsible authority from any relevant institution sanctioning the use of the premises for any purpose. They had conferred from about 11.30 to 2.00, had lunch in the dormitories they said the minister had booked for the purpose, consumed liquor and proceeded to the stream that skirts the dormitories.

They were adequately educated about the rules and regulations including those pertaining to the consumption of alcohol. The minister had left around 3.00 pm. His men had not shown any interest in adhering to these regulations. After the screaming and shouting they had proceeded to assault the Range Forest Officer, who had to be taken to the Udugama Hospital (he was later admitted to the Karapitiya Hospital). Enough? No. They had mercilessly beaten a villager who had come to the defence of Ranaweera, explaining to them that he, Ranaweera, was a reasonable man who is honest, does a good job and maintains excellent relations with the villagers.

The victim is reported to be too scared to lodge a complaint with the police or seek treatment in a hospital for his many wounds.

I’ve never been able to figure out this arrogance that makes man so vile. Such a puny little creature, such a destructor! I doubt if any other creature is so full of thrash to assume divinity and divine power or some kind of superiority over other creatures. Right now, though, I don’t have time for such philosophical questions. I want the Environment and Natural Resources Minister to investigate this matter, ensure maximum protection to the officers and take every possible measure to prevent such things from happening. I want our newly elected President, Mahinda Rajapaksa to tell this minister and his thugs where to get off.

I don’t know the villager who was assaulted, but I met Sunil Ranaweera and spent about two hours talking to him. I value this man and the work he does far more than I value politicians as a tribe, and certainly far more than this errant minister. Kanneliya does not belong to him. It belongs to all of us. Sri Lanka does not belong to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, he himself confessed, pointing out that he is but the temporary custodian of this land, its resources and creatures. This particular minister would howl in protest for he has clearly acted as ‘owner’ and not ‘visitor’. The President must understand that the custodian claim loses a lot of its lyricism when underlings violate left and right the notion and its underlying principles.

I am not a demanding kind of person and rarely ask for favours. This is not a favour that I seek. It is a right. I want Kanneliya for myself, my children and their children too. I want it because I believe it is my birthright. The responsibility that devolves on me on account of that right includes speaking for the protectors of places such as Kanneliya and protesting violations such as this.

Mr. President, are you listening?

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