‘Country’s forest cover shall be well protected’
Nimal Wijesinghe Anuradhapura Additional District
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“President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed that since wild life
conservation is a prioritized national responsibility the available
forest cover belonging to the Wild Life Department shall be well
protected," Wild Life Conservation and Agrarian Services Minister S M
Chandrasena said.
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Minister S M Chandrasena |
He said, he was proud to say that during his tenure as the minister,
he has never allocated an inch of wild life property to any governmental
or non governmental institute or an organization though some media
propagating that lands belonging to the Wild Life Department are being
alienated which is a baseless allegation.
The minister was addressing a media conference held at his
Anuradhapura office recently.
He said it was a pity that the country’s forest density which had
been 40 percent in the 1950s has come down to just 21 percent, which has
been the main cause for the increase of human-elephant conflict.
He pointed out as the human population was rapidly increasing the
wild life population in the country was simultaneously increasing. In
this context it was a fact that the country’s land capacity would never
grow but diminishing. Referring to the road alleged to have been under
construction from Puttalam to Mannar through the Wilpattu Natioal Park,
Chandrasena said that though there had been such an initiative earlier,
the plan has now been abandoned in view of the danger such a project
would pose to the natural resources in the landscape including flora and
fauna.
Explaining to the media about the controversial issue of killer
crocodiles in Nilwala river, the Minister said it was not a new trend
but such creatures were existing.
“It has been planned to transfer these killer crocodiles to
Muthurajawela crocodile preservation landscape which will be under
construction soon.
It has been observed that there are around 20 killer crocodiles to be
dealt with.
“We are taking every possible step for the protection of the people,”
the minister emphasized. |
