Deforestation in Sri Lanka

During the colonial period, under the Portuguese, Dutch there was considerable exploitation of prized timber, such as Ebony, Calamander and Nedun for export to the Europe, while Chena cultivation began to proliferate in the dry zone.

The wet mid country and mountain forests that had remained intact were cleared rapidly for plantations of coffee and later tea.

Lter, with Sri Lanka (Dominion of Ceylon) rapid urbanization and steady population growth in the 1970s, mostly Sirimavo Bandaranaike's region, infrastructure projects destroyed forest areas.

The construction of dams, road networks and the expansion of urban areas to meet the demands of a growing population have led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest.

[6] Since then, growing population pressure has resulted in extensive deforestation to provide land for agriculture settlements and other development activates, and timber for construction and other uses.

Population pressure is also a significant factor as is the removal of forested areas to make way for irrigation networks and paddy fields which was major process in the 1980s.

[9][10][11][12] Large scale agricultural and settlement schemes without the recognition given for wild animal habitats and their migration patterns have been a major driver of deforestation and degradation, particularly in the dry zone, during the last century.

Planted crops, such as sugar cane, banana, maize and paddy, in an unplanned manner, have led to ever-increasing human-elephant conflicts.

Such schemes have led to drastic loss of habitats food access to water sources and migratory routes of the elephant, the largest herbivore having equally large home rangers.

Although laws and regulations have been enacted in recent times to address most of these issues, the views of the relevant implementing agencies are not always adequately consulted during major development initiatives.

It is also regrettable that even the well-meaning suggestions of the conservation minded public are often over for the period from 2000 to 2005 is estimated to be about 29,800 ha at an annual deforestation rate of 1.5%.

[4] Conservation of the environment is enshrined in the constitution of Sri Lanka and the state has pledged to protect, preserve and improve the enduement for the benefit for the community.

the balance 45% is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Wildlife Conservation; all these forests are governed primarily by the Flora and Fauna Protection ordinance of 1937 and its subsequent revisions.

Then there are is orated hill of the intermediated and dry zone with most of the refugia of unique species, harbouring threatened biotic assemblages.

Sinharaja there are small relict forest patches still carrying signature species of plants and animals that once existed in much large forest-scrapes.

[19] Invertebrates Flora Botanical gardens Civil societies The government of Sri Lanka and international environmental organisations have made several steps to address the problem over the years, establishing national parks, reserves and sanctuaries, which now cover as much as 15 percent of the island's total area as of 2007.

[20] In 1990, the National Policy for Wildlife Conservation was approved by the Sri Lankan cabinet with the prime objectives to the sustainability of ecosystems and ecological processes and the preservation of genetic diversity.

[20] The government also introduced a logging ban that was implemented in all natural forests in Sri Lanka under the Forestry Sector Development Programme.

[4] One of the main threats to the sustainability of Sri Lanka's forests is government development policies in relation to the demand for timber and fuel and also the need to create plantations to raise revenue.

Commercial plantations have gradually been brought under management system in Sri Lanka to produce wood in an economically efficient and sustainable way.

[24] While illegal logging in Sri Lanka is not a major problem as it is in many countries, deforestation has still affected the lives of everyday people in some parts of Sri Lanka where removed forests meant that greater time and energy is spent gathering firewood typically by women who have to travel relatively long distances, affecting their health and well-being.

[21] Any degradation of the forest resource in Sri Lanka is dynamically related to the increasing demand for timber and fuel wood.

The data thus generated are of great use for subsequent monitoring of the biodiversity changes that taken place in various forest site that were constrained due to timber extraction.