Anjani Leelarathna
Abstract: Sri
Lanka is considered as a country rich in Bio-diversity. It has been identified
as one of the 34 countries with biodiversity hot spots in the world. A
noteworthy feature of Sri Lanka's biodiversity is the remarkable high
proportion of endemic species among its flora and fauna. Though Sri Lanka has
been ratified the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity in 1994, its
implementation is unsatisfactory. Therefore, protecting Sri Lanka's
biodiversity at a national level has been a key challenge. The National
Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan (BCAP) identifies the key challenges
facing Sri Lanka which include deforestation in the Wet Zones, development of
wet lands, overfishing, the destruction of coral reefs , the over use of
agricultural chemicals and the impact of agriculture on plant diversity. It is
evident that Biodiversity has significantly reduced by human activities. The
author of this paper intends to discuss a possible way of protecting the
biodiversity in Sri Lanka and also to find out strengths and weaknesses of
declaring "Environmental Protection Areas" by Government Gazettes. According
to the current legislation in Sri Lanka, Environmentally
important, specific areas are declared as Environmental Protection Areas,
[EPA], as per provisions of Sections 24 C and 24 D, of the National
Environmental Act No.47 of 1980, by an order published in a Gazette
Notification. The Central Environmental Authority shall exercise, perform and
discharge any powers, duties, functions related to planning and development,
within such protection areas. This research has been conducted in relation
to “Muthurajawela, Hanthana, Bolgoda, & Thalangama Environmental Protection
Areas” and this paper also discusses whether the current legal standards and
mechanisms are sufficient to deal with the challenges of protecting
biodiversity and suggest how it could be further developed.
Key
Words: Biodiversity conservation, Environmental
Protection Areas of Sri Lanka
