Sunday, August 23, 2015

Biodiversity Conservation and Management: Sri Lankan Perspective with reference to Environmental Protection Areas Declared by the Government

Anjani Leelarathna

An intern at Central Environmental Authority, Sri Lanka < shanikaanjani@gmail.com>

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


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