2018 Jun 21
Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a globally renowned rainforest and a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka. It is a place of international significance and was designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1978.
According to the UNESCO World Heritage website, there are only 206 World Heritage Sites in the world that fall into the ‘Natural’ category (national parks, biodiversity areas, etc.) located in only 96 countries. Sri Lanka is privileged to have 2 of these within our borders, one is the Horton plains and Knuckles Conservation Forest and the other is Sinharaja Rainforest.
To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria.
Sinharaja was accepted as a location of Outstanding Universal Value due to meeting the following leading criteria:
- Selection Criteria IX: Sinharaja is the last remaining remnant of Sri Lanka’s tropical humid evergreen forest. The property’s flora is a relic of Gondwanaland and provides an important component to our scientific understanding of continental drift and an outstanding site for the study of the processes of biological evolution.
- Selection Criteria X: Floral endemism within the property is extremely high. Sinharaja is home to at least 139 endemic plant species. Over 60% of the flora in the area are endemic and many of these are considered extremely rare.
Faunal endemism is also high, particularly for mammals, birds and butterflies, exceeding 50%. 19 of Sri Lanka’s 20 endemic birds are present in the property, which is also home to highly threatened species like leopard and the wet-zone Sri Lankan elephant.
The controversy surrounding Sinharaja has revolved around the last two remaining elephants that still live within the Sinharaja Forest Reserve.
In response to a complaint by a local, the Deputy Minister for Wild Life Hon. Palitha Thewarapperuma made the decision to remove the two elephants living within the Sinharaja Rainforest. It is important to note that these are the last remaining elephants in Sinharaja. Due to vast deforestation of the central hills as well as hunting which occurred during the colonial period, Sri Lankan elephants were largely driven away from their central hill habitats and are now restricted mostly to the lowlands in the dry zone and now mainly found in the north, south, east, northwestern, north-central and south-eastern Sri Lanka. Elephants have been largely eradicated from the wet zones, save a few from the protected reserves in Sinharaja and Sri Pada forest reserves. The two elephants within the Sinharaja forest are the last two remaining wet-zone elephants in this area, making them very special.
Environmentalists, Wildlife Conservationists and other activists voiced their concerns at this knee-jerk reaction, pointing out that translocating these two elephants – born and bred in arguably the wettest area of the island’s wet-zone, to Horowpathana – an unfamiliar environment in the dry-zone and undeniably a place with harsh climatic conditions, would have devastating consequences for the elephants. Not only that, it was raised that, as elephants are a ‘key-stone species’, they are hugely important to the health of the eco-system and other species that live within it.
News also made the rounds that, should these elephants be removed from Sinharaja, UNESCO would delist the property as a World Heritage Site. This would mean that Sinharaja would be at risk of losing the following benefits it receives today from having this important title:
- Identity: As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sinharaja has become well known globally. The status itself confirms the outstanding and exceptional features of the listed site.
- Funding: All listed properties get funding from a global body for its protection and conservation
- Tourism: Listed properties get international attention to the site. Which also brings with it, economic benefits like tourist revenue
- Protection during wartime: the site is currently protected under Geneva Convention against destruction or misuse during war.
- Access to global project management resources, as they will be more willing to participate with such projects.
Whilst some may argue that this danger is small, it is important to note that at least 1 site which was previously given the World Heritage listing has been delisted – The Arabian Oryx Sanctuary was delisted from the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2007. The reason? The World Heritage Committee deleted the property because of Oman’s decision to reduce the size of the protected area by 90%, in contravention of the Operational Guidelines of the Convention. This was seen by the Committee as destroying the outstanding universal value of the site which was inscribed in 1994. The result? In 1996, the population of the Arabian Oryx in the site was at 450 but it has since dwindled to 65 with only about four breeding pairs making its future viability uncertain. This decline is due to poaching and habitat degradation.[1]
Ven. Pahiyangala Ananda Sagara Thero, Chairman of the ‘Protect Sri Lanka’ movement, was one of the most outspoken critics of the decision to relocate the jumbos, highlighting that it would compromise the integrity of this already fragile and volatile rainforest. It would also set a dangerous precedent for the conservation status of other forests where dark forces within government as well as political and business leaders are searching for a loophole in order to exploit fragile eco-systems (i.e. through resource-extraction, commercial logging), which are currently protected under similar conservation status regulations.
Mr. Jayantha Wijesinghe, the convener of the ‘Rainforest Protectors of Sri Lanka’, points out that the elephants deter illegal activities that occur within the forest reserve like logging, mining and bio-piracy and that we would do well to recognize the clamoring by a handful, demanding the removal of the elephants could well be a red herring. Mr. Jayantha points out that a long term solution must be sought – which protect the civilians, but also allow the elephants to remain in their natural environment.
He mentions that a number of alternative solutions have not been explored, such as:
- The construction of elephant-fences to protect the locals
- Collaring the two elephants with GSM collar would transmit real-time data so their whereabouts can be known and therefore would eliminate any surprise meetings with the villagers
- Adequate street lighting for the village and surrounding streets
- Growing specific types of vegetation for the elephants to feed on away from the village borders.
He went further to mention a rather sensitive point that as there does not seem to be a female elephant in this area (the last female elephant has not been sighted in a number of years) these two bull elephants undergo emotional stress from being unable to mate as nature would have intended them to. Add to this the stresses of being victims of the HEC means the elephants are dealing with fire-crackers and acid being thrown at them, stepping on ‘nail-boards’ which have been placed in their path to maim them, etc. – all of which add to their aggravation.
Whilst it may appear that the elephant is straying into village borders, in truth, it is the villages that have encroached into elephant habitat – and the villagers themselves will testify to that. Who then is responsible for the human-elephant conflict? The elephant which is only foraging in its home-range, the poor villagers who are forced to live in close contact with wild elephants or the government leaders who have allowed human encroachment into known wildlife areas and elephant habitat? Perspective is needed when looking into HEC related matters and increasing incidents of Human-Elephant Conflict.
Sri Lanka has the highest density of elephants in Asia and sadly due to increased pressure on wildlife habitats due to an exploding human population – Sri Lanka sees the deaths of at least 200 elephants per year as well as at least 50 humans. Crop and property damage amounts to over US$10 million. Whilst development is at the forefront of our minds in a post-war economic climate, we should not be ignoring the urgent need to balance development with protecting the rich biodiversity and natural capital this island is blessed with. As is evident with the HEC, ignoring this requirement has severe consequences – social, environmental as well as economical.
As environmentalists point out there are many solutions that need to be explored, before considering the translocation of any elephants and translocation should really be the last resort to the unfortunate Human-Elephant Conflict. These two particular elephants, being the last remaining elephants in Sinharaja are hugely important to Sinharaja’s UNESCO World Heritage title and as such, extreme care should be taken in handling this delicate situation. Whilst we must take care that no human lives will be at risk in the future, we must also give equal importance to protecting our precious biodiversity for future generations of Sri Lankans, so that they too may visit places such as Sinharaja and marvel at its treasures – including its majestic elephants.
The consequences of allowing the conservation status of Sinharaja to be jeopardized are clear: it will only accelerate ongoing degradation and fragmentation to the somewhat intact primal rainforest block, which will further exacerbate the human-wildlife conflict. It will also indirectly support ongoing illegal activities like logging, mining and bio-piracy, thus directly impacting the integrity of this hugely important eco-system.
Sri Lankan president, Maithripala Sirisena made the bold statement in 2015 that he wishes to increase the island’s forest cover from 29% to 32%. His intentions are clear as to the direction Sri Lanka should take in regards to its forests, in particular forests which are currently protected by law. It is the duty of his ministers to carry out this plan and especially not follow any courses of action which would jeopardize the integrity of existing forest reserves.
The Sri Lankan government also has distinct responsibilities at the international level due to its ratification in June 1980 of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (‘World Heritage Convention’), under which it is obliged to protect and conserve World Heritage areas for the benefit of both current and future generations, not only in Sri Lanka but worldwide. The conservation status of forest reserves cannot be taken for granted and the public must recognize the importance of these biologically rich areas so that they too can support the government in making the decision that will be the right decision in the long term, not only for the people but for Sri Lanka as a whole, including her rich bio-diversity and natural heritage.
[1] https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/654 – UNESCO World Heritage Convention site
