ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN-SRI LANKA: Buddhist Monk Preaches Conservation

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

GALGIRIYAGAMA, Sri Lanka, Nov 21 1998 (IPS) - Living alone in a thick forest amidst pink quartz mountains in arid, north-central Sri Lanka, Buddhist monk Wanawasi Rahula has made conservation his mission.

“I believe this is my karma (fate),” Rahula says, as he takes visitors around the 260-acre forest he has been successfully protecting from plunder.

Rahula,43, is the self-appointed guardian of the dense ‘Na’ (botanical name Mesuo Fernce) or ironwood forest, planted, according to local legend, in the eighth century by prisoners incarcerated in the area.

Visitors to the park, off the farming townof Dambulla, some 175 kms from Colombo, are instructed on a board at the entrance against littering, destroying the pink quartz and disturbing the peace of the jungle.

Seated cross-legged under the shade of spreading trees, Rahula delivers sermons about the effect of logging on the environment, and explains its threat to the food chain and global climate patterns.

The forested hills of pink quartz shimmer and sparkle in the sunlight, watered by numerous springs. Galgiriyagama holds a rich animal and plant life – 72 kinds of medicinal plants, 18 species of birds and a rare species of lizard.

On a walk in the jungle, the monk picks up a small snail and identifies it as an almost-extinct species found only in the park and nowhere else in the country.

Rahula’s success with forest conservation has been praised by Sri Lankan environmentalists and fetched him the “Green Award” presented by the International Federation of Environmental Journalists at its annual meeting in Colombo last month.

“He has done an amazing job in protecting this area. It is an apt lesson to others,” says Dharman Wickremaratne, a well known Sri Lankan environmental journalist who is deputy secretary of the Paris-based Federation.

The monk moved from the nearby Ranala temple to the Galgiriyagama forest and built himself a tree house in March 1991. “I had this strange dream … god Kambili (venerated by farmers in the area) appeared and told me to take over the guardianship of the forest.”

At that time, the forest and mountain range were being raped by loggers and poachers – elephants were being killed for ivory and deer and Sambhur for their meat and skin. Also treasure hunters were plundering the ancient ruins in the forest while the pink quartz rock was being ruthlessly mined.

Rahula was well prepared for his lonely vigil. The danger he quickly discovered was not from wild elephants or poisonous snakes but from poachers and timber merchants who had until then been free to do what they wanted in the forest.

They ganged up with local politicians against him, the monk said. “A powerful person even gave out a contract to kill me – but when the assailant shot at me, the gun did not fire. That was due to the protection of god Kambili,” Rahula said.

Now the park gets droves of weekend visitors, and Rahula has his hands full trying to stop mischief makers who shout, misbehave, and litter the place, the monk said.

Rahula has built a small wooden hermitage. “I didn’t touch a single tree from the forest to build this place,” he says pointing to the modest structure, which has been made from sawed mango and other cheap wood obtained from outside.

The fearless monk is also protecting a crumbling, moss-covered ancient temple and palace site he stumbled on at the foot of the quartz mountain range.

There are other ruins – a large lamp carved from rock, statues of the Buddha and a large open area which Rahula believes may have been an open prison camp in the eighth century. The punishment for those incarcerated must have been to plant the Na trees, he thinks.

Rahula likes to take visitors to a natural pool in a large rock. The water there is pure and cool, fed by a small stream from the nearby hill. “When I first came here there was a large pythn in the rock bowl,” he says.

The pink quartz rocks are believed to be amongte best in South Asia. Medieval Mughal ruler Shah Jahan is said to have imported the quartz for the Taj Mahal in India.

“The Taj Mahal has a panel of pink quartz,” says Rahula, who

explains that the quartz is used both to decorate buildings and in jewellery.

But the quartz mountains, estimated to be more than 500 million years old, are showing signs of decay. Cracks are beginning to deepen and some bits have crumbled into rubble. “The erosion has also caused the lightening of the pink colour,” a local guide, Sisira Jayatillake, said.

Rahula thinks further damage could be stopped. He wants the government to declare his forest home a national heritage and assist in his conservation efforts which include plans for an environment study centre.