ENVIRONMENT-SRI LANKA: People To The Rescue Of Wetlands

By Feizal Samath Reprint | | Print |

Feizal Samath

MUTHURAJAWELLA, Sri Lanka, Feb 11 1999 (IPS) - Religious groups, children and local people have come to the rescue of Sri Lanka’s biggest wetlands under attack from urban developers and destructive fishing.

The 7,000 hectare coastal wetlands lying along the Indian Ocean northwest of the capital city, are being protected, trees planted and day tours organised to promote sustainable development and conservation particularly among children.

Negombo lagoon, the most famous port in colonial times, and Muthurajawella marsh had become industrial waste dumps and prime land for real estate developers and squatters as Colombo’s burgeoning population spilled into the wetlands. A boat jetty at the mouth of the lagoon is still polluting the waters.

The government launched the Integrated Resources Management Programme in January 1998, supervised by the Central Environment Authority, in a determined bid to stop the destruction of wetlands, among the world’s most productive environments.

“We are hoping that this unique model will serve as a replica for other wetlands in the country,” said ecologist Jayampath Samarakoon of the programme whose uniqueness has been its success in combining conservation with development.

People are being involved in protecting the environment. Traditional fisherfolk living along Negombo have been persuaded to organise themselves into 10 groups which will be provided with boats to patrol the lagoon and stop dump trucks.

The groups called “societies” have no legal powers, but their members are expected to use persuasion, failing which they can inform the Fisheries Department who will take legal action by calling in the police.

The only industrial activity allowed in the wetlands will be over 160 hectares set aside for industrial development. Already the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has said it would set up a large storage complex in a third of the area.

Planners have made space between the two zones of economic development and nature conservation for the buffer zone which is reserved for recreation, sports, nature education and research.

A visitors centre, built over 2.5 hectares of land which opened in 1996, attracts dozens of schoolchildren and other visitors every day. The children who are encouraged to plant trees at home are taken on boat rides across the lagoon and for walks through the marsh to teach them about the environment.

This is also where agricultural scientists are experimenting with fruits and vegetables that can grow in saline soil. “We are trying out various fruits and vegetables that could grow under these soil conditions,” said Asoka Jayasuriya, a project assistant.

Jayasuriya said that a new variety of banana and papaya was being cultivated in home gardens by Muthurajawella and Negombo lagoon residents. Vegetables like tomatoes and capsicum had also shown good results.

“We are doing a cost-benefit analysis and promoting income generating activities that can be an alternate source of income to fishing,” Jayasuriya said.

Roman Catholic priests in the area head small self employment opportunity projects that teach the locals animal husbandry, sewing, carpentry, woodwork, computers, and other skills.

Guide Sumedha Deshapriya takes visitors along a 1.2-km nature trail into the marsh which is alive with bird life. Some 125 varieties of birds have been spotted there, including migratory birds. “Yesterday, we saw a blackcap purple kingfisher which is a very rare species,” he said.

Crocodiles, porcupines, monitor lizards and a range of snakes live in the marsh, which has been polluted also by the motorised fishing boats that ply.

Ecologist Samarakoon said there were more than 400 trawlers and 2,000 small fishing craft that are anchored at the mouth of the Negombo lagoon. The big boats are used for deep sea fishing and are able to stay at sea for up to three weeks.

Samarakoon said that anchorage in the lagoon was not properly managed with a lot of waste oil being dumped, and planners were now trying to find a solution.

Land clearing for construction and other purposes has made siltation a serious problem. Samarakoon said that the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) was preparing a comprehensive coastal zone management plan in which dredging of the Negombo lagoon is one aspect.

Pollutants in the lagoon and marsh have affected the plant and animal life, depleting fish stocks on which local fisherfolk in their small country boats are dependent for livelihoods. Also fish stocks have dwindled from destructive fishing practices like the use of “push” nets for shrimp fishing. The nets sweep the floor of the lagoon, netting all kinds of fish that are then thrown away.

Encouraged by the success of the Programme, now in its second year, Samarakoon said it would be used as a model for the development and management of Sri Lanka’s 26 other wetlands including tanks in Anuradhapura in the northcentral region.