Dr. P.B. Dharmasena
Field Crops Research and Development Institute, Mahailluppallama

Sri Lanka is still and will be for near future considered as a country dependant mainly upon agriculture including plantation sector. Challenges posed by external factors due to globalization and open economic policies have directed the country’s agriculture to move away from the self reliance. Competitive export and import opportunities among countries have led to maintain the standard levels of quality and steady levels of production at a lower price in all commodities. This situation demands a firm and perfect policy for country’s agriculture. Further, present agriculture does not show any indication of sustainability as it has ignored the centuries old wisdom of traditional agriculture. In developing a strategic mechanism to promote an alternative to present agriculture, cognizance must be taken from deep rooted customs and traditions and the time tested agricultural practices to assure the sustainability in the agricultural sector. Farmers’ dependency mentality evolved due to modern agriculture and the government policies dealt with agriculture from time to time should gradually be removed by developing self confidence, self motivation and empowerment.

Most critical issue at present is that the agriculture does not bring a consistent economic gain to the farmer. Import export policies do not respond effectively to maintain profitability of farming. Farming without adequate concern on conservation of natural resources such as soil and water and environmental protection has led to deterioration of the agricultural resource base in the country and pollution of the environment. Government has not paid adequate attention to provide farmers with input and marketing facilities in time. Land resource is utilized for various purposes including agriculture with out considering its suitability, capability and vulnerability to degradation. Farmers are not much aware of the current trends in agriculture, marketing and technologies.

Policy Aspects

Need is felt for urgent attention to formulate a firm policy to implement sustainable agricultural production program in the country. In policy statements on various sectors of the agriculture following aspects should be included to assure conservation and efficient utilization of soil and water resources.

In irrigated agriculture water losses from reservoirs and canals should be minimized, efficient field water management has to be promoted for increasing the water productivity through crop diversification and with new water saving techniques. In rain fed agriculture the unirrigable land mass of the country should be developed on watershed basis with proper soil and water conservation techniques, put into most suitable land use forms such as agro-forests, perennial orchards, field crop farms, mixed timber plantations, pasture lands etc. State resources should be mobilized to make these lands productive with sustainable rain fed agriculture to benefit farmers on short, medium and long run.
Organic farming should be encouraged to reduce adverse effects of agro-chemicals and inorganic fertilizer on environment and human health by expanding the organic farming sector, creating awareness in general public for consumption of organic products, generating new technology and certifying products, processing and packaging to earn foreign exchange and gain high price to the farmers. Integrated farming should be introduced to farmers for optimum use of their resources, year round steady income and effective use of residues. The policy on integrated farming towards sustainable agriculture should be to improve village level productive farming, discourage artificial products and chemical use, familiarize livestock farming and encourage cottage industries to capture foreign and local market with traditional products.

Sustainable agriculture policy should stress the importance of conserving natural resources (land, water, forest, atmosphere etc.), while utilizing them effectively for agricultural production. All land users for agriculture should be encouraged for sustainable use of natural resources by awareness creation, making resources conservation compulsory, generation of improved technologies, safe and efficient management of rainwater, river, tank and groundwater.

Agriculture should be mechanized in all possible ways to reduce the cost of production and improve the quality of produce but with no harmful effects on natural resources such as wind and water erosion, increased water and soil nutrient losses, air pollution etc.

National policy on agriculture should emphasize the use of indigenous knowledge in agriculture, which ensures preserving and utilizing traditional crops and varieties, resources conservation practices, medicinal plants, cottage industries and agricultural heritage of the country.

Strategies to Achieve Sustainability in Agriculture

In implementing what is spelled out in a policy various strategies need to be identified. Following activities need much attention to achieve sustainable agriculture production in Sri Lanka with special reference to soil and water conservation.

Lands potentially suitable for agriculture should be given priority for agricultural production to assure the land resource availability for future expansion of agriculture. Primary and secondary forest lands should not be exploited for any purpose other than development of forest vegetations. Decision makers of agricultural production planning should not consider only the national production requirement but also the sustainable production levels of resources including farmers. Thus, food production expectations should aim at national food security, but not always at reducing outflow of foreign exchange for food imports.

Increasing agricultural productivity should not jeopardize the land, water and other resources of the country. Since many ministries bear the mandate of conserving natural resources there is a necessity to establish a national advisory board for conservation of natural resources independent of political authority.

A national development plan for agriculture has to be prepared wherein integrated approach of agriculture, livestock and small agro-based industries is promoted. Any agriculture related activity implemented in the country should be a part of the national agriculture development plan. Committees should be established at provincial, district, divisional and village level to plan and implement the agricultural production program. Farmers should be protected from adverse effects of free trade policies and globalization.

Reorientation of Research Agenda

In identifying areas for research under the theme of alternative agriculture for self reliance most essential knowledge urgently needed can be obtained by answering following ten research questions.

1. How can the negative impacts of globalization and trade liberalization be managed locally to achieve sustainability in agricultural production?

2. What land and water resources are available in quantity and quality in different parts of the country?

3. How they could be developed and allocated for different purposes among competing interests?

4. What governance framework and institutional mechanisms (policy, legal and organizational frameworks) are needed to create an environment for cost-effective interventions of sustainable agriculture?

5. What is the relationship between poverty and environmental degradation?

6. How poverty can be alleviated through sustainable agriculture?

7. How can the impacts (environmental, social and economic) of land use changes be assessed?

8. What combinations of technological and management strategies are needed to assure the utilization of natural resources effectively, efficiently and equitably for agriculture to alleviate poverty and enhance environmental security?

9. How a community can feel and realize an improving process of sustainability?

10. What Decision Support Information Systems are needed to empower the stake holders in implementing sustainable agricultural development programs?

Reorientation of agricultural research agenda from crop based to resource productivity based is essential to achieve sustainability. Promotion of endemic fruits, vegetables and medicinal products for both local consumption and foreign markets can be initiated through research. Knowledge on conservation of natural resources at present is dispersed and available in various institutions. Gaps need to be identified where further studies are needed and organized by networking them so that any would have the access for utilization.

Theme talk made at the Tenth Annual Forestry and Environment Symposium held at Kabool Lanka International Training Center, Thulhiriya on 2nd and 3rd 2005 organized by Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka

Dr. W.L. Sumathipala
Senior Lecturer
The Open University of Sri Lanka,
Director, National Ozone Unit, Ministry of Environment
The magnitude of degradation of the environment increased tremendously with the industrial revolution which started in 1850s. Even prior to the industrial revolution, pollution due to human activities existed but in a reduced amount. Those days the assimilation capacity of the environment was greater than the release of pollutants in to the environment. Large volumes of wastes were released in to the environment with the development of machine-based industries. Then the assimilation capacity of the environment became lower than the rate of waste generation. As a result wastes accumulated in the environment giving rise to problems, which threatens the life existence on planet Earth.

In general, pollution can be considered in terms of Air Pollution, Water Pollution and Land Pollution. Scientists are also considering some specific types of pollution such as pollution due to Noise, radiation and high temperature.

Since there are no boundaries in the atmosphere air is not limited to a place, region or to a country. Therefore air pollution produced in some parts of the world can cause problems in another country in the world. Therefore air pollution should be considered as a major problem where international efforts are needed to address the atmospheric problems. Further it is considered to be a serious problem as it affects the human health worldwide. All the terrestrial life forms are exchanging gases with the atmosphere. Therefore there is a danger of inhaling/absorbing what ever the pollutants available in the atmosphere because they do not have a filtering mechanism. On the other hand the pollutants released in to the atmosphere gets diluted and the possibility of collecting or treating such pollution is impossible. Therefore preventing, controlling or treating these substances before releasing them in to the atmosphere is very important. The atmospheric lifetime of some pollutants/chemicals is very high and they cause global environmental problems such as Ozone Layer depletion.

The main sources for air pollution are burning fossil fuels for energy generation & transportation, biomass burning and industrial emissions. The sources of air pollution give rise to gases, mixtures of fine particles or both. Most common gases generated from burning fossil fuels are CO2, CO, Oxides of Nitrogen, Oxides of Sulfur and unburned hydrocarbons. Pollution due to biomass burning for cooking is very common in the Asian region. This will generate unburned hydrocarbons due to incomplete burning processes, mixture of oxides of carbon, nitrogen & sulfur and particulate matter. Industrial emissions are responsible for most hazardous chemicals such as fluorinated carbons, PFCs, SF6, etc.

Considering the difficulty of treating these gasses after releasing in to the atmosphere it is important to either control or treat the emission before releasing to the atmosphere. In the industrial sector, controlling the emission of air pollutants can be achieved through changing the method of plant operation, changing the input or raw materials used in the process, adopting cleaner production methods or treating the pollutants prior to release. Gaseous pollutants can be removed from their gaseous environment to either a liquid or a solid surface, where they will be preferentially retained, or where they react to form a non polluted species. There are processes with various methods used for collecting gases with high concentration such as absorption in to a liquid or solid or adsorption on to a solid surface. These are occurring either with or with out reaction. Pollutants generated due to incomplete combustion can be removed through complete combustion converting them into CO2 and water. This can be achieved in a combustion chamber providing sufficient air in the presence of a catalyst. In order to prevent the release of particulate matter to the atmosphere, settling chambers, gravity separators, cyclone dust collectors, filters, wet scrubbers and electro statistic precipitators can be utilized.

Emission of radioactive particles is possible due to the development of energy generation through nuclear power plants. Since these materials cannot be detected by human senses such as taste or smell and even a very minute quantity is lethal, there has to be stringent regulations utmost in operating these plants and handling waste. These should operate on hundred percent accident free environments. In addition, installation of multiple barriers, real time monitoring and error free safeguard systems are very important for these facilities.

Indoor air quality is very important, mainly because people remain indoors in excess of 90% of their lifetime. Common indoor pollutants are Paints, Varnish, polish, household polymers, fuel wood burning, burning incense sticks and mosquito coils. Houses or buildings with less ventilation are vulnerable for indoor air pollution resulting in nausea, vomiting, dizziness and respiratory diseases. As a solution, Architects can design well-ventilated buildings with more air circulation.

Substances such as CFC, Halons, CTC, HCFC are depleting the Ozone Layer that protects human from the Sun’s dangerous UV radiation. Increase of Greenhouse gases such as Fluorinated Carbons, Methane, and Nitrous Oxides in the atmosphere is making the earth atmosphere warmer resulting in climate change and sea level rise. Global commitment is essential in order to control such global environmental problems. Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocols are major global agreements to take action in order to control these two major environmental problems.

Water is a basic requirement for sustaining life. Out of the total volume of available water in the planet, less than 1% is suitable for human consumption. This limited resource is further reduced due to human activities, which make it unusable. Main sources of water pollution are release of industrial waste, dumping solid waste, sewage, human waste including faecal matter, sediment run off due to soil erosion etc. As a result of such activities, concentration of dissolved carbons, heavy metals, biohazards such as bacteria and virus and other nutrients will increase in the water sources resulting in loss of biodiversity and making the water unsafe for consumption. Several methods have been developed for water treatment once it is polluted. Biological treatment, chemical coagulation and filtration, carbon adsorption, chemical oxidation, ion exchange, electrodialysis, reverse osmosis, air stripping are some of them. Water bodies are also being polluted due to discharge of sewage from watercrafts and oil spilling around the world. Designing holding tanks for receiving and storing sewage until they can be unloaded on the shore is one controlling method. Large vessels can be equipped with biological treatment plants. Leaks from offshore drilling and accidental oil spills are possible resulting in threat to water creatures and large-scale killing of sea birds. Surrounding the oil slick with a mechanical barrier until it can be removed, collecting the oil by mechanical means such as suction pumping or absorption by a suitable material and dispersing the slick with chemicals are methods practiced today.
Environmental problems due to solid waste are a growing problem in Sri Lanka and it is a major problem in many of the developing countries. Current rate of waste collection by the local authorities in Sri Lanka is estimated to be about 2,500 tones per day. Rate of waste generation depends on a number of factors such as socio economic conditions, public attitude towards reuse and recycling of waste and geographical and physical factors. Due to the improvement of technology, a tremendous increase in non-degradable packaging materials such as plastic, polythene, metals and glass can be seen. Solid wastes are generated from domestic, institutional, market, medical, commercial, industrial and garden sources. Industries such as food, paper, cardboard, rubber, and leather are good sources of organic waste. A greater portion of commercial and domestic waste are organic and biodegradable. The major problem in relation to solid waste is uncontrolled disposal of wastes.

Toxic and hazardous wastes are generated mainly from industrial and medical sectors. The extent of land pollution increases due to unorganized solid waste disposal practices. Developing facilities for safe disposal and management of solid waste should be a high priority in society. With the rapid development, population growth and urbanization, solid waste has increased and therefore it is essential to manage solid waste. There is also a serious threat of utilizing Sri Lanka as a hazardous waste dumping site.

According to the estimates the local authorities collect only a part of the waste generated. Disposing wastes in the home gardens are common in rural areas due to lack of collecting system or facilities. At present waste disposal is mainly in open dumps, which are unsanitary. Most of these areas are low laying marshy lands and abandoned paddy fields. As a result leachate, emission of gases, odors, fire and loss of aesthetic beauty are possible. As an alternative to open dumping, sanitary land filling has to be introduced. Proper planning is essential to minimize the side effects. Separation of solid waste at the point of generation is essential and thereafter different categories can be treated separately. Biodegradable materials have to be composed and used as organic manure as far as possible. Avenues for collecting recyclable materials and recycling should be promoted. The final waste that is not possible for recycle has to be dump in a sanitary landfill. Incineration is another option but the capital cost is very high and therefore it may not be suitable for a developing country. At least several small-scale incinerators are essential to destroy toxic and hazardous waste.

Noise pollution has a very close relationship with occupational safety. In most cases industries are responsible for high noise pollution. Recent studies show that there is direct relationship with high levels of noise and mental health. Noise management can be achieved at the point of its origin and along the noise pathway and at the point of reception. There are several noise management techniques available at present. Shock absorbing techniques, use of non metal parts to reduce the noise generated, use of acoustic guards, installing machinery on adequate mountings, locating machinery away from the residential areas are some of precautionary methods.

In most of the industries a large amount of heat is generated and released in to the atmosphere. This problem of thermal pollution can be alleviated by using artificial cooling ponds or cooling towers. Where possible this high temperature can be utilized for useful work such as generation of electricity.

In order to control pollution, proper and appropriate legislation, emission and effluent standards for industries are essential. Awareness creation among the general public and making the man more environment friendly is an over all approach for environment protection.

Theme talk made at the Tenth Annual Forestry and Environment Symposium held at Kabool Lanka International Training Center, Thulhiriya on 2nd and 3rd 2005 organized by Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka 

Mr H M Bandaratillake
Director, Forest Resources Management Project
Ministry of Environment & Natural Resources
Former Conservator, Forest Department, Sri Lanka

Abstract of the theme talk presented at the tenth Forestry and Environment Symposium of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenpura, Sri Lanka on 2-3 December 2005

The forest cover in Sri Lanka has been continuously declining during the last several decades. The forest cover which was around 44% of the land area in 1956 had declined to 23.9% in 1992 and 22% at present. It has been widely accepted that this rate of deforestation has caused one of the main environmental and social problems in the country. Although, successive governments have taken many steps to conserve forests and to introduce laws and regulations to control deforestation, the problem was aggravating from year to year without effective solutions, mainly due to the conflicting demands placed on forest resources.

In view of this situation, the National Forest Policy was revised and Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) was formulated and approved by the government in 1995. The Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) which was based on the National Forest Policy, provides the framework for developing partnerships with non state sector for promoting community and private sector participation in forest conservation and development. FSMP also provide a guiding framework to introduce new policies and to carryout legislative, administrative and institutional reforms required.

The Forest Resources Management Project (FRMP) which is scheduled to implement during 2001- 2007 is the first implementation programme of the FSMP. The overall objective of the FRMP is to establish and operationalise participatory sustainable forest resources management for increasing forest protection and production. With the implementation of FRMP, number of new strategies and programmes have been introduced to the forestry sector in order to achieve the objectives of sustainable forest management. Some of these strategies include; private sector re-forestation and management, woodlot development, establishment of Permanent Forest Estate, Re-organisation of the Forest Department, Amendments to the Forest Ordinance, Private sector harvesting of forest plantation and development of nature tourism etc,. Legal provisions including mechanisms for benefit sharing have been provided to facilitate the effective implementation of these programmes.

Prof Dhammika A. Tantrigoda
Department of Physics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

Part 1>
Origin of Earthquakes

Richter Scale Magnitude of Earthquakes

Normally we would like to represent the magnitude or intensity of any process using a numerical value of a certain property related to the process on a suitable scale. For example, intensity of rainfall is expressed using height of the water collected in an open vessel kept in the rain (rain gauge) using a millimetre scale. Similarly the magnitude of an earthquake is expressed in terms of the amplitude of the ground motion. The scale on which this is expressed is called the Richter scale. In the original Richter scale, Richter defined the magnitude in terms of the maximum trace amplitude on a standard seismometer, sensitive equipment capable of monitoring vibrations of the earth, stationed at a distance of 100 km from the epicentre of the earthquake. The amplitude is expressed on a logarithmic scale. According to this scale an earthquake that shows amplitude of one metre on the standard seismometer has a magnitude 6. An earthquake that shows 1 km amplitude is designated to have a magnitude of 9 on this scale. There are practical problems in using this scale especially due to non-availability of seismic stations at an epicentral distance of 100 km of each and every earthquake. Therefore the original concept of Richter has been modified and new formula has been suggested. The new formula is capable of computing the magnitude of an earthquake monitored at any seismic station on the globe.

Energy Release

Methods of estimation of total energy released in an earthquake have been given by Richter, Guternburg and many others. It is somewhat difficult to appreciate the amount of energy released in an earthquake from the numerical magnitude alone. Comparison with other known processes that release energy would be of some help in this regard. A magnitude 1 earthquake is so weak that they can only be observed with sensitive instruments. Kinetic energy associated with such an earthquake is more or less equal to the kinetic energy of a vehicle weighing 15000 kg travelling at a speed of 130 km per hour. One ton of the explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT) releases about 4.2×109 (four thousand two hundred million) of Joules of energy. Energy released in the atomic bomb, which destroyed Hiroshima, is the same as that released by an explosion of eleven kilotons of TNT. This is equivalent to the energy released in a magnitude 5 earthquake. An earthquake of magnitude 9 releases about 1.6 x 1018 Joules. All lesser earthquakes numbering more than 500 000 per year only releases five per cent of the energy released by a magnitude 9 earthquake.

Generation of Tsunamis

When a very large earthquake occurs at a subduction zone, dislocation of the deformed and strained rock units cause the ocean bottom above the focus to rupture and collapse. This may result in either vertical upward or downward movement of the sea floor of an extensive region. Disturbed water mass will soon try to regain the equilibrium under gravity and in the process a train of waves are generated. This is somewhat analogous to a plucked string of a musical instrument trying to regain equilibrium by undergoing vibrations. The manner in which a disturbance caused by collapsing of sea floor generates a train of sea waves and the calculation of properties of the waves so generated can be carried out using classical fluid dynamics. The discussion, which follows, is based on qualitative treatment of the results obtained from such calculations.

Basics of Wave Propagation

We are all familiar with tiny water waves or ripples generated on the surface of a clear and calm pond as a result of dropping a pebble. We see that even though the ripples move outwards from the point at which pebble was dropped, small pieces of leaves floating on the water do not travel with the wave. Instead they oscillate up and down and to and fro around a fixed position. This clearly indicates that the medium (ie. water) does not travel when a wave is propagated through the medium. But the wave gives the capability to a piece of leaf to oscillate and this indicates what is been propagated is only the energy. In a wave we observe the repetition of a certain fundamental shape (figure 3). Length of this fundamental shape is known as the wavelength, speed at which this shape travels through the medium is called the wave speed and the time taken by the fundamental shape to travel its own distance is called the period of the wave. It is interesting to see how water particles (the medium) oscillate when a water wave is propagated. Contrary to what is stated in many elementary physics textbooks including those we use in our own schools, oscillations of water waves are not confined to the vertical direction. If the oscillations are confined to the vertical direction, then water should have stretched vertically at crests and compressed at troughs of the wave. We know very well that water does not have sufficient elastic properties to sustain such deformations. Therefore when a crest is formed water from the neighbouring region will flow in the horizontal direction to compensate for the amount of water that has gone up resulting in a trough in that region. So the oscillations are taking place in the vertical as well as horizontal directions. Very often horizontal component is more pronounced compared to the vertical component.

figure 3

Speed of Tsunami Waves

A sudden vertical disturbance of a water column generates a very large number of waves (pulses to be precise) with different wavelengths and they normally travel with different speeds and have different periods. All the waves that have wavelengths greater than six times the depths of the water layer travels with the same speed. This speed is equal to the square root of the product of acceleration due to gravity and the depth. According to this formula tsunami waves travelling in region of 4 km water depth has a speed of 200 meters per second or 720 km per hour. This value is comparable with the speed of a commercial jet aircraft. When tsunami waves reach the edge of the continental shelf their velocity reduces to about 45 metres per second and further reduces to about 10 metres per second when reaches the show. As a result of progressive reduction of speed when climbing the continental shelf tsunami waves acquire large amplitudes. Lower speed in the front part and higher speed in the rear part of the wave will result in bunching up water over a narrow region forming a tall wall of water near the shore.

Energy Propagation

Tsunamis are quite different to the water waves generated by the wind that we are very much familiar with. Tsunami waves have very long wavelengths, which are generally of the order 100 km to 200 km where as the wavelengths of waves generated by winds rarely exceeds a few tens of metres. In waves generated by winds the surface of the water mostly takes part in oscillations and the energy of the wave is almost limited to the surface. In tsunami waves the whole water column from the surface to the bottom of the sea takes part in oscillations and the energy is distributed in the whole water column. When it is passing through a region of the deep ocean its amplitude becomes very small as the total energy of the wave is now shared by a water column, which may be five to six kilometres deep. This is the reason as to why in the deep ocean tsunamis have amplitudes of less than one metre and are not detected by ships passing by. When a tsunami reaches a region of shallow water its energy is distributed in a small column of water and therefore should have higher amplitude to have the same amount of energy it had when passing through a deep region (tsunami waves loose very little energy when travelling through the deep ocean).

Main Phases of Tsunami Waves

Physicists and mathematicians have extensively studied water waves including tsunamis. It has been shown that a tsunami wave has two main phases in general as shown in figure 4. First phase is part of the wave in-between A and B in Figure 4 and this is known as Jeffery phase, in memory of one of the mathematicians who contributed to the better understanding of propagation of tsunamis. Rest of the wave is known as the oscillatory phase. It is useful to note that the Jeffery phase is only a sort of a crest of a wave and it does not have a trough. Actual size of the Jeffery phase depends on the nature of the initial disturbance of the water caused by the collapse of the sea floor.

It has been reported that mainly two destructive waves struck most coastal towns of Sri Lanka on the last 26th of December. There has been a spectacular recession of the sea exposing the sea floor to a distance of about 1 km from the shore in many places during the time interval between the two waves. It may be interpreted that the Jeffery phase with reduced amplitude may be responsible for the initial wave, which was not very strong. The Jeffery phase will be followed by the first trough of the oscillatory phase, which is responsible for the recession of the sea. As explained earlier a trough of water waves are formed as a result of horizontal movements of the water towards the crests and this further explains complete depletion of water exposing the sea floor. Then the first crest of the oscillatory phase will come with enhanced amplitude and most of the devastation will be caused by this stronger second wave. It is possible for several other waves also to come, but their severity would depend on several other factors.

Alteration of Direction and Penetrating into Shadow Areas

When a wave undergoes change in velocity it normally suffers a change in its direction of propagation. This phenomenon is known as refraction. Tsunami waves also can undergo refraction as a result of change in velocity due to the change in depth of the water column in which they are travelling. Sharp variation of the topography of the sea floor due to the presence of oceanic ridges and massive seamounts are capable of guiding the direction of tsunamis in this manner. Capability of a wave front to bend at an obstacle and reach areas covered by the obstacle is known as diffraction. Any wave type has this capability and the extent to which it can penetrate into the covered area is limited to a distance of the order one wavelength. This phenomenon may responsible for the tsunami waves that originated near Sumatra, which faces the eastern coast of Sri Lanka to reach its western coast. As the wavelength of the tsunami is of the order of 200 km it can easily affect the western coast even upto Negombo due to the diffraction phenomena.
In the recent tsunami we noticed that Maldives, which is an oceanic atoll, is comparatively less affected in spite of its seemingly vulnerable position in the Indian Ocean. The safeguards available to atoll dwellers are twofold. First of all the atoll isles rise steeply from the sea floor like pinnacles and there is no desirable topography of the sea floor for the wave to enhance its amplitude. Further, most of the isles have dimensions less than the wavelength of tsunami waves and therefore the waves will pass the isles almost “unnoticed”.

Tsunami Warning System and Public Awareness Programme

After the tragic events of December 26th many professionals and several others have urged the government to consider the possibility of having an early tsunami warning system in Sri Lanka. There is such a system that covers most countries in the Pacific Basin, Hawaii islands and other US regions bordering the Pacific Ocean. Basically a tsunami warning system is an international network of seismometers (or seismic observatories) and “tide stations” installed in relevant countries and relevant sea areas. These instruments are connected to a central station via satellite. The central station may also have access to other international seismic networks such as the one owned by the United States Geological Survey. Seismometer network will indicate occurrence of earthquakes in the region covered by the network and the geophysicists in the central station will compute the location and the magnitude of the earthquake. If the earthquake has taken place in a vulnerable sea area and if its magnitude is reasonably high (more than 7 on the Richter scale) they can examine readings of the tide gauges in the vicinity of the focus of the earthquake to see any signs of the formation of a tsunami. Warning bulletins will then be issued to the member countries if the necessity arises.

A tsunami warning system cannot be established by a single country. Several countries in a region, which are likely to be threatened by this natural disaster, will have to work together in establishing such a system. Therefore there are practical difficulties in establishing an early tsunami warning system immediately. Until such time we establish a suitable early warning system we may think of having our own improvised warning system. This system may consist of a small group of scientifically oriented dedicated people who work around the clock in a central station. They should examine seismic records at Pallekele and other stations or which we have access and compute the location and magnitude of any earthquake recorded. These computations do not require much advanced knowledge of seismology. Any person with reasonably good background of physics and mathematics and some exposure to computing can be easily trained for this purpose. They can also be on alert for news reports coming from neighbouring countries and warning bulletins issued by already established tsunami early warning centres and any other relevant information appearing on the internet. If a centre of this nature is available any outside agency that would like to warn us regarding an impending disaster can direct such warnings to this centre.

Sri Lanka has been generally considered a safe country with regard to natural disasters. Droughts and floods are the most frequently heard natural disasters. Sometimes heavy rains are reported to have triggered off landslides especially in the upcountry. Earthquakes of magnitude of the order of 5 or less on the Richter scale have been felt occasionally only arousing academic interest. Articles in the press by the experts often appear to reassure the safety of Sri Lanka soon after such events. Popular belief among many of us was that there is no need to worry about earthquakes and tsunamis, as they are not “destined” to occur in Sri Lanka. This false sense security that has been developed over the years has contributed much towards our ignorance with regard to extreme natural disasters. Our failure to realise the possibility of having a tsunami after a submarine earthquake exceeding magnitude eight on the Richter scale off the coast of Sumatra explains the extent of our ignorance regarding these matters. Had the general public being knowledgeable about recession of the sea immediately prior to the arrival of the major tsunami wave they would have gone to safe places resisting the natural tendency to take advantage of once in a life time opportunity of exploring the exposed sea floor. All these are sad and grim reminders of our ignorance about natural disasters. The importance of having a comprehensive long-term programme to educate the general public with regard to such disasters has become an urgent need of the country. Earthquakes and tsunamis should occupy a centre place of this educational programme. Different aspects of natural disasters including scientific as well as sociological aspects should come into our education system at different levels starting from he junior school to postgraduate level in the universities. Scientists will have the arduous task of understanding how these disasters originate and how they affect the different parts of the county and to draw up risk mitigation strategies. Finally through the media and education system of the country this knowledge should steadily permeate down to the general public. Intellectuals, educators and journalists of Sri Lanka have an enormous responsibility giving leadership to the initiation an effective awareness programme.

Part 1>
Origin of Earthquakes

Prof Dhammika A. Tantrigoda
Department of Physics, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Nugegoda, Sri Lanka

Dreadful memories of the tsunami that ravaged several coastal cities of Sri Lanka claiming many innocent lives on the early hours of 26 December 2004 is still haunting the minds of many of us. This powerful tsunami, which devastated several South Asian countries, originated off the west coast of Sumatra. According to local and international news agencies, the tsunami has claimed well over 150 000 lives causing unprecedented damage to property. It has been generated as result of a massive Earthquake of magnitude 9 on the Richter scale. According to the United States Geological Survey, this is the fourth largest earthquake in recorded history, the largest being the great Chilean Earthquake that took place in 1960, with a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale.

Tsunami is a train of sea waves triggered off due to a sudden collapse of the ocean floor. This normally happens as a result of earthquakes taking place at shallow depths below the sea floor. Tsunamis can also be caused by volcanic eruptions and falling of large boulders into the water. Violent eruption of Krakatoa volcano in 1883 caused sudden collapse of the sea floor leading to a massive tsunami, which claimed a large number of human lives. Tsunamis are sometimes referred to as tidal waves. This is a misnomer, as tsunamis have nothing to do with tides that are caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun, moon and other planetary bodies. The word tsu-nami has a Japanese origin and it means harbour wave (“tsu” means harbour while “nami” means wave). Tsunamis have enhanced effects in harbours and other U or V shaped water inlets and this could have been contributed towards the Japanese origin of the word.

Origin of Earthquakes

Figure 1

Let us now see how earthquakes that trigger tsunamis are originated. The thin outermost part of the earth (first 50 to 100 km) is known as the lithosphere and it consists of several large detached tile like segments and several other such smaller segments. These segments are known as lithospheric plates or simply plates. Plates “float” on a region called asthenosphere, which consists of rocks that have transformed into an extremely “thick” or viscous material, which can flow with very slow speeds. All the plates are moving relative to each other at very slow speeds in a complicated manner. Earthquakes can be observed in most plate margins, especially at the vicinity of plate margins known as transform faults and subduction zones. At a transform fault two plates move passing each other horizontally. One such plate margin is in California in western USA. This is known as San Andreas Fault and many powerful earthquakes have been generated at this fault. At a subduction zone a heavy oceanic plate goes under a relatively light continental plate (figure 1). Descending oceanic plate tries to drag along some of the adjacent continental plate resulting strains in both plates. So the subduction does not proceed smoothly and continuously; it proceeds with jerks and each jerk is responsible for an earthquake. The oceanic plate on which most of the Indian Ocean is lying on is plunging down (subduct) under Indonesia and the recently observed magnitude 9 earthquake took place at this plate boundary.

Trigger Mechanism

No one exactly knows the mechanism that triggers earthquakes as they happen deep down in the earth. However, we can build models to explain how earthquakes occur in just as we build models to explain atomic and nuclear phenomena. The elastic rebound model is one such model that has been built to explain the origin of earthquakes that takes place at a transform fault. It is useful to study this model as it gives a very good insight into how earthquakes originate. As discussed earlier, at a transform fault two plates move passing each other almost horizontally. Due to frictional and other forces each plate is trying to stop the motion of the other that result in deforming both plates. This is somewhat similar to two gigantic rubbers glued to each other trying to move in opposite directions parallel to the two faces that have been glued. As a result of relative motion of the parts of the rubbers that are away from the glued boundary they get deformed and are in a state of strain. The figure 2.b shows the way in which two plates can undergo deformation in this manner. There is a limit to which “glued” rocks can withstand deformation and once this limit is passed, rocks in that region snap releasing huge amounts of energy. This is how the elastic rebound model explains the origin of an earthquake. Normally the whole boundary of “glued” plates does not get dislocated in one instance. Only the rocks in a certain region of the boundary get dislocated and this has been illustrated in figure 2c. If the extent of the dislocation is large the release of elastic energy is also large and the earthquake is classified as one having higher magnitude. Once the main shock occurs, other parts of the glued regions can also snap and release energy and these events are known as after shocks. This explains how several small earthquakes that were reported to have taken place at the same plate boundary occurred after the massive earthquake of 26th December. After shocks are normally not powerful as the main shock. Sometimes a small release of energy can take place before the main shock known as foreshocks. Dislocation of rock units over an extensive region on the plate will take place in an earthquake. However, compared to the size of the whole plate boundary this region can be well approximated to single point. This point is known as the focus of the earthquake. The point directly above the focus on the surface of the earth is known as the epicentre of the earthquake.

figure 2

When an earthquake takes place basically two types of waves collectively known as “body waves” transmit the energy outwards. Once these waves reach the surface their interference with each other and other phenomena will lead to the formation of another type of waves known as “surface waves”. Unlike body waves surface waves have higher amplitudes and almost all the physical damage due to an earthquake is due to the effects of surface waves. How the body waves and surface waves are generated and how they travel and also how the whole earth vibrates like a giant bell after an earthquake is a fascinating problem in physics and in applied mathematics. Some of the concepts in physics and mathematical tools developed to solve this problem have been successfully used in formulating some of the concepts in advanced branches of contemporary physics such as quantum mechanics and nuclear physics.

Part 2 >
Richter Scale Magnitude of Earthquakes

S.W. Newman* and D.M.S.H.K. Ranasinghe**
* School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds L 52 9JT UK
** Department of Forestry & Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Full Paper Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Introduction:

The main objective of the Country Environmental Profile is to identify and assess environmental issues to be considered during the preparation of a Country Strategy Paper, which will directly or indirectly influence European Commission (EC) cooperation activities. A secondary aim was to guide bilateral rehabilitation assistance and regional cooperation at regional levels eg. Asia wide programs or at sub regional level such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). In order to mainstream environmental considerations into EC country programming and projects it is essential to note that key environmental indicators are clearly specified in Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number seven which is ‘Ensuring Environmental Sustainability’. It is also important to recognize that the environment is often the engine of development for both the urban and rural poor as opposed to something that should be protected for posterity.

State of the Environment

Country Description
The island of Sri Lanka lies between 6 and 10 degrees North latitude and between 80 and 82 degrees East. It has an area of 65,610 square kilometers and a population of 19,462,000 (mid 2004). The population is very uneven with 60% located in one quarter of the island known as the wet zone. Over 72% of the population live in rural areas. The population density in 2004 was 310 persons per square kilometer.

The economy registered an annual growth of 5.4% in the real Gross Domestic Product in 2004. GNP per capita is over US$800 per capita which is ahead of some South Asian Countries. 6.6% and 45.4% of the population earned below $1 and $2 per day respectively in 1995. (2004 Annual report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka)
The island has a very rich cultural heritage with productive agricultural kingdoms starting before the 4th century BC. The indigenous knowledge of agriculture, water management and medicine is of global importance (Footprints of Our Heritage, UNESCO).

Physical Environment

The island has a central mountainous massif and a vast plain surrounding it, giving a significant variation in climate. The annual temperature in the coastal belt ranges from 26 to 35 degrees centigrade while in the central highland it ranges from 15 to 19 degrees. As a tropical island there is little temporal variation in temperature. The annual rainfall varies from 1000 mm in arid areas in the south west and north west of the island to over 5000 mm in a few places on the South West slopes of the Central Highlands. The 3000 mm isohyet divides the country into the wet zone covering the south western part and the dry zone covering the north and east of the highlands. The seasons contain two mosoons. The Yala monsoon brings rain to the south west during May to August. The Maha monsoon brings rain to the North and the East from October to January (Arjuna’s Atlans of Sri Lanka). A breakdown of Land use types is given below in Table 1 which is taken from the 1998 Statistical Compendium. The highest mountain is Mount Pidurutalagala at 2524m.

Table 1: Land Use Types and their extents in Sri Lanka

Source: Statistical Abstract, 2003

Biological Environment

At the beginning of the 20th Century about 70% of the island was covered by forest. By 1998 this had shrunk to 24%. 82% of the land is theoretically controlled by the state, but in reality there has been considerable official and unofficial encroachment and the actual level of state control is currently unclear.
Sri Lanka is considered to be the most bio-diverse country in Asia per unit area and is a global biodiversity hotspot. About half of its native species are endemic, including all freshwater crabs, 90% of amphibians, 50% of freshwater fish, 26% of flowering plants and 14% of its mammals. There are over 3368 species of flowering plant and over 400 species of spiders. Sri Lanka has very high ecosystem diversity. The island also has high agricultural biodiversity (Biodiversity Conservation in Sri Lanka, A Framework for Action, 1999).

Critical Environmental Issues in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is an island nation endowed with many natural resources. It also has a long history of living in harmony with the environment. Some classic examples of this practice is the world famous water management system established by the period of olden kings, homegardens especially in the hill country etc. However, with the advent of foreign invasions and commercialisation of products and services, the harmony between the environment and the humans was greatly impaired resulting in environmental degradation. Among the major environmental issues in the country, land degradation, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, air pollution, declining availability of fresh water and deteriorating water quality, degradation of marine and coastal habitats and solid waste disposal can be mentioned (State of the Environment, Sri Lanka, 2001).

Sustainability of the environment has been severely affected by land degradation. The soils suffer from varying degrees of erosion and degradation mainly due to rapid rates of deforestation, poor irrigation and drainage practice, inadequate soil conservation, chena cultivation and vegetable cultivation in steep slopes and overgrazing. It has been estimated that about 46% of the land in the country has been affected by soil erosion. High population density has reduced the land: man ratio from 2.25 ha in 1880 to 0.38 ha in 2000.

Deforestation is also considered as a major environmental issue in the country. Forest cover has decreased from 44% in 1956 to just over 22% at present while in the biodiversity rich wet lowlands it is only 3% of the land area. The annual rate of deforestation is estimated to be about 3%. With the decline of natural ecosystems, biodiversity is also greatly affected. Over 690 flowering plant species and 90 fern species have been assigned threatened status (State of the Environment, Sri Lanka, 2001). Among animals, about 75% of vertebrate groups and about 50 – 100% invertebrate groups are under threat (IUCN Red Data Book, 2000).

One of the most important implications of economic growth is the increased demand for energy. The use of energy in power, transportation and related sectors had increased air pollution. Further, urbanization and industrialization has increased the urban air pollution. Significant health threats result from the outdoor as well as indoor air pollution resulting from the use of low quality solid fuels such as coal, wood, crop residues.

Although well endowed with water resources, waters are getting polluted especially due to improper management of the same. The major pressures on water resources arise from agriculture, urbanisation and industrialization. Concentrations of chloride, nitrate and potassium in drinking water and other sources have substantially increased. Untreated domestic sewage is causing health problems due to pathogenic organisms. In addition to this, salinisation affects ground water resources due to the intrusion of seawater (State of the Environment in Sri Lanka, 2002).

Sri Lanka being a island nation is framed with 1585 km of coastline. Marine resources provide more than 100,000 employment opportunities and are very vital to the socio economic status of the country. Some of the most important problems in the coastal zone are costal erosion and coastal pollution. Coastal pollution occurs both from land based and sea based sources. Construction of unauthorized structures on the coast, river and beach sand mining, coral mining are some of the activities, which contribute to the coastal erosion. Further, among the sea-based activities, contamination with oil from marine transport systems, green house effect and temperature rise in the seawaters is also significant. Loss of coastal habitats include substantial loss of mangrove forests especially for the construction of shrimp ponds and for paddy rice cultivation with negative impacts on commercial fisheries as well as stability of land. It also contributes substantially to the loss of important ecosystems (Coastal Zone Action Plan, 2003).

About 25% of the population in the country live in urban environments, which account to only 0.5% of the land area. The rise of cities has been accompanied by a proliferation of slums and squatter settlements without access to basic infrastructure, clean water and sanitation with associated health risks. Further the affluence of urban areas has resulted in congestion, increasing air and water pollution, loss of productive agricultural land, conversion of environmentally valuable land to non-agricultural purposes, over extraction of ground water resources etc. Management of solid and liquid waste are critical issues especially in these urban areas. Although Local Authorities are entrusted with the collection and disposal of solid waste, inadequate resources and dumping sites has hindered the efficiently of the operation. Despite the fact that there are many awareness campaigns on effective waste management the public in general seems to turn a blind ear to this which aggravates the problem further (State of the Environment in Sri Lanka, 2002).

Special issues

The conflict waged by Tamil separatists in the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka since 1983 experienced a break with a ceasefire on the 22 February 2002. The donors support meeting on humanitarian aid, held in Oslo in November 2002 consolidated steps towards peace, with the donor conference in Tokyo in June 2003 resulting in pledges amounting to € 4,5 billion.

The tsunami that hit the countries around the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004 was one of the worst natural disasters in recorded history. After Indonesia, Sri Lanka has suffered the most from the tsunami. The tsunami has destroyed or damaged: 130,000 houses, 168 public schools, four universities, 18 vocational centres; 92 local clinics, hospitals and drug stores; significant losses in power, transportation (roads and railways), water supply and sanitation. Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has been very hard hit since the disaster occurred during one of their busiest periods of the year destroying key infrastructure
Both of the above issues have had profound environmental effects.

S.W. Newman* and D.M.S.H.K. Ranasinghe**
* School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds L 52 9JT UK
** Department of Forestry & Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Full Paper Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Methodology adopted

The approach taken in compiling the profile included literature review, a field trip to the East and the North (Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Jaffna) and a participatory workshop on environmental potentials for Sri Lanka 2006-2013. The field trip consisted of meeting with all government agents and the North East Provincial Council. The assessment attempted to deliver the following results;

? An assessment of the environment identifying key environmental factors influencing the Country’s development and the responses to these
? An assessment of national environmental policy and legislation, institutional structures and capacity and the involvement of civil society in environmental issues
? An assessment of past and anticipated future trends of environmental indicators
? An overview of past and ongoing international cooperation in the environmental sector
? Recommendations and as far as possible guidelines or criteria for mainstreaming environmental concerns in priority development areas

Results

Critical environmental issues as per the MDG targets

The Table 2 shows the progress made with regard to environmental targets according to the views obtained from the stakeholder workshop which had representations from both Government, Non government and Private Sector. The MDG targets were set taking 1990 as the baseline. Further, this was supplemented by the existing reports and observations made during many field visits including the Tsunami affected areas in North and East.

Table 2: Results of the observations and views of the stakeholder workshop on the country’s position in meeting the MDG targets

Environmental Policy, Strategy and Legislation

The need for clear overarching environmental action plans and policy aimed at addressing environmental issues has been clear to the government since the early 1980’s. National Environmental Action Plans (NEAP) have been in place since 1992. The third and last NEAP was for the period 1998-2001.
National Environmental Legislation

There appears to be a very high number of acts and ordinances to do with rational management of natural resources and the environment. In discussions with Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR) the only act which appeared to require high priority further development was concerned with soil conservation.

The stakeholder workshop involved an assessment of the adequacy of policy in relation to the key environmental issues. The analysis of the adequacy of policy and law was based upon its effectiveness in dealing with the problem, which in turn requires adequate monitoring and enforcement along with the involvement and compliance of the private sector The results are shown below in Table 3 with the percentage of yes answers

Table 3: The results on the status of the effectiveness of the environment policies and laws in Sri Lanka

The main conclusion is that enforcement is the main problem and to a lesser extent monitoring. It is clear that there is a role for the private sector in terms of environmental improvement of business operations and helping to set enforceable regulations. Forestry as a sector has had large donor support. Perhaps this is reflected in the comparatively high scores that the issue obtained
in policy, law, monitoring and enforcement. Drinking water monitoring had a reasonably high score.

There does appear to be good public participation in the drafting of laws. The free press is a good vehicle for this. There is less participation in the drafting of national policy. There appears to be a long way to go in terms of the influence of village level plans on divisional and district level actions.

International Environmental Legislation

Sri Lanka has signed and ratified many international treaties, policies and laws too. Most of this is straightforward apart from the convention on biological diversity which requires a very high level of coordination between several ministries. Based on the information procured the following analysis and recommendations were arrived at which is shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Recommendations made by various international treaties and conventions to the private sector and their level of progress made.

Spatial integrated planning

There are marked differences in the density of poverty, ethnicity, and livelihood across the country. There are also marked differences in agro-ecological environment and across the country. In order to improve perception of the role of environment in sectoral development and the links with poverty production and economic group, it is essential to develop an environmental (sustainable) development zone approach. This is currently absent. The following method was used to develop a zonal approach based upon literature analysis, expert consultation, and testing at the workshop:

• The tsunami zone is distinct in its environmental problems and potentials, available funds through new political structures and livelihood opportunities
• The municipality or dense urban zone is distinct in its environmental problems and potentials, type of poverty, and potentials for business development
• The coastal non-tsunami zone is distinct in its environmental problems and potentials and has varied livelihood potentials and political structures
• The high potential zone has the greatest availability of water biodiversity and plantation industry yet has poverty at high density levels
• The double crop paddy zone has a good agricultural base with minor and major irrigation activities
• The remaining low population and low rainfall zone has relatively low population and therefore poverty density has low production potential but high potential for extensive extractive reserves and agroforestry.

The table 5 shows some of the key features of this zone, key environmental potentials and key strategic approaches to poverty alleviation.

The Table 6 shows the activities which can be enhanced in the above zones;

Table 6: The activities which can be enhanced in the above divided zones

Conclusions and Recommendations

1. The country strategy for EC funding should be guided by the environmental development zone approach in order to maximise impact and sustainability in poverty reduction and economic cooperation as per Table 6.
2. Environmental concerns should be mainstreamed into development thinking through four approaches; environment considered as a business opportunity, by recognizing that MDG Goal 7 has key indicators of judicious environmental development, by establishing an environmental development strategy for international and national public and private partnerships in functionally important development zones, by approaching poverty reduction through a livelihood approach.
3. Any programme or project in the tsunami zone should have an environmental assessment.
4. The housing, road and energy sectors could have the highest impact on poverty elimination linked to the creation of new environmental opportunities
5. Economic cooperation between Europe and Sri Lanka should focus on environmental business and social enterprise and be guided by a study of win:win:win business partnership models
6. Any area development project should consider organisational development and delegated management approaches rather than purely increasing government “capacity”. Monitoring the constraint to environmental business and environmental business partnerships should be a central part of design.
7. An environmental assessment should be carried out as soon as possible as many tsunami rehabilitation interventions are and will have significant negative impact. Tsunami recovery in most areas will take between 5 and 10 years given current rates of progress
8. On a Regional perspective, the tsunami condition on Asia wide programs should be extended for five years
9. Links between Asia and European environmental business in building, roads, solid waste/sanitation and energy should be a priority and research partnerships in these areas should be encouraged.

References

Arjuna’s Atlas of Sri Lanka.
Bioenergy Association of Sri Lanka (2005) The Dendro Option for Future Energy Security of Sri Lanka. Information Note.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka (2004) Annual Report
Central Environmental Authority (1995) Index to Environmental Legislation in Sri Lanka: 1-35
Coast Conservation Department (2003) Revised Coastal Zone Management Plan, Sri Lanka 2003
Department of Census and Statistics in Sri Lanka (2003) Statistical Abstract: 1-445
Green Network of Sri Lanka (2002) People’s Report on Sustainable Development in Sri Lanka: 1-97
IUCN (2003) Wetland Conservation in Sri Lanka, Proceedings of the National Symposium on Wetland Conservation and Management, June 19-20, 20003: 1-75
Ministry of Finance and Planning (2005) Sri Lanka New Development Strategy, Framework for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction.
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (2001) State of the Environment, Sri Lanka 2001: 1-106
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (2002) State of the Environment in Sri Lanka, A National Report Prepared for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, 2002: 1-245
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (1999) Conservation of Biological Diversity in Sri Lanka, A Framework for Action: 121
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (2003) Caring for the Environment 2003 – 2007 – Path to Sustainable Development: 1-152
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (2002) Sri Lanka’s Middle Path to Sustainable Development in the 21st Century, National Report of Sri Lanka to the World Summit on Sustainable Development: 1-84
Ministry of Policy Development and Implementation (2003) Current Issues by Sector: 1-311
Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Forestry (1995) Sri Lanka Forestry Sector Master Plan: 1-508
National Science Foundation (2000) Natural Resources of Sri Lanka 2000: 1-306
Ranasinghe, D.M.S.H.K. and Huxley, P.A. (1996) Agroforestry for Sustainable Development in Sri Lanka, University of Wales, UK: 1-275
UNESCO (1997) Footprints of Our Heritage, Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO, Isurupaya, Battaramulla: 1-181
UNDP (2004) Millennium Development Goals – Ensuring Environmental Sustainability (prepared by Hemanthi Ranasinghe and S.T. De Silva): 1- 164.

S.W. Newman* and D.M.S.H.K. Ranasinghe**
* School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds L 52 9JT UK
** Department of Forestry & Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Full Paper Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

ABSTRACT

A Country Environmental Profile was prepared with the aim to identify and assess environmental issues to be considered during the preparation of a Country Strategy Paper which will directly or indirectly influence European Union (EC) cooperation activities.

The approach taken in compiling the profile included a comprehensive literature review, a field trip to some Tsunami affected districts including Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Jaffna Districts and a participatory workshop on environmental potentials for Sri Lanka from 2006 – 2013.

The study revealed that among the key environmental issues in the country, Land degradation, deforestation, Degradation of coastal and marine resources, Loss of Biodiversity, Solid Waste Disposal and Surface and ground water pollution are important. In the North East, in addition to these, War has become the major factor affecting development. Although funds are being allocated for development activities after the onset of peace (temporary!) political instability has led to limited investment especially by the private sector. With regard to resources available, issues, opportunities available etc. the country can be largely divided into zones; the coastal zone taking about 24% of the country’s land area, the densely populated resource rich (water, cash crops and minerals) south west quartile surrounded by sparsely populated resource poor land dominated by low returns from subsistence agriculture. The North Central Province where there are major irrigation schemes and parts of Jaffna with high value fruit and vegetables. Environmental problems have been made worse on most of the coast by the Tsunami and some Tsunami Rehabilitation methods could exacerbate matters.

Among the major recommendations for the Country Strategy, the division of the country into environmental development zones in order to maximize impact and sustainability in poverty reduction and economic cooperation is important. They are Tsunami Affected Areas, Municipalities, Coastal Non Tsunami areas, Areas with irrigation schemes to facilitate high agricultural production, South West Country which has high potential in terms of resources and also threats due to population pressure and the rest of the country having low rainfall and low population density. In each zone the character of the zone, key environmental technologies are described. Among the other recommendations, it was emphasized that economic cooperation between Europe and Sri Lanka should focus on environmental business and social enterprise and be guided by a study of win:win:win business partnership models. Any area development project should consider organizational development and delegate management approaches rather than purely increasing government capacity. Monitoring the constraints to environmental business partnerships should be a central part of design along with recording livelihood perceptions of important environmental limitations. The housing, road and energy sectors could have the highest impact on poverty elimination linked to the creation of new environmental opportunities. In conclusion, economic cooperation between Europe and Sri Lanka should focus on environmental business and social enterprise and be guided by a study of win:win:win business partnership models.

Key words: European Union, Profile, Tsunami, Environment, Strategy

Ranasinghe, D.M.S.H.K., Professor, Dept. of Forestry & Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Nugegoda (Sri Lanka) Tel: + 94 11 2 804685 Fax 4724395 email: [email protected]