Friday Apr 26, 2024
Friday Apr 26, 2024
Friday, 30 April 2021 02:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The world has already experienced visible impacts of global climate change on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, plant and animal distribution ranges have shifted, trees are flowering sooner, rapid spread of agricultural pests, parasites, invasive alien species, and human disease-causing agents, extreme weather events such as prolonged drought and high rainfall within a short period of time, strong and more intense hurricanes, heat waves and spread of forest fires – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara
Since its inception in 1970, Earth Day is growing as a worldwide phenomenon focused on promoting clean living and a healthy, sustainable habitat for people and wildlife alike. Celebrating Earth Day serves as a conscious reminder of how fragile our planet is and how important it is to protect it. We celebrate Earth Day to continue promoting environmental awareness and to remind us that we can protect the earth in our everyday lives as well!
The theme for Earth Day 2021 is ‘Restore Our Earth,’ which focuses on natural processes, emerging green technologies, and innovative thinking that can restore the world’s ecosystems. It is up to each one of us to Restore Our Earth not just because we care about the natural world, but because we live on it.
We all need a healthy Earth to support our jobs, livelihoods, health and survival, and happiness. A healthy planet is not an option — it is a necessity. More than one billion people in 192 countries now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world. Today, we invite you to be a part of Earth Day. As part of its focus on the importance and significance of Earth day, Biodiversity Sri Lanka invited Dr. Channa Bambaradeniya, a prominent environmental scientist, to share his views:
Q: Environmental degradation and climate change are serious global issues. What is the relevance to today as the world commemorates Earth Day?
When you consider environmental degradation and climate change, they are closely interlinked global issues that are driven by harmful anthropogenic factors such as pollution, over-exploitation of natural resources, and clearance of natural ecosystems for agriculture, settlements, and industrial expansion.
The world has already experienced visible impacts of global climate change on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, plant and animal distribution ranges have shifted, trees are flowering sooner, rapid spread of agricultural pests, parasites, invasive alien species, and human disease-causing agents, extreme weather events such as prolonged drought and high rainfall within a short period of time, strong and more intense hurricanes, heat waves and spread of forest fires.
The human health impacts related environmental degradation such as pollution of air, land and water is also clear. The incidence of cancer and respiratory illnesses have significantly increased especially in urban areas, and among rural farming communities.
When we investigate these global environmental issues, it is important to be aware of the history of the Earth Day. The first Earth Day was commemorated in the United States on April 22, 1970. It was initiated by a group of environmentalists who were concerned about the environmental degradation in the US due to industrial development, and related serious human health impacts. It inspired Americans across the country.
More importantly, the first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the establishment of nationally important environmental laws, including the National Environmental Education Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.
In 1990, the Earth Day was celebrated as a Global event, mobilising 200 million people in 141 countries. The Earth Day 1990 helped paved the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
As of today, five decades have progressed since the first Earth Day in 1970. During this period, the world has seen a rapid growth of human population and consumption patterns, global trade, and urbanisation, resulting in humanity using more of the Earth’s resources than it can replenish naturally.
Climate change related impacts have progressively increased over the past five decades. So, when the world commemorates the Earth Day on 22 April, it gives us an opportunity to recognise its historical significance, and understand the gravity of environmental degradation, climate change and the visible impacts of these issues on human well-being. It is a historical day that led to significant actions to address harmful human behavior by creating relevant awareness, establish global environmental networks, and create local, national, and global policies for safeguarding the environment.
Q: The UN has declared 2021-2030 as the decade for ecosystem restoration. The global urgency to conserve ever-shrinking natural capital and expand the boundaries of protected wilderness areas is gaining currency as climate change-induced degradation is sweeping across the world at an unprecedented rate. Despite the urgency, globally, forests and fragile ecosystems are being lost at a rapid rate to pave way for development – your thoughts?
It is well documented that Greenhouse gas emissions and pollution are continuing to increase, largely driven by unsustainable economic expansion and human population growth. In the meantime, the Earth’s biodiversity and natural resources continue to decline.
So, it is in this context that the UN is planning to officially launch the decade of ecosystem restoration on 5 June 2021 i.e., World Environment Day. It is a global program intended to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to reduce poverty, combat climate change, and curb a mass extinction. The success of this global program would depend on the roles and commitments of individuals, civil society organisations, private sector engagement, and a strong system of governance at national level to conserve natural resources. It needs significant changes in our current pattern of resource consumption at individual level.
Among the range of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems earmarked for restoration, I am particularly interested in urban ecosystem restoration, since more than half of the world’s human population live in urban areas. Most of these urban areas world over is adversely affected by air/land and water pollution, light, and noise pollution, leading to negative consequences for the health and well-being of urban communities. Healthy and well-managed urban ecosystems would provide related benefits to urban communities in terms of clean air, and access to green spaces for recreation and relaxation.
Individual volunteers, NGOs, and the private business entities in urban areas can support the work of municipal authorities can clean up waterways, plant trees and create urban woodland and other wildlife habitat in parks, schools, and other public spaces. If urban landscapes are maintained in a clean and healthy manner, people will be inclined to appreciate the value of natural areas, and support conservation initiatives targeting such areas.
In terms of development projects, environmental sustainability must be integrated as pre-requisite and a guiding principle, right from the planning stage, and extend across all phases of implementation. Practical actions need to be identified and incorporated into development projects to mitigate and compensate for any environmental impacts. Post -development environmental monitoring is of crucial significance, to document the status of environmental safeguards adapted for a specific development project.
Q: This quandary is reflected in Sri Lanka’s own struggle to provide equitable development opportunities particularly in rural areas. A large rural population remains under subsistence agriculture, the viability of which has also declined rapidly with years of aberrant weather attributed to climate change. In this backdrop, the Government has taken a policy decision to open more land in rural areas for agricultural development aiming to address poverty reduction and food security. However, this strategy has detrimental impacts on the remaining forest cover of Sri Lanka and is likely to exacerbate the human-elephant conflict which is already a severe problem in all dry zone provinces. What steps must the country take to minimise these impacts?
In the current context of global climate change and environmental degradation, the Sri Lanka Government’s policy decision to clear forest land in rural areas for agricultural development aiming to address poverty reduction and food security is a recipe for disaster and gross failure. Based on past experiences, it would lead to an increase in human-wildlife conflicts especially in the dry zone, exacerbate biodiversity loss, reduce the capacity of our ancient irrigation tanks due to increased erosion and sedimentation and reduction of water for irrigated agriculture during the drier periods, and depletion of surface and groundwater resources.
Being an island nation, our land resources to cater to the demands of a growing human population is limited. Conventional agriculture not only requires a vast amount of land, but it also consumes a vast amount of freshwater, which is another major environmental issue that we face today. Also, studies have shown that increased use of fertilisers in agricultural crop production releases greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide. Overall, the carbon footprint of conventional agriculture is high. Therefore, rather than clearing forest land in rural areas for agricultural expansion, the Government should focus on ways to increase agricultural productivity in existing and abandoned agricultural lands such as paddy fields using modern agricultural technologies. There are several examples of such practices adopted by individual farmers and/or private entities in Sri Lanka. The Government should study these projects and make use of the knowledge base in our Agricultural Department.
A major constraint related to agricultural production is food waste – a major contributory factor for greenhouse gas emissions. It has been documented that on a global scale, about one third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted annually. We need to evaluate the status of food waste in Sri Lanka and plan ways to avoid food waste. We need to establish infrastructure for transport and storage of agricultural crops, to avoid or minimise wastage.
Q: Sri Lanka is considered a biodiversity hotspot and its natural beauty and wildlife are important assets. Around 29% of land is under forest cover. Around one third, or 700,000 ha of forests are not (yet) legally protected, and therefore open to development. Land alienation is already underway in almost every district in Sri Lanka. Deforestation and habitat loss is happening at a rapid rate and has already been highlighted by Global Forest Watch. What steps must be taken to safeguard and restore Sri Lanka’s rich ecosystems and biodiversity?
Let me first highlight the status of Sri Lanka’s biodiversity and its conservation. For a small tropical island of 65,612 km2, Sri Lanka has a range of bioclimatic zones and diverse landscapes extending from coastal areas to mountainous areas in the central region. This in turn has contributed to a rich biodiversity, characterised by a higher percentage of endemic fauna and flora. Sri Lanka is considered as a global biodiversity hotspot due to the occurrence of a higher percentage of endemic species. For example, at least 28% of our flowering plants, and 42% of our inland vertebrate fauna are endemic. However, most of the endemic taxa are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss.
Sri Lanka has a robust network of protected areas designated under the FD and DWC. In addition, the CCD has a mandate to conserve coastal areas, while the CEA has a clear mandate for environmental protection under the National Environmental Act. Sri Lanka has ratified several international conventions related to the environmental sector, including the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, UNESCO World Heritage Convention, The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar), The Convention on Migratory Species, and CITES.
Amidst all these institutional, legal, and global frameworks in place to ensure environmental conservation, the country is experiencing land alienation and deforestation at a rapid and island wide scale. So, what has led to the current situation of rapid deforestation? To me, it appears to be an inadequate understanding of this issue by the political hierarchy, and the related haphazard policy decisions and irresponsible communications that have encouraged opportunistic elements to destroy and encroach the remaining forest land. It is certainly a dangerous precedence.
Q: So, what can be done to address the current situation in Sri Lanka?
1. Law enforcement to curb wanton destruction of forests: Our political leaders should send a clear message to the perpetrators of environmental destruction, and strictly enforce the existing law to curb further damage to forestland. They should empower and support the efforts of protectors of environment and biodiversity: The Central Environmental Authority, Forest Department, Department of Wildlife Conservation, Coast Conservation Department.
2. Constitutional reforms and political commitment to conserve forest cover and biodiversity. For example, The Constitution of Bhutan has provided a mandate to keep a minimum of 60% of land area under forest cover. We need a similar commitment and a constitutional mandate that ensures the conservation of forest cover and biodiversity in the future, irrespective who rules the country.
3. Conduct systematic biodiversity surveys in the forest areas that are not legally protected to identify biodiversity hotspots within these areas and incorporate them within the existing system of protected areas.
4. Sustain biodiversity in managed landscapes:
5. Restore degraded forest land with indigenous species.
6. Develop/adopt novel agricultural technologies to increase food production in existing agricultural lands.
7. Advocacy, education, and awareness raising is crucial importance.
