Extraneous appointment of honorary Directors of Wildlife: What honour is this?

By Dr Sumith Pilapitiya and Roshan Wijesinghe

The Government’s curfews and travel restrictions have been extremely successful in controlling the spread of Covid-19 in Sri Lanka. The discipline imposed on, and largely accepted by, the general population has been fundamental to this success. With the easing of restrictions, and the corporate world beginning to come out of hibernation, there is hope for the future, and that the impending times of financial hardship will be kept to a minimum length of time. For that, discipline of government will also be essential.

Fundamental to the process of economic recovery will be the resumption of tourism. This country’s amazing natural resources are the main attraction for visitors to its shores – its’ fabulous beaches, balmy climate and, most of all its astonishing variety of wildlife and yet unspoiled wilderness areas. As the President has publicly stated, this is an ideal opportunity for the country to attract high-end visitors to this country by providing them with a quality experience.

False hope

During the curfew, as human populations were prevented from visiting certain areas, wildlife that had always lived there but had adapted to largely nocturnal lifestyles, now began to be seen during the day too. There was a misplaced euphoria as with the inevitable cleaning of the environment, mainly of air pollution resulting from the restricted use of transport, that animals were enjoying regeneration too. This was a false hope. Despite the restrictions on human movement, there was no respite for wild animals and the wilderness, especially in the protected areas. The reported incidents of poaching and illegal felling of forests increased, and an officer of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) was murdered while trying to arrest those responsible for these crimes. Just last week, another officer was shot at but, fortunately, escaped unhurt. The week before that, a young tusker was shot within the confines of the Uda Walawe National Park. It must also be remembered that apart from conservation of wild animals and the wilderness, the protection of the watersheds of this country is one of the most important of the functions of the DWC, vital for agriculture, and for life.

With this reality, and in the context of the President’s stated intent of appointing those with relevant qualifications and research experience to guide and control the future direction of this country, one wonders how the Minister for the Environment and Wildlife Resources has appointed three ‘Honorary Directors’ to the Department of Wildlife Conservation? As such, one wonders whether these appointments are for the benefit of conservation, or are more relevant to rewarding political allies in preparation for the pending General Elections? These appointees will now have access to the protected areas, and the right to do what they want in them. In fact, these appointments although termed ‘honorary’ do not bypass the ruling of the Election Commission that no appointments to the public service may be made during an election campaign. The appointment of an Honorary Director is provided for under Section 68 (1) (c) of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO). Section 68 (3) of the FFPO, however, states that “All persons, officers and servants appointed under this section shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of the Penal Code”. Therefore, the ‘Honorary Directors’ are deemed to be public servants and their appointment is in violation of the Election Laws of the country.

Such honorary appointments have been tried before and have been abject failures as decisions made by these ‘honoraries’ often undermine the authority of the Director General of Wildlife Conservation as they report directly to the Minister. In most cases, self-interest was to the fore and being political appointees, the DWC found it difficult to challenge them.

Sink or swim?

The COVID-19 virus has changed the world forever. Sri Lanka needs to be self-sufficient and protect all of its natural wealth, not just individual species, but its’ forests, wetlands, rivers and streams, coral reefs, and the oceans. They support and sustain people and their essential needs to live by providing water, clean air, food, and other goods and services. They also mitigate natural disasters, such as tsunamis, floods and landslides that, apart from tragic loss of life, also set back economic development at huge costs. Loss of essential ecosystems will be devastating; lives and livelihoods lost, people displaced, property and infrastructure severely damaged, and the national economy wounded. This will lead to strife, dissension, and civil unrest, making governance untenable. 

Most vulnerable would be the earnings from tourism as the quality product Sri Lanka hopes to provide to attract high-end tourists would be seriously affected. Sri Lanka has the potential to be the best wildlife tourism destination outside Africa if it is managed by those who have the understanding that their long-term protection must be paramount. We need to value it in these terms, and not with anything less.

To whom goes the honour?

The President has been very clear in what his ambitions for the future prosperity of this country are; especially in terms of the competence of those who will direct the engines of Government. As such, the appointment of these ‘Honorary Directors’ goes against such principle. So, to whom goes the ‘honour’ of these appointments? 

The writers are the former DG, Dept of Wildlife and the Chairman of FEO, respectively.