UNDP and Reforest Sri Lanka pledge to revive Sri Lanka’s cascades

UNDP and Reforest Sri Lanka recently partnered in a commitment to revive the cascade systems in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka by pledging to plant approximately 20,000 trees this season. As a first step, 2000 trees were planted on 13-14 September around three tanks – Ulpathwewa, Athaudagama Wewa and Werewewa – in the Mamuwana cascade, Kurunegala.

Over 2400 years ago, the ancient kings of Sri Lanka built a sophisticated network of small tanks connected by canals and large reservoirs, to collect and redistribute every drop of rain the land received. The tanks were built in cascading systems, using the natural incline and topography of the land, full of small watersheds. They kept the natural cycle of water through soil, vegetation and atmosphere. The main goal of the system was to save and re-use water, allowing cultivation of rice in the Dry Zone. Tanks, paddy fields, watersheds, canals and natural ecosystems were perfectly interlaced. These cascades provided the ultimate solution for communities, particularly for smallholder farmers, to survive, providing both food and water security. However, today many of these tanks need to be revitalised. Furthermore, with erratic changes in climate that shifts from extreme droughts to floodsm these cascades now need to be upgraded.Despite the importance of these water bodies, much of it has been neglected by the people. Furthermore, deforestation has also made the area even drier, making the Dry Zone hotter than ever and survival difficult for communities and animals. Clean water and food are scarce, often a luxury to the surrounding communities. Farmers struggle to make ends meet with their dying crops failing to yield. Animals too are affected. Elephants now increasingly make their way towards villages in search of water. This has increased human-elephant conflict within the area.

It is in response to this situation that the Government of Sri Lanka is implementing the ‘Climate Resilient Integrated Water Management Project’ (CRIWMP) with technical support from the United Nations Development Program. This is a seven-year project targets vulnerable households in three river basins – the Malwathu Oya, Mi Oya, and Yan Oya – which flow through the northern part of the Dry Zone. These river basins, which are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, have a high number of village irrigation and cascade systems that smallholder farming populations – most of them women –depend on for their livelihoods. The area also significantly lacks safe drinking water, posing a high risk of kidney disease to its communities.

Speaking about this initiative, CRIWMP Chief Technical Advisor Buddhika Hapuarachchi stated, “Climate change requires collective action from all of us. This tree planting campaign is one such example, where different organisations and local communities can come together and work for a cause that will benefit both the environment and future generations.” In the past, tanks in the Dry Zone had well-maintained tree girdles along the upper shorelines when the tanks were full of water. Today, due to unsustainable human activities, only a few tanks are surrounded by tree girdles. These protect the water reserves as a barrier against dry wind which cause high evaporation when traversing over the tank surface. Native plants are therefore now being planted around these tanks. The planting of these native trees is a building block in sustaining the livelihoods of farmers in the Dry Zone and in protecting the entire cascade system which makes up an interwoven irrigation network of tanks, paddy fields, watersheds and canals – all part of one ecosystem.