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Deadly introductions
On the downfall of the Kandyan Kingdom in 1815 the British assumed control of the destiny of a unique eco-system. Although they did not appreciate it at the time, the Kandyan highlands provided many specialized environments that allowed for the evolution of a wealth of indigenous species. Consequently, the area exhibited a higher degree of bio-diversity than anywhere in Asia. How the British, and to a lesser extent the Kandyans, devastated this eco-system in less than a century in the creation of coffee, cinchona and tea plantations is the subject of Tropical Pioneers: Human Agency and Ecological Change in the Highlands of Sri Lanka, 1800 - 1900.

While Tropical Pioneers focuses on the ecological transformations of the highlands in the 19th century, the first chapters are devoted to the much earlier changes that occurred elsewhere in the island, such as the clearing of the Rajarata region by fire in order to establish paddy cultivation and the ensuing construction of vast hydraulic works. With the collapse of the Rajarata civilization came the drift of the population to the Kandyan highlands and the first major human impact on this unique eco-system.

The author, James L. A. Webb, Jr., explains the Kandyan relationship to the natural world prior to the intrusions of the British. He relates how the villagers acquired "highly nuanced understandings of highland ecological dynamics". Knowledge of the island's flora was evident in their system of Ayurvedic medicine and the biologically diverse forest gardens they established. Even though they were obliged to adopt chena cultivation to augment their susceptible rice crops, this was isolated.

Webb describes in later chapters how the British arrival in the highlands triggered a series of deleterious and often irreversible ecological changes. The construction of a road system as an affirmation of conquest involved cutting the forest for a mile on either side of the highway. The commencement of cart traffic into the highlands brought with it rinderpest, which proved deadly to highland cattle and other fauna. In addition, the unravelling of the social fabric in the aftermath of the failed rebellion of 1817-18 led to the rapid development of the Kandyans' chena lands.

During the 1830s the decline of British coffee plantations in the West Indies after the abolition of slavery precipitated a land rush in the middle highlands of Ceylon. The wholesale clearing of the forest and the introduction of a monoculture with its accompanying unsound agronomic practices such as weeding focused intense pressures on the soil. Natural imbalance caused plagues of rats and insect infestations. Finally, as is well known, a rampant fungal blight crippled the industry in the 1870s. After a short experiment with cinchona in which aggressive draining methods produced further soil erosion, the plantation industry switched to tea. With the success of this crop came the swift expansion of plantations into the upper highlands. As a result, Webb states, "The near completeness of the loss of primal forest was unparalleled in British Asia."

Woven into this salutary tale is the thread of hope that leads to the enhanced environmental awareness of the 20th century: the enlightened thinking of certain individuals in the face of commercial pressure, and the establishment of facilities such as the Tea Research Institute in the wake of the coffee blight disaster. Extensively annotated, illustrated with period photographs - some rare - and supported by a wealth of tables, Tropical Pioneers is a well-researched yet succinct Asian environmental history. One reservation, though minor, is the selection of Samuel Daniell's painting "The Water Carrier" for the dust jacket, as this depicts a lowlands scene with little relevance to the subject.

The story of Tropical Pioneers may be familiar and the ecological scars of the plantation industry self-evident, but this book nevertheless cries out to be read by every Sri Lankan who wishes to understand the radical changes that occurred to the Kandyan highlands in a single century.

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