Sri Lanka has high endemism in South Asian countries
Sri Lanka has high endemism when compared to other countries in South Asia and is unmatched where animals and plants are concerned. A British celebrated scientist had found the oldest ants in the world that lived in the Ratnapura jungles centuries ago, said Prof. Sampath Seneviratne, of the Department of Zoology and Environmental Sciences of the University of Colombo at the launch of the ‘Environmental Agenda’ of Hemas Holdings Plc held at the Galle Face Hotel, Colombo recently.
He said Sri Lanka is blessed with an environment where plants and animals have existed for millions of years. These plants and animals have remained here as a national identity and did not spread to other countries. Of the 100 plants and animals in the forests 30 are found to be endemic and unique according to research done. This shows that out of the 4800 animals 60 are endemic to Sri Lanka. “We do not have many animals that are endemic other than the crabs. Endemism is the hallmark of our bio-diversity.” If conservation action is not taken to preserve endemic species they all would be extinct in the future. Endemism is unique to Sri Lanka where a bird Hornbil is found in the Gingaga (river) discovered 200 years ago and in Kandyan area where this bird is known for devouring nutmeg seeds.
Group CEO Hemas Holdings PLC Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson said all have to move forward to protect the social and environment aspect of the country and for a better tomorrow. The strategy of their company is based on interacting with its customers, the society and with the environment. “Our focused area is the environment where we use plastic ware with care to protect our eco system,” she added.
Asked to elaborate on the conservation strategy, Prof. Seneviratne said the need of the hour is to protect endangered species with the help of conservationist, experts with public private partnership involvement as time is running out. Colombo district has 27 patches of forest cover. Asked whether a strategy have been devised to prevent leopards being killed in snares in the upcountry tea estates, Jehan Canageratne from the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka said they are already mapping out a programme to prevent killing of leopards in snares set up by villagers.
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