I read with a feeling of despondence an article in a Sunday paper titled "A Department that Runs Wild" by Rohan Wijesingha.
The time is drawing near when our fauna and flora will consist of home gardens and animals behind cages. Is this the future our country wants for our wildlife or is it time for public action? Sri Lanka's tradition of conservation and wildlife preservation began when Mahinda prevented King Devanampiyatissa from killing a deer at the base of Mihintale". Can we sit unmoved while our heritage is ruined?
The survival of the wild elephant must become a national priority. Elephants require a large range for foraging, This means that large expanses of forests are required to be preserved to provide such a range. Providing large forest areas for the elephants means all other wild species would also live and thrive. Furthermore these sanctuaries will ensure that Sri Lanka's forest cover will remain at the magical 20% of our land area. The forest cover of 20% will guarantee precipitation (rainfall), stable weather patterns, retention of valuable water, prevention of soil erosion, no de-silting of lakes, tanks and river beds. Water is a resource without which this country and its people are doomed.
Haiti is a good example of a country where deforestation and encroachment into forest areas by desperate low income villagers caused the desertification of a once Paradise Island, not very different from our own Paradise Island.
Mr. Wijesingha refers to specific incidents encountered in our National Parks. These all contribute to the general lack of direction in the management of our conservation effort. Wilpattu is now a haven for terrorists and illicit timber merchants. Wasgamuwa's Northern border is encroached by gem pits and farmers. Sinharaja is one fifth its original size encroached by villagers and timber merchants. Uda Walawe is surrounded by villages that survive on poaching and timber. Horton Plains is dying due to the influx of uncontrolled human visitation. Bundala may end up as a prawn farm. Anyway the failed Lunugamvehera water has upset the fine ecological balance. Kumana is the lair of the tiger. Lahugala is soon to have a sugar plantation as its neighbour. Yala, blocks 1, 2, 3, 4 is suffering poaching, chena farming, tourism, timber felling and the depletion of water from the Menik ganga which has been diverted upstream near Pelwatte. Handapanagala is now history, other than a small number of elephants trying to return home. Kalametiya a tourist resort or abutting a power plant? Gal Oya is on the border of dangerous activity and left unmanaged. Randenigala has become a short cut between Badulla and Kandy with encroachment and deforestation rampant.
What can be done before there is nothing to protect?
The revenues earned from the National parks must be diverted back into the remuneration of staff, protection of boundaries, education of surrounding population, provision of water etc., rather than going to the treasury. If managed and marketed correctly wildlife parks can be self-sustaining. It is important that the best qualified and experienced personnel be given this national responsibility or if one percent of our defence expenditure goes towards the protection of our wild areas, with adequate controls and performance measures included, the future will be assured.
Recently some people have discovered that a plant called 'Gorse' (English) with the scientific name Ulex Europaeus, is proliferating in the Horton Plains.
Like hundreds of other plants, some useful and beneficial, some indifferent and some noxious, it has been introduced from abroad and is therefore, called an exotic.
Together with dozens of other similar plants it has been present in the island for at least a century.
Ulex Europaeus is native to western Europe and has long become naturalized in the Nuwara Eliya District.
In many places it is regarded as an ornamental and useful as a soil binder.
It is quite futile and mostly pointless to try to eradicate such introduced plants, especially those which are freely propagated by seed.
The fact that this plant has of late become dominant in certain parts of the Horton Plains is due entirely to human interference, which at one time not so long ago had turned this unique area into a huge potato farm one of the many acts of unthinking stupidity which have during this century decimated, degraded and damaged the natural environment and the country's biodiversity.
The vast open areas in the Horton Plains which the Government through the Department of Agriculture had turned into potato fields some 20 odd years ago, have not recovered and will probably never again carry the original vegetation cover, which was a well balanced system with its own endemics.
Viewed against this, the presence of Gorse might even be an enrichment and an aesthetic and biological improvement on the present condition of these lands.
The Horton Plains have suffered enough from unwarranted human interference and the present Gorse eradication campaigns by the Wildlife Society and the Department of Wildlife should be stopped immediately as both wasteful and damaging.
There is a growing consensus among cricket lovers and the media that our cricket team and administration are in disarray and crisis. The post-World Cup performances of our team barring the two victories at home (in the Singer World Series one-day tournament and the facile Test wins over lowly Zimbabwe) have not matched upto their status as World Champions in Singapore, Kenya and Sharjah. In addition our A Team performed poorly against the West Indies A at home.
One can attribute several reasons for this sad situation: (1) maladministration; (2) cronyism and factionalism; (3) political interference; and (4) concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals.
One of the major causes for the crisis in our cricket is the incompetence of some of the officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka. This is best exemplified in the handling of our ex-National Coach Dav Whatmore by the incumbent Board President. In a recent interview Whatmore spoke frankly about his relationship with the leadership of the Cricket Board which led to his premature resignation. It was quite apparent that both the Presidents he dealt with, did not have the necessary cricketing credentials to utilize his expertise. It is common knowledge that the incumbent President and his predecessor are business executives without any cricketing background. Business acumen for enhancing a company's profitability, or productivity alone cannot compensate for experience of playing cricket at the highest level, especially when one has to decide on such issues as improving cricket infrastructure and facilities, hiring and training coaches, improving umpiring standards, overhauling national tournaments, etc.
The loophole in the Cricket Board's Constitution (i.e., its failure to clearly define the cricketing credentials of officials) has allowed for individuals with little no cricketing background to run for office. There have been instances where prospective candidates have donned white flannels for a few hours just to stake their claims to office.
An excessive level of commercialism in the sport has also encouraged some candidates often from a few business organizations to pool their resources to campaign as a team with the aim of buying votes or "capturing" offices of the Board, or of clubs or district associations, backed by some good PR. On the other hand, many knowledgeable ex-cricketers lack the financial resources and the will to resort to unethical campaign strategies to win office. Over the last fifteen years since Sri Lanka attained Test status competition for office has steadily intensified for other narrow ends. Some have perceived that the prestige and perks of the Board's offices and the ensuing publicity provide a ladder for social climbing and acceptance in high society while others have used the frequent overseas travel involved with the Board's affairs as opportunities to enhance their private business interests.
Concentration of power in any system of decision-making is a recipe for disaster especially when there are few mechanisms for accountability. It is quite apparent that in the administration of Sri Lanka cricket one or two individuals have arrogated excessive powers to themselves using their political influence and prestige in the afterglow of the World Cup successes. This is nothing new to the Cricket Board. It is noteworthy that following Sri Lanka's elevation to Test status and its promising performances in the early 1980s (e.g., home wins over India and Pakistan), a few officials with political clout similarly sought to manipulate and dominate the decision-making in the Board. The result was the destruction of several promising cricket careers and in some cases, the premature retirement of senior Test players. Sri Lanka cricket was plunged into the depths of despair as we suffered a spate of humiliating Test defeats.
It is not too late for the cricket-loving public to pressurize the Cricket Board to revise its Constitution before the next Annual General Meeting to facilitate the election of qualified and well-meaning individuals to office. Or else will history repeat itself?
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