Illegal clearing of the Dahaiyagala sanctuary on the northern border of the Uda Walawe National Park has been halted on the orders of Environmental Minister Champika Ranawaka, coming in the wake of an investigative report by The Sunday Times last week.
The Minister visited the area, last Sunday – the same day the report appeared - and ordered the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) to remove the poles put up illegally by a group of people in the area. Their (some villagers headed by two politicians) intention was to block off the Dahaiyagala animal corridor entry at the point where it meets the Uda Walawe Park, confirmed DWLC’s Southern Region Assistant Director G.A. Muthubanda.
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| Only the stumps of trees remain as mute witness to the destruction of the
sanctuary |
The action was ordered by the Minister “until the correct boundaries are identified”, he said when contacted by The Sunday Times.
“The culprits were even attempting to fence off the Pokunutenne tank (which has water even during the drought) which is frequented by many an animal including a large number of elephants,” Mr. Muthubanda added.
However on Friday (September 26), two days before The Sunday Times report appeared, the Minister rejected reports about a move to distribute part of the Dahaiyagala sanctuary to the people. Addressing the National Seminar of the Biodiversity Baseline Survey in Colombo, he was quoted in newspapers as saying under the Flora Fauna Act it would be illegal to distribute sanctuary land and the rumours of the land distribution are spread by groups with vested interests.
The Sunday Times, in a major on-the-spot expose, on September 28 headlined, ‘Who sanctioned the rape of a sanctuary?’ disclosed how valuable trees were being bulldozed and set ablaze and a large strip of land cleared for an illegal fence to block off the sanctuary in a major land-grab by people in the area on the orders of a few politicians.
Dahaiyagala declared a sanctuary in 2002 (gazette No. 1239/28) is also important as a crossing point to Uda Walawe National Park for many bull elephants including four majestic tuskers, the sloth bear, the leopard and the magnificent sambhur whose home range is Bogahapattiya. Among the tuskers is the DWLC’s ‘mascot’ Walawe Raja which has also been portrayed in a BBC documentary titled ‘The Last Tusker’.
Environmentalists fear that if the land-grab at Dahaiyagala is sanctioned with excuses of “going back to former boundaries”, the “last tusker” will literally be the fate not only of Walawe Raja and the others but also toll the death knell for the sloth bear, leopard and sambhur in Bogahapattiya.
Meanwhile, Bogahapattiya, a forest reservation is of value in its own right, as it is described by conservationists as the last remaining savannah (talawa) and intermediate zone forest in the southern part of the country. It is also an important catchment and watershed area and water source for the Walawe, Weli Oya and Mau-ara while being home to the rare Uva region endemic mandoran tree. | 
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