Written and published in August 2011, the column looked at the huge potential there is for decision makers in conservation and management of our natural assets to involve the vast resources available in the social media. Without fearing these processes and the flow of thought therein, it can be utilised for rapid action to prevent what can cause irreversible damage to what is our common heritage and our common future. These postings of real time observations, need be thought of as educational resources, for those who occupy the seats of power and do not necessarily possess all the knowledge and skills to handle rational decision making that is needed, to ensure the conservation of these resources. I represent these thoughts for your review and evaluation.
I belong to
several Face Book (FB) Groups on nature and things to do with nature. To be
specific they are about Sri Lanka’s natural heritage seeking to share
information about this lovely and mysterious world within and around us. Some operate
as open groups while, yet others are open only by invitation. Some merely share
facts and post beautiful images of marvels of Mother Nature, while others point
to where foul deeds are done to hurt her.
Some are activist and move to protect and preserve this treasure-trove
world that most others seem to only see as an opportunity to exploit, sell-out
and make fast riches.
Among my
favourite local FB nature sites are: ‘Nature’, ‘Sri Lankan Wild Life’, ‘Young
Zoologists Association (YZA)’, ‘Sri Lanka Bird Life’, ‘Flora of Ceylon’, ‘Sri
Lanka Wilds; Youth for Nature conservation’, ‘Aliya’ and the more intimate
‘Sapumali the Elephant’ and I continue to learn from them of what unfolds
around us in the bosom of Mother Nature, so close home here in Sri Lanka.
Dedicated
and caring
What
impresses me most is that most of these groups are initiated, maintained and
subscribed to, by young people. The intensity of activity within makes me both
proud and sad. For someone who has seen Sri Lanka’s environment movement grow
since the sixties, the pride I share is in observing the depth of knowledge,
the attention to detail and the hands-on work most of the youthful members of
these groups put-in to express their love of our nation and her wonders of
nature. They traverse the wilderness and look for species of insects, frogs, butterflies,
dragon flies, birds, large and small mammals, even the sharpest of untrained-eyes
may not see.
Like in the
past, they are no longer elitist kids who considered their encounters with
nature mere fun-filled adventures but cover a wider spectrum of youth, who
truly care about maintaining the sound health of Sri Lanka’s natural wealth. While
the major portion of the comments and postings are in English, several Sinhala entries
are also made and we should soon see the use of Tamil as well.
They study
moss on waterways, springs and around our waterfalls relating them to changes
that take place in that environment. Fish in natural ponds, water lilies, wild
flowers and large trees and reptiles form their subjects. Photographic images
they place on these pages are wonderful and need be celebrated as great
tributes of homage paid to Mother Nature by those who have inherited such from
generations before them and seek to leave them in tact for those that will come
in the future.
The
elephants are seen not as log-pullers, ride-makers, exhibits at pageants or at tourist
attractions, but as another link in the most complex and exciting eco-chain
that has supported us for so long and helped us survive. To most of them, there
is no differentiation between ‘us’ humans and ‘those’ species in the natural
world. They know we are one and can not do, without the other. To them, the
innocence of the Loris and the intense pain seen on the weeping eyes of about
to be slaughtered cattle, express the same truism. They both have the right to
live and we must let them live through their natural cycle of life in their own
environments.
Exposing
threats
Within the
last few weeks, I read posts on these pages focussing attention on 5,000 acres
of the Somawatiya Nature Reserve being leased to Dole Plantations for banana farming.
That a road is to be built dividing the only natural world heritage site we
have of ‘The Sinhalaraja’. That elephants are to be ‘deported’ to other parts
from the jungles around the planned Commonwealth Games site close to
Hamabantota. That the Fauna and Flora Act is to be amended to allow tourism and
other facilitation development in the buffer zones and within the wild life
parks and that the Uda Walawe ‘Ali Athruru Sewana’ cubs are to be gifted to
temples to become domesticated beings, when the expressed aim of this and the
Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage facility are to release them to the wild, once
they are able to fend for themselves.
Just last
Sunday on impulse, I drove alone on the Kirinda road through Bundala and then
on to Tissamharama. I had not done this for sometime. The road-way along the
bund of the Bundala tank remained the same as how I had seen it then. But when I reached the stretch of human
settlement beyond, the newly erected electric-fences reminded me of the sad
tale of the conflict between man and elephant. While, ‘who must be kept away from
whom’, will always remain a sore talking-point, the pressure seem to be
mounting on both alike. For one, it is an issue of survival, while for the
other it is one of dominance.
More
effort
I wrote
earlier that the postings on the FB groups on nature made me both proud and
sad. What makes me sad is that most of those that create policy and make
decisive decisions on the fate and survival of our natural areas, do not have access
to much of the information presented on behalf of Mother Nature. It is not that
they do not have physical access to it, but because they do not consider it
worth their while, to make time to browse through them or to understand them. It
is left for those who write the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and to
those who evaluate them to deal with, or are simply placed on back-burners as comments
of those of anti-development or reactionary elements.
Here I
wondered why we did not seek tools of social networking, to tap and harness the
immense depth of knowledge and information, members of FB and other forums and
Blog Groups possessed. I am sure policy makers could benefit from such input
when making decisions on dealing with impacts development activity will have,
on the environment. A system of ‘virtual public hearings’ can perhaps be
instituted by the Central Environmental Authority (CEA )
utilising social media, to help seek wider involvement of those who care,
without leaving it in the hands of a few with vested interests or short-term
objectives.
Wide
opinion base
While in
the current format, most EIAs essentially do not go through a process of public
hearings, the power of interactive social media could be harnessed, to make
rapid consultations, avoiding delays while ensuring broad-based participation
of knowledgeable and caring people. For decision makers and the political
process, this would present an opportunity to avoid unnecessary controversy and
conflict.
What most
do not desire to see, is a situation where such issues are used to gain petty
political advantage. It is sometimes a sad reality that sit-ins and protests on
these are staged not by those who seek justice for the environment, but by
political elements and henchmen, seeking to create niches for themselves.
Healthy Policy
It is encouraging that the government
in its policy statement ‘Mahinda Chinthana’, has dedicated a chapter to the
making of a ‘Haritha (Green) Lanka’ within the nation’s development agenda
between 2010-20. Respect for fauna and flora is its theme and its activities
are geared “to protect
our water resources and catchment areas, protection of the ocean and aquatic
resources, prevention of air pollution, soil conservation, the introduction of
innovative methods for agriculture, promotion of renewable energy sources,
promote eco friendly industries, build healthy towns and housing schemes, develop
an environmental friendly transport system, implement waste management systems,
prepare the country for environmental change, and to promote cultural awareness
and education as necessary”.
The launching of the “Girithuru
Sevana” programme to re-forest the catchment areas and to plant local trees
instead of the imported species under the ‘Hela Thuru Sevana’ programme are two
of the initiatives that have been undertaken. On the issue of protection of
threatened species the policy outline states that a new programme has been
launched with an allocation of “2,600 million rupees, to protect threatened animal species and to promote
environmental conservation from the year 2010”.
More resolve
Like they say the gap between the cup and the lip
sometimes can be wide in these matters, for it is necessary that all
organizations and instruments of government follow the dictums of this policy
for it to be effectively implemented. Today, the Wild Life Conservation
Department is placed in the charge of the Ministry of Economic Development, posing
a fresh challenge to those who manage its affairs in being mindful of their
role in the conservation, protection and management of our wildlife. The
Ministry of Environment and its implementation arms of the Forest Conservation Department
and the Central Environmental Authority and the like, must all gear to always
stand up on behalf of their missions without yielding to any pressure for they
are the guardians we have for the protection of our environment.
Utilizing the huge base of knowledge and goodwill
available in the social media will assist them to further strengthen their
position to deliver on their mission. They would indeed need to think a bit out
of the box, embrace the new tools available and move on to be more empowered,
to protect our environmental resources.
Beyond the armed forces that performed heroic deeds in winning the war
against terrorism, they will be our next frontier of heroes, in protecting our
nation’s integrity through the protection of our natural environment and the
massive wealth therein. And they need to be allowed to do this, without fear or
favour.
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