By Rohan Wijesinha
“Nero fiddled while Rome burned.”
While this popular historical saying may not be historically true, the Emperor Nero was so ineffectual as a leader and disliked, that it soon became a part of popular belief. This was exacerbated when he happily built a new, magnificent palace on a large site scorched by the flames. He placed his corrupt wants before the basic needs of the people and, eventually, was called to account.
The ineffectual and unpopular political leadership of Sri Lanka is currently being called to task by the overwhelming majority of the people of this nation, in every corner of the land, which is being extensively discussed and analysed, and needs no further comment. The problem, however, is that there are “Neros” at every level in the policymaking and implementation levels in the hierarchy of governance in Sri Lanka. Self-interest has long usurped the ideals of service and loyalty to a nation, and this is never better illustrated than in the realms of environment and wildlife conservation.
Frustrations long endured
The popular movement for political reform and change has been brought about by the frustration of a people who see their social welfare and very survival sacrificed to sustain a political oligarchy by the utter mismanagement of the Government. This frustration has, however, long been endured by environmentalists and conservationists who have had to continuously deal with uncaring and ideologically bereft “Neros” at all levels. Like the grand promises made in election manifestos, excellent policies have remained nothing but pieces of paper, gathering dust on ministerial shelves. In the meantime, wildlife and wilderness have disappeared, with one in 12 species of Sri Lanka’s inland vertebrates in the wild now at high risk of extinction. The environment has deteriorated, to the detriment of future generations of citizens, not just those of today.
A prime example is the “National Policy for the Conservation of the Wild Elephant”, which was followed by a practical national action plan based on it. Nothing has come of either plan. Instead, the human-elephant conflict (HEC) has intensified, and humans and elephants continue to die. As per the figures issued by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), in 2021, 375 elephants were found dead, of which the majority were caused by HEC. This number will inevitably rise in 2022. All in all, between 2015 and 2021, 1,794 elephants have been found dead. A census, also carried out by the DWC a few years ago, estimated that there were approximately 6,000 wild elephants left in Sri Lanka, which paints a bleak picture for the future.
A lack of empathy and knowledge
If further examples of mismanagement of governance are needed, the management of the conservation agencies gives prime example. Up until a short while ago, the Cabinet Minister given the responsibility for wildlife conservation was not given the portfolio for the responsibility of the DWC, which has the mandate for wildlife conservation. Instead, it was given to the State Minister for Wildlife Protection and the Construction of Trenches, et al. Each pulled their own way while making it clear that they were not standing in the way of the “exploitation” of wildlife lands. One had to feel sympathy for the DWC who did not know which master to serve.
What came of this and the vast influence of the ministerial secretaries, ex-military officers, etc., was that wild elephants were seen as an “enemy” not to be conserved, but contained and then destroyed, and their habitat sectioned off, allegedly, for local farmers to work and benefit from, though reality has proven otherwise.
A loss of ideals
PHOTO © AJITH PERERA
The DWC is the only government department that has the mandate for the protection of wildlife and wilderness. The Forest Department looks after the rest, though its primary mandate is to plant trees for eventual harvest. All of the other agencies, in excess of 100, are to do with the welfare of the people. As such, this is a sacred trust that needs to be pursued without faltering. In so doing, the DWC does, in fact, look after the needs of the people – those of today, by implementing tried and tested methodologies for the mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts, and those of tomorrow, by ensuring healthy habitat and vigorous populations of wildlife to maintain its balance, both of which contribute to a beneficial environment. In the following examples, both institutions manifestly failed in fulfilling their dictates on behalf of the people of this nation.
A ministry-led policy initiative to dig deep trenches around protected areas to keep wild elephants within them was implemented by the DWC, regardless of its past experience of failure in using just this methodology. This was a sorry abrogation of its sacred trust to the people. Any GCE O/L (General Certificate of Education: Ordinary Level) student who has studied biology will be able to tell you that if species are confined to specific areas, especially those as large as elephants, they will soon deplete the available food sources within them and starve to death. In addition, by being confined to breed amongst their own, they will soon be on the path to extinction. These trenches have already proved lethal to elephants who have fallen into them, and also to other wildlife, driven by the same desires, who have had limbs broken or been trapped in these deep excavations. Where is the science? Where is the conservation?
Similarly, when the Government declared that Other State Forests (OSFs) be handed over from the care of the Forest Department to the Divisional Secretariats for development, they were destroying vital forest links between protected areas and were oblivious to the needs of the wildlife which inhabited them. These surviving forests and their wild residents were not the enemies of farming; we all know who and what has been.
Thanks to timely legal action taken by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society, Centre for Environmental Justice and others, these two destructive policies have been halted, albeit temporarily.
Hope for the future
While their superiors in the DWC “fiddle”, the rank and file, those who work in the field, try and undertake their roles still adhering to the mandates they have been entrusted with. However, they are woefully under-resourced – not just in terms of funding, but also of personnel. The DWC has a significant number of rangers, assistant rangers, and game guards located in their head office in Colombo, while the protected area networks are woefully short-staffed. Just last week, a young tusker was killed within the confines of the Yala National Park, the most popular and most visited of all of Sri Lanka’s national parks. The footprints of poachers trace almost every road in the park, which they now traverse with impunity. However, with the majority of the available DWC personnel at the park engaged in guiding the multitude of visitors in and out of the park, there are precious few left to do what they should be doing – patrol its confines and apprehend poachers. Another tusker has since been killed in Polonnaruwa. They are fighting a losing battle.
In these times. when people are facing a multitude of hardships, even starvation, it is understandable that their concern for the wilderness and wildlife may be low priority, but their children, who they protest for, will thank them for their voice on behalf of conservation too. It is hoped that their overall efforts will be blessed with success, that the inept will be replaced by the intelligent and good governance will follow. With the installation of a responsible leadership, it is expected that they will see the value of wildlife and wilderness, not just for the economic enrichment of the country, but also for the wellbeing of its future generations.
Rohan Wijesinha is a former General Secretary of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS). He is also a current invited member of the society’s human-elephant conflict sub-committee and an immediate Past Chair of the Federation of Environmental Organisations (FEO).
The history of wildlife protection in Sri Lanka is almost synonymous with that of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS). At 128 years old, the WNPS is the third oldest non-governmental organisation of its kind in the world and was responsible for the setting up of the Wilpattu and Yala National Parks in Sri Lanka, and of the formation of the Department of Wildlife Conservation
