- Hemas launches Group Environmental Agenda 2030
Hemas Holdings recently launched its Group Environmental Agenda 2030, “Haritha Mehewara”, a long-term commitment to protect and conserve Sri Lanka’s critically endangered endemic species through necessary actions and interventions.
During the launch, Hemas took the initiative to inform and educate the audience on the country’s endemic species and the importance of protecting them. Providing a detailed explanation on this was Prof. Sampath Seneviratne, who is attached to the Colombo University’s Zoology and Environment Sciences Department as a Professor of Zoology.
What is endemism?
Calling endemism the hallmark of island biodiversity, he said: “Endemism is an animal or a plant, or any biological agent for that matter, that is uniquely found in a particular geopolitical region.”
Prof. Seneviratne went on to explain that endemic species are habitat specialists, and in the local context, they live millions of years in Sri Lanka, and in the process, changes occur to their genome and particular ways to fit into the country.
“They are uniquely Sri Lankan, they are exclusive to Sri Lanka and, in the process, they have lost the ability to fit into any other system. They are our true national identity, as well as, in a way, our heritage.”
Moving on to the dangers these endemics face, in terms of extinction, Prof. Seneviratne explained that prevention of extinction is a must and that we must do something. “By definition, critically endangered means you have to do something or it will go extinct.”
Two key ways of doing this is through conservation action, and research and education. So can conservation action pull species from the brink of extinction?
“Yes, conservation action can bring species out of this seemingly doomed phase,” Prof. Seneviratne said.
Commitment to protect
Going into detail on their commitment to this cause, Hemas Holdings Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson said: “As a Sri Lankan company, you try to do all that you can. Especially today, I realise that we need to preserve what is truly Sri Lankan to make sure that we leave the country or the island in a better shape, and all that is uniquely Sri Lankan and unique to Sri Lanka is preserved.”
She went on to say that their partnership with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) comes with this commitment to protect what is uniquely Sri Lankan, which is in addition to their other efforts to safeguard the environment. This includes a special initiative to have an intervention to protect 52 critically endangered species in Sri Lanka.
“I love my country and one thing I learnt in the past year is that we all have to do our part to leave it in a better shape than how we received it, for the future – be it in the political, social, or the environmental aspect,” she added.
Conservation
What followed was a question and answer session, where Prof. Seneviratne and Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson were joined by Hemas Holdings Group Sustainability and Corporate Communications Head Ishani Ranasinghe and WNPS President Jehan CanagaRetna.
During the session, Wilson said that Hemas has been focusing on efforts to restore the ecosystem from a botanic side.
“We realised the species in that system are what’s being endangered, so now we are moving into that.”
When asked what conservation efforts look like, Prof. Seneviratne said: “Each one of these critically endangered endemics would entail a slightly different action needed. Since we are focusing on the reddest, hottest conservation issues, as they are critically endangered, we have to be really careful to pick the right direction for each species.”
He emphasised that we have very little time to ensure the preservation of these species. However, he added that Sri Lanka has made efforts to protect species, saying: “17-20% of the country is protected. Unfortunately, only a very small percentage of the wet zone is protected, but a relatively larger percentage of the country is protected.”
Meanwhile, WNPS President Jehan CanagaRetna said: “On top of what Prof. Sampath (Senevirane) said – he’s talking about it from a science side on what work needs to be done – there are a lot of other aspects of conservation that need to be done, which can be activism, educational awareness and, on top of that, even legal processes.”
He added that organisations like the WNPS as well as several others are working together or separately to protect what needs to be protected.
Leopard killings
In response to a question on leopard killings in Sri Lanka, CanagaRetna said: “In the last 10 years, we have had approximately 44 known deaths of leopards in the hill country. But in 2020 and 2021, we have had 23 such deaths. So there has been an increase in the number of leopard deaths in the hill country.”
Explaining that there could be various reasons for this, he added that the WNPS as well as other organisations are working on resolving this issue, including by increasing ground-level educational awareness, and pushing for snare-free certifications for estates.
“We are hoping and praying that we can strengthen the military or the Police in terms of policing these issues.”
CanagaRetna went on to say: “In the end, the jurisdiction of managing all this lies with the Department of Wildlife. In Sri Lanka, nobody else, no one else, can go out and manage this without the support or and approval of the Department of Wildlife.”