The garbage dumps of Sri Lanka

• The best places to see wild elephants?

Recent media releases report that several wild elephants have died from complications resulting from feeding off human-produced garbage. This refuse is dumped in large volumes in the open, most often within Forest Department and Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC)-protected areas. 

This is not some haphazard act of environmental hooliganism. They are sites specifically requested for the disposal of human-generated waste by the relevant local government authorities for the area, often with significant political pressure on the two conservation agencies to release the land for “a national good”. 

As wildlife have no franchise and no way of voicing their concerns, substandard principles of safety and hygiene are exercised, which would have prompted mass protests had they been sited close to human habitation. 

Statutory dumping

Initially, it was mainly lone, male elephants who were found feeding on these garbage dumps. Increasingly, herds too have been found leaving the safety of the forests to feed on the garbage. This new behaviour is clearly due to the increasing loss of habitat and food available inside the protected areas.

Based on appearance alone, it seems that these garbage-seeking elephants are in better condition than their counterparts who only feed on their natural diets. This also diverts them from human cultivation and reduces the conflict that would inevitably arise. 

However, as per recent reports, a number of elephants have died and the post-mortems have attributed their deaths to the consumption of polythene in the garbage. Further study is required on both the benefits of wild elephants feeding on garbage and on the threats to their lives from doing so. Whatever the findings of this research, the fundamental question is: do we wish for our wild elephants to be dependent on human-generated trash for their survival?  

Dumping the problem on wildlife

The safe disposal of garbage is not just a problem in Sri Lanka; it is a worldwide issue. Garbage is generated in urban and semi-urban areas, so why are local authorities permitted to dispose of it in, or adjacent to, designated protected areas? These areas are declared as protected areas to conserve their ecology, so why destroy them with garbage disposal? 

Garbage should be disposed of within the jurisdiction of the local authority that generates it. After all, if humans generate garbage, shouldn’t they manage it within their locality? If this was done, the discussion on the pros and cons of wild elephants consuming garbage would not arise. The necessity of developing safe and healthy disposal methods close to urban areas will come to the fore. It will also prompt the need for these communities to purchase more environmentally friendly products and carefully dispose of non-biodegradable ones. Discipline, civic responsibility, and the enforcement of the law are essential for this process to work.

The DWC must also ensure the enrichment of habitat within the protected areas. This will require long-term strategies and commitment – unpopular amongst policymakers who prefer instant solutions but vital for conservation. The present practice of mechanically removing invasive alien species within protected areas must be halted as not only invasive species but indigenous ones too are destroyed, with the natural habitat and environment changed forever. Instead, long-term, science-based clearing should take place and every effort should be taken to restore the areas to what they were before. That is, if wild elephants are to be conserved for the future.

Surely not?

 

Wild elephants and other wildlife are vital attractions for bringing foreign visitors to this country. The gathering of elephants at the Minneriya National Park has been declared to be one of the “Wildlife Wonders of the World” by Lonely Planet. The Udawalawe National Park is renowned as the one place where a wild Asian elephant can be seen at any time of the day, on any day of the year. At these places, tourists can wonder at these magnificent creatures as they feed and interact in their natural habitats. 

Are these advertising slogans to be changed to “See the largest gatherings of wild elephants at our finest garbage dumps”? Will Lonely Planet shower even more accolades on the country, and thousands of tourists flock to the island to savour this unique sight…and inhale their “delicious” smells?

Surely not!

The history of wildlife protection in Sri Lanka is almost synonymous with that of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) of Sri Lanka. 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 (DWC).