The October session of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) Public Lecture took place on 22 October with Environmental Foundation Ltd. (EFL) Director Rukshan Jayawardene addressing the windfall Covid-19 has given us in terms of how we manage tourism in wildlife parks.
Jayawardene is a lifelong wildlife enthusiast and photographer who believes the role of photography in conservation is best served by adhering to standards and ethics. Jayawardene is a founding trustee at the Leopard Trust, Chairman of the Wilderness and Protected Areas Foundation, and Past President of the WNPS.
What’s plaguing our national parks?
Jayawardene shared that the Covid-19 pandemic has opened up new opportunities in how we can and should be doing conservation, particularly in relation to our national parks and eco-tourism, which has become a specialised branch of tourism that draws heavily on Sri Lanka’s wildlife resources, often to its detriment.
One main effect of over-tourism that Jayawardene stressed was the overcrowding of national parks, sharing that visitor numbers to parks have been exponentially increasing, with over 629,000 visitors in 2018, with pressure from tourism and the Government to keep increasing these numbers, something which is inherently unsustainable for Sri Lanka’s wildlife.
The main impacts of over-tourism in parks, Jayawardene explained, was in the disturbance caused to the animals and to their environments. The increased number of visitors increases the need for quality animal sightings, which in turn leads to animals being hounded when spotted, with tour guides often racing across the park after receiving a phone call from other personnel that an animal has been spotted. This racing across the park causes its own damage, not just in terms of animals being run over and injured or killed, but in terms of the surrounding vegetation which gets compromised too. The increased number of visitors also disrupts the animals’ daily activities and can sometimes make them hide.
Other side effects of over-tourism in parks include competitive photography of wildlife, especially among professional photographers who end up disturbing animals and their habitats in the quest for the perfect shot. Animals becoming habituated (i.e. getting used to humans), is also a problem, as this makes animals vulnerable to hostile humans and poachers.
Jayawardene explained that the issues plaguing national parks are not exclusively tourism-related. Management plays a part too. “Wildlife custodians need to lead by example,” Jayawardene said, adding: “They themselves speed through the parks. Invariably there are DWC (Department of Wildlife Conservation) vehicles that hit wildlife. If they’re enforcing rules and regulations, then they need to lead by example.”
Lack of judicious action in hopes of boosting tourism is also an issue, Jayawardene shared, with new roads being built or widened for no reason, that cut through habitats disrupting animals’ movements and activities. Political interference, especially when lawmakers become lawbreakers, is also a huge obstacle to effectively managing national parks, Jayawardene said.
“There is political interference and pressure placed on the DWC and the Forest Department. There is no real way to solve this, but saying that there’s pressure isn’t a cop out for not doing your duty. Your duties must be done and your job must be done to the best of your ability. Wildlife crime is something that fairly enmeshed in the fabric of society. There’s always illegal money to be made from the sale of wildlife and wildlife products.”
How can we move forward?
Jayawardene stressed the importance of ecological sensitivity, awareness. and intervention within our national parks.
By sensitivity, Jayawardene explained, he means looking at how parks are managed, using the most ecologically prudent practice of management, from managing vegetation without the use of heavy machinery to restricting the number of visitors to avoid overcrowding.
Awareness is about knowing the impacts actions can have on parks and their inhabitants, especially when it comes to things like artificially creating water supply in times of drought that upsets the ecosystem because it’s not something nature intended. Jayawardene spoke of Kruger National Park in South Africa, which had pursued this method of artificial water supply only to discover that overgrazing and unexpected animal activity resulted in mini-desserts sprouting around these artificial waterholes and creating long-term ecological damage.
“More research is needed,” Jayawardene said, adding: “And research findings need to be included in conservation efforts. The DWC is often reluctant to use new research findings. Research shouldn’t sit and gather dust. It needs to be incorporated.”
Judicious intervention in animals’ lives was also something that had to be considered carefully, Jayawardene explained. In cases when animals’ lives were disrupted because of human agency or interference, it is a duty to ensure the animal involved has the best chance of survival, but in other cases, sometimes nature also has to be left to run its course. “Every time you prop up an animal that shouldn’t’ survive an injury or disease in the wild, a fitter animal that deserves to survive because of its natural fitness loses opportunities of food and breeding.”
Jayawardene explained that Sri Lanka’s wildlife is a common resource for present and future Sri Lankans and that it is the current population’s duty to safeguard, conserve, and handover this precious resource to future generations. “Now is the time to take the chance to reassess or press the reset button on everything and start from scratch and do a better job with wildlife tourism and ecotourism than we have been doing so far.”
The WNPS Monthly Public Lecture with Rukshan Jayawardene can be viewed in its entirety on the WNPS Facebook page.