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‘Snow-white’ monkeys of Sri Lanka draw in tourists
For a small village near the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka, “snow-white monkeys” have become a major tourist attraction, reports contributor Malaka Rodrigo for Mongabay. These white monkeys are a color variant of the endangered purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus), also known as the purple-faced leaf monkey, found only in Sri Lanka. Purple-faced langurs typically […]
Indian trawlers leave Sri Lankan small-scale fishers a ravaged, bereft sea
- Bottom trawlers from India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu have been encroaching Sri Lanka’s northern waters for years, carrying out destructive fishing practices that have caused serious depletion of fish stocks and damaged marine habitats.
- Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s local small-scale fishers continue to struggle due to reduced catches, destruction of their fishing nets and financial loss while being forced to fish in limited nearshore areas or abandon fishing temporarily to avoid conflict with the trawlers.
- In this political bone of contention, Tamil Nadu has been demanding reclamation of Katchatheevu — an uninhabited island between India and Sri Lanka — to gain unrestricted fishing rights, and the past bilateral promises to phase out bottom trawling have gone unfulfilled.
- Sri Lanka banned bottom trawling in 2017 and now needs to take specific actions to prevent illegal bottom trawling in its northern waters to avoid the risk of fisheries there from collapsing.
Sri Lanka’s iconic tuskers ‘falling like dominoes,’ conservationists warn
“The Gathering” in Sri Lanka’s Minneriya National Park is said to be among the world’s most spectacular wildlife phenomena. Every year, hundreds of elephants gather on a dry lakebed in the park that becomes fertile grazing land during the months of June through August. Tuskers, or male elephants with prominent tusks, are one of the […]
Award-winning film highlights lasting damage from X-Press Pearl disaster in Sri Lanka
- “This Is Not a Pearl,” a short film by Sri Lankan filmmaker Tharindu Ramanayaka, uses a poetic narrative of a pearl oyster mistaking toxic plastic pellets, or nurdles, for her pearl to symbolize the environmental devastation caused by the 2021 MV X-Press Pearl disaster.
- The sinking of the MV X-Press Pearl off Sri Lanka’s coast released 1,680 metric tons of plastic nurdles, marking the world’s largest nurdle spill and triggering long-term damage to marine ecosystems.
- Scientific studies show that toxic chemicals from the spill continue to harm marine life, especially zooplankton like sea urchin larvae and copepods, threatening the broader ocean food web.
- Sri Lanka’s legal efforts for compensation, including cases in both Singapore, where the ship’s operator is based, and the Sri Lankan Supreme Court, remain unresolved; meanwhile, nurdles continue to wash ashore, requiring continuous cleanup efforts nearly four years later.
Mysterious sloth bear deaths raise alarm at Sri Lanka’s largest national park
- Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka’s largest and a prime location for year-round sloth bear sightings, has sparked concern after the sudden deaths of three sloth bears (Melursus ursinus inornatus) occurred within a span of a few weeks.
- As sloth bears like to feed on carrion, there are often concerns about these animals contracting swine flu, which is generally present in wild boar populations due to consumption of carcasses, posing a risk of zoonotic transmission.
- Veterinary surgeons are awaiting laboratory analysis of the recently dead bear’s organ samples to finalize the autopsy report, but they indicate that tick fever is a likely cause of death due to heavy tick infestation.
- The sloth bear is an elusive and iconic species, recognized as a key wildlife attraction and a member of Sri Lanka’s “Big Five” wildlife species, alongside the elephant and leopard, making its conservation essential to the country’s nature-based tourism industry.
A century later, a rare mushroom with a curious shape emerges in Sri Lanka
- Documented just once in 1919 at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sri Lanka, an elusive mushroom has resurfaced more than a hundred years later, causing excitement among mycologists and nature lovers alike.
- The fungus is known for its phallic shape and foul-smelling spore mass, which attracts insects for spore dispersal — a unique strategy among fungi, which otherwise mostly use wind to disperse the spores.
- After the publication of a research paper, at least five separate observations from different parts of the country were reported highlighting that the mushroom may survive in many places.
- Mycologists call for greater attention to fungi in biodiversity research and conservation, as many species may remain hidden — or risk disappearing unnoticed.
Climate change spikes wildfire risk in Sri Lanka
- Almost all forest fire in Sri Lanka is human-caused; the two main forest fire seasons are February to March and July to August.
- Annually, 100-2,500 hectares (247-6,178 acres) of forest resources are damaged due to forest fires in Sri Lanka, and in the past few years, the damage to forest resources by fire has increased and is likely to continue increasing with global warming.
- Usually, wildfires are mainly occurring in forest plantations or grasslands where they do not spread to dense forest, but as of late, fires have begun to reach forest areas.
- Some ecosystems like savanna need fire to sustain them, as seeds in some of the trees need fire to crack their outer layer in order to germinate. But in areas with invasive guinea grass, which burns longer and hotter, large trees are also observed dying.
The vanishing trail of Sri Lanka’s iconic tuskers calls for urgent action
- Among Asian elephants, only a fraction of males bear tusks, and Sri Lanka holds the lowest percentage, with just 7% of its total elephant population being tuskers.
- Tuskers are culturally significant and attract tourists to Sri Lanka, with each wild tusker named after an ancient king.
- However, one by one, these iconic giants are falling victim not only to unmitigated human-elephant conflict, but also to opportunistic, targeted poaching.
- A study has estimated the value of a single elephant in Minneriya to be around 10 million Sri Lankan rupees ($40,000), based on the revenue generated through nature-based tourism, while rare tuskers are valued at a much higher rate.
Sri Lanka communities left gasping for climate mitigation support
- Despite being highly vulnerable to climate risk, Sri Lanka is slow to tap into climate funding due to a range of issues including inadequate data systems, institutional weaknesses and limited capacity to design and implement viable projects.
- Sri Lanka’s disaster management units require significant funding to initiate mitigation measures amid increasing climate change impacts, where the most vulnerable populations bear the brunt of climate impacts.
- The island’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are still to be submitted, adding to delays in pursuing climate finance opportunities for Sri Lanka.
- With many people vulnerable to climate change impacts and lacking adaptive capacity, building resilience calls for much higher financial investments in climate adaptation.
In a land where monkeys are seen as pests, Sri Lanka’s white langurs are winning hearts
- A rare population of leucistic, or partially white, purple-faced langurs near Sri Lanka’s Sinharaja Forest Reserve has attracted ecotourism interest, even as monkeys in general are perceived by farmers as crop-raiding pests.
- Unlike albinism, leucism causes a partial loss of pigmentation, and researchers have documented around 30 white langurs in the area.
- The unique langurs have helped transform the village of Lankagama into an ecotourism hub, benefiting the local community and conservation efforts.
- The presence of white monkeys across Sri Lanka, including rare cases of albino primates, highlights the island’s rich biodiversity and the need for further research and protection.
Sri Lanka calls for five-minute surveys to identify crop-raiding animals
- Sri Lanka’s agriculture suffers significant losses due to crop-raiding wildlife, especially elephants, monkeys, wild boars, giant squirrels, porcupines, and peafowls.
- An island-wide, citizen-assisted count of wild animals on agriculture land and in home gardens is planned for Mar. 15, lasting five minutes starting 8 a.m.
- Crop-raiding wild animals remain a significant challenge in Sri Lanka as cultivations suffer but the problem is exacerbated by limited scientific data, prohibitive costs and public opposition to certain solutions like culling.
- The forthcoming survey excludes major nocturnal raiders such as elephants, wild boars, and porcupines, raising questions on the effectiveness of the exercise, while some consider it a step in the right direction.
As Sri Lanka’s rail tracks continue to claim elephant lives, experts suggest solutions
- In Sri Lanka, wild elephants are often killed in train collision accidents along certain railway stretches. A recent accident killed seven elephants, highlighting the enormity of this issue.
- While train-related elephant deaths account for only about 5% of total fatalities, these deaths are mostly preventable and evoke both public attention and anger.
- Various solutions — like reducing the speed of trains in identified collision hotspots, considered the most effective response — have been proposed over the years, but haven’t been successfully implemented.
- Researchers suggest construction of underpasses at collision hotspots, but these plans haven’t gone through due to financial constraints.
India’s Adani withdraws from controversial Sri Lanka wind power project
- A proposed wind power project by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in the north of Sri Lanka, which ran into strong opposition from environmentalists due to multiple potential ecological impacts, particularly on migratory bird species, has come to halt.
- Five lawsuits were filed against the company by local environmental organizations due to the project’s alleged environmental consequences as well as the contract being awarded without competitive bidding.
- Amid growing controversy, Adani Green Energy Ltd. withdrew from the proposed project on Feb. 12 claiming “financial nonviability” weeks after the new Sri Lankan government sought to renegotiate the agreement and formed a committee to review and renegotiate the power purchase rate.
- Mannar, a district rich in wildlife and known for its picturesque quality, is currently experiencing a surge in nature-based tourism, particularly due to its rich birdlife.
Study highlights effects of habitat fragmentation on Sri Lankan specialist birds
- A research study focusing on the endemic brown-capped babbler (Pellorneum fuscocapillus) and Tickell’s blue flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) shows that forest specialist birds fail to return to disturbed lands, and even forest generalists tend to avoid these areas, causing delays in their return.
- Researchers employed a method called “experimental translocation” to understand how species interact with new environments by releasing the birds at various distances in different habitats, monitoring whether the birds returned to their original locations.
- A global review by the same researchers identifies 32 instances in which the experimental translocation method was used to study birds worldwide. The Sri Lankan experiment is the first of its kind in South Asia.
- The research highlights that even highly mobile creatures like birds are affected by forest fragmentation, underscoring that the impact can be even worse for less mobile creatures.
Sunken ships in Sri Lanka’s Colombo attract more fish than coral reefs
- Shipwrecks host more diverse fish assemblages compared with natural coral reefs off the coast of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s commercial capital.
- Research shows that shipwrecks provide more complex structures with various microhabitats, attracting fish and offering both food and safety, making them more appealing than coral reefs.
- Scientists used the diver operated video recording method, in which a diver carries a video camera along a predefined transect, for allowing species identification and quantification later in the laboratory.
- Sri Lankan waters contain 115 known shipwrecks, with the oldest being the Godawaya wreck, dating back to the second century BCE, and they play a significant role in dive tourism.
Seeking solutions in Indigenous knowledge: Interview with the Maldives’ Mohamed Nasheed
- In the next 50 years, 80% of the Maldives may become uninhabitable, creating human security and livelihood issues of epic proportions for its nearly 400,000 population.
- The rise in ocean temperatures and acidification are leaving severe impacts on coral reefs, affecting both tourism and fisheries in the Maldives and also damaging the country’s critical first line of natural defense.
- Before a 1998 El Niño bleaching event, the archipelago’s coral reefs remained in good condition, but it killed a significant portion of the fragile ecosystem, which continues to be impacted by climate change.
- Among the solutions proposed are the prosperity plans under the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) to help countries overcome debt traps and attract investments through debt for environmental swaps.
Relief in Sri Lanka as key threat to nonprotected forests is repealed
- A 2020 government decree that transferred administrative control of nonprotected forests in Sri Lanka to local governments has been formally revoked by the country’s new government.
- The move follows its overturning by the country’s Supreme Court, where environmental activists argued it could allow the release of these forests for development projects without proper environmental assessments.
- Known as “other state forests” (OSFs) or “residual forests,” they harbor high levels of biodiversity and serve as crucial connectivity or buffer zones that help reduce human-wildlife conflict.
- They could also play a key role in the government’s commitment to the 30×30 initiative of protecting 30% of land and sea area by 2030.
In Sri Lanka, election day is time for firecrackers — to ward off elephants
- Sri Lankans head to the polls on Sept. 21 for the country’s first presidential election since public protests forced the island nation’s last elected leader from office in 2022.
- But more than 450 of the 13,100 polling stations nationwide are located close to elephant habitat, including areas with a history of human-elephant conflict.
- Sri Lanka has one of the highest incidences of human-elephant conflict in the world, as a growing human population encroaches into dwindling elephant habitat.
- The election commission is working with wildlife authorities to ensure voters can go out and cast their ballot in safety, including encouraging early-morning turnout when the animals aren’t actively roaming about yet.
Climate change could threaten newly described ‘shiny’ North American bees
- A recent study examining North American bee species belonging to the Lasioglossum genus has led to the describing of three previously unknown bee species from specimens collected from California, Arizona and Baja California.
- Due to their distinct metallic sheen, one was designated as Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) iridescens, while another was named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) dilisena, derived from Sinhala, the majority-spoken language in Sri Lanka, with the word dilisena translating to “shining.”
- The third species is named Lasioglossum (Sphecodogastra) silveirai as a tribute to the late Fernando Silveira of the Federal University of Minas Gerais for his significant contribution to bee taxonomy.
- The newly described species are predominantly found in high-elevation areas in California, where climate change poses a significant threat, so scientists emphasize the importance of further research on their ecology and distribution.
Sri Lanka completes first elephant census since 2011 amid uncertainty
- Sri Lanka recently carried out a three-day elephant survey by counting the animals as they visited watering holes across the country.
- It’s the first such survey carried out since 2011, when Sri Lanka’s minimum elephant population was estimated at 5,879.
- In the intervening period, a total of 4,262 elephants have died, many of them in conflicts with humans, so it won’t be clear until the results are published in a month’s time whether the population trend is up or down.
- Despite potential inaccuracies in the total count, the survey is expected to provide essential insights, such as the male-to-female ratio and the number of calves, which are key indicators of the health of Sri Lanka’s Asian elephant population.
Sri Lanka’s blue carbon ecosystems at risk as government seeks way out of economic crisis
- Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve in northern Sri Lanka is an important coastal ecosystem that contains all the main blue carbon habitats, from mangroves to seagrass meadows to salt marshes and tidal flats.
- Despite this, the government recently ordered the removal of protection for a section of the reserve, which observers say is meant to free up land for the development of shrimp farms and similar economic activity.
- Local environmentalists have challenged this move in court, winning a temporary halt to its implementation as they make the case that any short-term economic gain would be dwarfed by the losses arising from destruction of the ecosystem and the attendant carbon emissions.
- While Sri Lanka has gained an international reputation for championing the protection of marine and coastal ecosystems, observers say they fear the country’s ongoing economic crisis may compel the government to release more protected areas for economic activity at the expense of nature.
Foreign ship caught illegally fishing endangered sharks off Madagascar
A fishing vessel from Sri Lanka, sailing under a Kenyan flag, was recently seized and impounded for illegally fishing endangered sharks in the Mozambique Channel, off the coast of Madagascar. That’s according to a press release from environmental groups Alliance Voahary Gasy (AVG), based in Madagascar, and Local Ocean Conservation (LOC), in Kenya. The ship, […]
Death and displacement as fatal storms hit Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka recorded 24 deaths in the first 10 days of June as most of the country of 20 million grappled with an extreme start to the island’s main monsoon season. Data from Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center showed 206,000 people were affected by flooding and landslides across the country’s 25 districts. Most local authorities […]
Saving Asia’s fishing cat means protecting threatened wetland habitat
- Fishing cats are uniquely adapted to life in wetlands, possessing a double-layered coat that serves as a water barrier and insulation, partially webbed feet, ears that plug when submerged, and a curious call reminiscent of a duck.
- Spread across Asia, this small wild cat species faces myriad threats, including habitat loss, hunting and retaliatory killings, road kill, and more. Considered vulnerable across its range, the felid is also elusive and underresearched, with many knowledge gaps about its distribution and ecology.
- Conservationists are working across its range to raise the profile of this wildcat, reduce threats and understand the species. Linking its protection to equally threatened wetlands is vital, they say. Initiatives such as the Fishing Cat Project in India have achieved success in making this cat the face of these habitats.
- Multiple conservation and research projects operate in Asia under the banner of the Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance, a cooperative model that provides funding lifelines and enables international collaboration to protect this small cat.
Newly identified shorebird species takes its name from Hanuman, a mythical Hindu ape god
- The Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrines) is a widespread shorebird and a constant winter visitor to Sri Lanka and neighboring India, yet a population chooses to remain year-round in Sri Lanka and southern India.
- This population has physical characteristics different from the migratory Kentish plovers, hence it has been identified as a subspecies, known as C. a. seebohmi. As far back in 1887, British ornithologist Henry Seebohm suggested they could possibly be a distinct species.
- A recent study of genetic analysis has established this breeding population of plovers found in Sri Lanka to be different from the migratory Kentish plovers; the new species’ evolution started about 1.19 million years ago after the population separated from its ancestors.
- The new species is named Hanuman plover (Charadrius seebohmi) named after the Hindu mythical ape god Hanuman revered in the Sanskrit epic Ramayana who supposedly built a bridge linking Sri Lanka and India, incidentally where the first specimen of this bird was collected.
As Sri Lanka floods swell with climate change, so does human-crocodile conflict
- Sri Lanka is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, with long drought spells, receiving intense rain during a shorter period with a marked increase in flood events.
- During flooding, crocodiles inhabiting rivers tend to reach land and move closer to human settlements, increasing the risk of encounters with people.
- The Nilwala River flows through southern Sri Lanka and recent flood events have increased croc encounters with humans in the Matara district and escalated threats to human safety, resulting in disaster management responses.
- During recent flooding events, no serious incidents linked to crocodiles were reported, but wildlife officials had to chase crocs away from riverbanks, highlighting the need for an immediate and durable solution for the human-crocodile conflict around the Nilwala River area.
Photos: Top species discoveries from 2023
- Scientists described a slew of new species this past year, including an electric blue tarantula, two pygmy squid, a silent frog, and some thumb-sized chameleons.
- Experts estimate less than 20% of Earth’s species have been documented by Western science.
- Although a species may be new to science, it may already be well known to local and Indigenous people and have a common name.
- Many new species of plants, fungi, and animals are assessed as Vulnerable or Critically Endangered with extinction as soon as they are found, and many species may go extinct before they are named, experts say.
Iconic tusker’s plight shows challenges in managing Sri Lanka’s wild elephants
- When an iconic Sri Lankan elephant was recently injured in the leg by a trap gun, the incident received wide attention and criticism over the island’s poor handling of wild elephants.
- Agbo is one of Sri Lanka’s largest elephants, and since June, a team of wildlife veterinary surgeons and support staff have been treating the tusker.
- With months among humans, Agbo started showing signs of habituation, losing his fear or mistrust of people and developing a taste for the food provided during treatment.
- From January to late November, Sri Lanka has lost 440 elephants, with gunshot injuries being the main cause for fatalities.
Amid socioeconomic slump, new sugar cane varieties offer hope in Sri Lanka
- After 20 years of research, the Sugarcane Research Institute (SRI) of Sri Lanka has introduced four new varieties with improved sugar recovery percentages, cane yield and disease resistance.
- An interactive mobile app called Uksaviya has been introduced to assist sugar cane farmers in disease identification, cultivation advice and access to the latest knowledge.
- An institutional business framework too has been developed linking researchers and industry to improve collaboration, precision, and commercialization of cutting-edge research.
- With Sri Lanka’s agriculture hit by multiple issues, SRI’s efforts offer some hope.
In a world of climate risks, Sri Lanka is finding ways to adapt
- In a landscape of interconnected and mutually compounding risks, climate change has emerged as a key risk factor for Sri Lanka, specifically for vulnerable sectors and groups.
- Risk management frameworks need to acknowledge and incorporate these emerging risks. While Sri Lanka already has risk management mechanisms and instruments in place, there are opportunities to scale up these mechanisms, close existing gaps and mobilize additional means of implementation.
- Sri Lanka is in the process of strengthening its national environment policy related to climate change, including through global and international processes, which could remove constraints and help enhance risk management in the country.
- Key areas for improving and future-proofing Sri Lanka’s risk management framework include awareness creation, education, and the wider enabling environment; multi-stakeholder collaboration and decision-making processes; leveraging new and innovative risk management instruments; and connecting the national to the international level, such as the U.N. climate change convention negotiations or the Global Shield initiative.
Photos: Sri Lanka’s Kalametiya lagoon draws tourists to see native and migrant birds
- Nature plays a significant role in Sri Lanka’s tourism economy, and it goes well beyond popular parks and wildlife tourism focused on keystone species such as elephants and leopards it’s known for to include birdwatching.
- Birdwatching and photography are drivers of nature-based tourism, and in Sri Lanka’s deep south, the Kalametiya and Lunama lagoons, famous as a bird-watching location, provide visitors the opportunity to see more than 160 bird species, including winter migrants.
- Despite the tourism industry nosediving due to the twin effects of COVID-19 and the collapse of the island’s economy in 2021-22, nature-based tourism continues to draw visitors, indicating Sri Lanka’s popularity not only as a tourist destination but also as a niche wildlife and nature-based tourism location.
- The Wildlife Department’s statistics show that 50% of foreign tourists to Sri Lanka visit at least one national park during their stay, reflecting the level of interest in the island’s biodiversity and nature reserves.
New research shines a light on Sri Lanka fireflies
- Until recently, there had been a significant absence in research on Sri Lanka’s fireflies; previous work was by British scientists a couple hundred years ago, but now a new surge in research has led to new findings in the pipeline for publication.
- Recent research has led to the rediscovery of Luciola nicolleri, a firefly not seen since its description 100 years ago, and Curtos costipennis, a new discovery in Sri Lanka.
- Glowworms are the larval stage of fireflies, and folklore has it that once stung by them, treatment would require mud from the depths of the ocean and stars from the sky, indicating a difficult cure — shot down by experts as myth, confirming fireflies do not harm human life.
- A beautiful and common sight just a decade ago, fireflies are fast disappearing from urban landscapes due to loss of habitat, increasing temperatures and pollution levels, affecting their reproduction signals in the form of bioluminescent lights.
In Sri Lanka, humans mistakenly attempt to ‘rescue’ leopard cubs
- Leopard mothers often hide their cubs when they are going out hunting or in the process of relocation, and in Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, workers on tea estates often pick up these cubs, assuming they are either abandoned or lost.
- When baby leopards are fetched by humans, many people gather to watch what’s unfolding, forcing the leopard mom to retreat rather than approach the cub, making reunion efforts extra difficult for wildlife rangers.
- Other wild cats, specially fishing cats and rusty-spotted cats living close to human settlements are also picked up, sometimes by well-meaning people who assume these cubs, too, are lost or abandoned.
- As leopards partly share the same tea estate as humans, their territories often cross into fragmented forests where they take refuge in the absence of quality wildernesses, roaming closer to humans and increasing encounters which can escalate into conflicts.
Annual Adam’s Peak pilgrimage leaves Sri Lanka biodiversity site littered
- Sri Lanka’s Adam’s Peak Wilderness sanctuary, recording the island’s highest biodiversity, continues to face multiple threats due to a pilgrimage that draws a large crowd.
- During the pilgrimage season, tons of non-biodegradable polythene and plastics are dumped and get washed down or carried by the wind.
- Adding a fresh problem, Buddhist devotees are habitually offering a beautiful and rare endemic flower, locally known as ran dothalu (Loxococcus rupicola), a practice that causes concern among environmentalists who fear the endangered palm will soon reach the brink of extinction.
- The Peak Wilderness sanctuary is facing other serious issues such as forest dieback, a direct result of the forest getting drier, as climate change adversely affects the island’s top amphibian hotspot.
Sri Lanka researchers amp up mushroom studies and find new species
- Recent research on Sri Lanka’s mushrooms has resulted in the discovery of two species previously unknown to science — Termitomyces srilankensis and Candolleomyces ruhunensis — and the discovery of Crepidotus striatus, a mushroom previously thought endemic to China.
- A tropical island in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka is known for its rich diversity of fungi and mushrooms, but there was little research until now, making the group one of the least-studied organisms in the country.
- As deforestation, habitat degradation and climate change threaten mushroom species, researchers urge the establishment of a national fungarium to preserve fungi specimens.
- Edible wild mushrooms have been a part of Sri Lankans’ diets for centuries, but present generations have lost traditional knowledge about identifying non-poisonous mushrooms and instead rely on commercially cultivated mushrooms.
Sweltering heat wave hits Sri Lanka; climate change will likely bring more
- As a heat wave sweeps across Asia, Sri Lanka continues to issue heat warnings to the public as the country experiences much higher than normal temperatures coupled with high humidity and threatening health impacts.
- Research has already shown that annually averaged mean minimum temperatures are increasing in most parts of Sri Lanka and climate projections indicate that Sri Lanka should brace for more intense and regular heat waves by 2030.
- Main cities record higher temperatures acting as urban heat islands and experts suggest that town planning should now include strategies to reduce heat as an adaptation for impending future heat stresses.
One elephant a day: Sri Lanka wildlife conflict deepens as death toll rises
- Sri Lanka recorded at least one elephant death a day in the first quarter of 2023, nearly half of them due to human causes, putting the country on track for a record death toll from human-elephant conflict.
- Various approaches adopted since 1959 to tackle the problem have only aggravated the issue or failed to solve it, experts say.
- A national plan formulated in 2020 to mitigate the problem has not been fully implemented due to a lack of funding.
- Wildlife conservationists say that up to 70% of wild elephants could die unless effective measures are urgently adopted.
Activists slam Sri Lanka’s bid to seek X-Press Pearl compensation in Singapore
- The Sri Lankan government will seek compensation in Singapore’s courts for a 2021 ship sinking that became the worst maritime disaster in the country’s history.
- The Singapore-flagged X-Press Pearl caught fire off Colombo in May 2021 and sank several days later, unleashing its cargo of billions of plastic pellets and tons of toxic chemicals; an expert committee has put the environmental damage at $6.4 billion.
- Environmental activists have questioned the decision to file for compensation in Singapore instead of Sri Lanka, saying there’s less likelihood of winning adequate compensation overseas.
- However, the government says previous efforts to claim compensation in an earlier ship disaster through Sri Lankan courts ran up against obstacles.
Proposal to export 100,000 crop-raiding macaques sparks outcry in Sri Lanka
- Following the Sri Lanka Agriculture Ministry’s confirmation of a request from a Chinese company to import 100,000 toque macaques for their zoos, environmentalists have mounted protests over fears that monkeys may be used for medical experiments or as a food delicacy.
- The toque macaque (Macaca sinica) is a primate endemic to Sri Lanka but is also an agricultural pest that often causes considerable damage to crops such as coconuts, vegetables and fruits; the ministry is considering possible solutions, including population control.
- Meanwhile, a recent study indicates the presence of toque macaques on 80% of the tropical island, but experts say the government’s claim of a monkey population of 3 million is an exaggeration.
- On the contrary, some farmers and villagers in monkey-infested areas have responded positively, saying the removal of 100,000 toque macaques from the environment can be the beginning of a solution.
Sri Lanka aims to restore ancient irrigation tanks in climate change plan
- Sri Lanka’s well-recognized village tank cascade systems, ancient irrigation structures that interconnect small tanks for rainwater-reliant cultivation, are a remarkable adaptation and mitigation strategy practiced on the island for dealing with extreme climatic conditions.
- Some of the tank cascade systems are likely to have been built around 500 BCE and continue to function sustainably, though not at full capacity; experts are calling for their restoration with extreme care to ensure optimum functionality.
- Recognized as a globally important agricultural heritage system by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), most of these tanks are now neglected and under pressure from the changing climate, land use, population and agricultural intensification, despite their value as a unique climate adaptation plan.
- Sri Lanka’s dry zone has more than 14,000 small ancient village tanks with many still in good shape, supporting 246,000 hectares (608,000 acres) of paddy cultivation, about 39% of the total irrigable area, but poor maintenance has rendered many others dysfunctional.
Newly described leafless orchid in Sri Lanka named after a precious yellow sapphire
- A new leafless ground orchid found in a lowland wet zone forest in Sri Lanka has been named after a precious yellow sapphire as Gastrodia pushparaga, a gemstone commonly extracted from the same district.
- This is the third Gastrodia species found in Sri Lanka, after the 1906 identification of G. zeylanica and G. gunatillekeorum, described in 2020, 114 years later.
- The plant grows in Walankanda, a forest frontier in the island’s intermediate zone with unique characteristics that will likely make these plants susceptible to future climate change impacts earlier than other wet zone rainforest plants.
- Tea plantations being the main prompt for forest fragmentation in the area, an ambitious project aims to create an ecological land corridor through neglected tea estates, linking the forest where the orchid was first found with another fragmented forest patch.
As crop-raiding animals reach an all-time high, food-crisis hit Sri Lanka looks for solutions
- Crop damage by wild animals in Sri Lanka during the first half of 2022 totaled around 144,989 metric tons of 28 types of crops, including paddy and vegetables, and 93 million coconuts resulting in an overall loss of 30,215 million Sri Lankan rupees ($ 87.5 million), according to a new estimate.
- The toque macaque tops the list of crop raiders followed by wild boar, elephant, peafowl, giant squirrel and porcupine with five types of crops most heavily damaged: coconuts, paddy, vegetables, corn and bananas.
- A high-level committee consisting of experts in agriculture, veterinary science, zoology, natural sciences and conservation ecology conclude that population control of some of these animals may have to be seriously considered.
- Experts also recommend a data-driven, science-based approach to solve the problem before it escalates further, as different regions may experience different facets of the problem, requiring diverse solutions.
In Sri Lanka and beyond, seagrass key to livelihoods, marine habitats
- Following a proposal from Sri Lanka, the United Nations declared March 1 as World Seagrass Day, recognizing their importance and creating awareness of this much-overlooked marine habitat.
- A recent four-country study including Sri Lanka examines household dependencies on seagrass and highlights how coastal fishers rely on seagrass habitats for higher fish catch.
- Similar to several other countries, seagrass habitats in Sri Lanka are threatened by an array of issues and activists are calling for government intervention to prevent new aquaculture and mineral mining projects in close proximity to key seagrass habitats.
- Meanwhile, experts are calling for a strategic environmental assessment of Sri Lanka’s coastline, especially focusing on the blue carbon ecosystems, including seagrasses.
In Sri Lanka, activists push for ban on using human contraceptive jabs on animals
- Sri Lankan authorities are considering banning the use of a human contraceptive injection for animals.
- A proposed pilot project to inject a human contraceptive on 50,000 dogs sparked outrage, prompting its immediate suspension.
- The contraceptive injection can lead to the accumulation of pus in a dog’s uterus, eventually causing its death, experts say.
Four-day music festival in Sri Lanka elephant territory set to continue, despite protests
HABARANA, Sri Lanka — As a four-day reggae, rock and hip hop music fiesta got underway Feb. 17, putting many wild animals inhabiting a forest reserve in Habarana in Sri Lanka’s North Central province at risk, authorities have chosen to look the other way. The Deep Jungle Music and Cultural Festival 2023 is organized by […]
Recent seismic activity in Indian Ocean likely led pilot whales to beach on Sri Lanka shores
- Marine experts say the seismic activity in the Indian Ocean in the past few days likely pushed a pod of pilot whales onto Sri Lanka’s shores.
- Authorities and volunteers undertook a strenuous 15-and-a-half-hour operation to send a pod of pilot whales safely back into the sea.
- Rescuers managed to push 11 pilot whales back into the sea while three died on the shores.
- Recorded incidents of whales beaching up on Sri Lankan shores go back as far as 1889.
X-Press Pearl salvage continues as study shows toxic effects of disaster
- Salvage operations of the sunken MV X-Press Pearl freighter off Sri Lanka’s west coast has made some progress with the rear section of the wreck successfully raised off the seabed.
- Meanwhile, a new study highlights how the marine disaster significantly impacted the coastal environment, water quality and, in turn, the ocean’s biodiversity, fisheries, seafood industry and the livelihoods of the fishing communities.
- The study records biotoxins produced by harmful algae from sample locations closer to the sunken freighter, a possible reason for a spate of turtle deaths and other marine animals following the MV X-Press Pearl disaster.
- As the environmental impacts were being published through the new study, the second interim report on the environmental damage due to maritime disaster was submitted to the Attorney General’s Department, the chief legal adviser to the government of Sri Lanka, which is expected to file a compensation claim in Singapore.
Sri Lanka seeks lasting solution as human-elephant conflict takes record toll
- The death toll, both human and elephant, from Sri Lanka’s long-running human-elephant conflict problem hit a record high in 2022, with 145 people and 433 elephants killed.
- With the trend worsening in recent years, the government has recently set up a committee to implement a 2020 draft national action plan to tackle the problem from various angles.
- Community fences surrounding villages and cultivated plots are considered the most viable solution over the current default of fences enclosing protected areas, which are only administrative boundaries that the elephants don’t recognize.
- But these and other proposed solutions won’t be rolled out widely; Sri Lanka’s current economic crisis means only pilot projects in two of the worst-affected districts will go ahead for now.
Plastic works its way up the food chain to hit fishing cats, study shows
- A recent study published in the journal Environmental Pollution found plastics in the scat of fishing cats dwelling in urban areas near Colombo, Sri Lanka.
- Different sizes of plastics, from micro to macro, were found in some samples, and were believed to have been ingested by the cats via their prey.
- Potential health effects on the vulnerable small cat species are unknown, but based on knowledge of the impacts of plastic on other species there is cause for concern, say conservationists.
Updated red list raises red flags for Sri Lanka’s birds, especially endemics
- Sri Lanka has published its latest assessment of the conservation status of birds, showing a worrying increase in the number of species considered threatened since the last assessment was published in 2012.
- The assessment covers 244 species, both endemic and migratory, and lists 19 as critically endangered, 48 as endangered, and 14 as vulnerable — the three “threatened” categories.
- It highlights as a key threat the loss of habitat due to climate change, which could shrink the suitable range for mountain species by up to 90%.
- The assessors have also called for aligning the national assessments for endemic species — those found only in Sri Lanka — with the global red list administered by the IUCN, with the latter identifying only eight of these species as threatened, while the former lists 20.
Green and gossamer, and not gone: A Sri Lankan dragonfly flits back to life
- Sri Lankan researchers have rediscovered an endemic dragonfly species that was last seen in 1970 and thought to be extinct.
- Macromia flinti was described more than half a century ago based on a single male specimen; in their surveys in Sri Lanka’s central foothills, researchers encountered a live female of the species, and observed other male specimens, also live.
- Their observations suggest the species has a wider range than previously thought, and could lead to an improvement in the dragonfly’s conservation status from the current category of critically endangered.
- But they note there’s still more research to be done, as well as conservation of the unprotected freshwater habitats that M. flinti appears to favor.
Sri Lanka university aims to be the country’s first to go carbon neutral
- The University of Sri Jayewardenepura (USJ) in Sri Lanka has assessed its carbon footprint under ISO standards and has now become the country’s first university to be carbon audited.
- USJ recently assessed its carbon footprint under the ISO 14064-1 standard, a process that proved to be more difficult than calculating the footprint of an industrial establishment such as a factory, which has more easily quantifiable carbon emissions than a university.
- The university intends to reach carbon-neutral status mainly through energy efficiency projects and reforestation of three forest patches managed by the university in order to offset its carbon emissions.
Shipping lane change could be sea change for Sri Lanka’s blue whales
- Conservationists have welcomed an announcement by MSC, the world’s biggest container shipping line, that its ships will detour around a key feeding and nursing ground for blue whales off Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
- Ship strikes are a leading cause of death for the large whales that frequent the waters around Sri Lanka, which also include to a lesser extent sperm whales and Bryde’s whales.
- Marine conservationist Asha de Vos says other shipping lines should follow MSC’s lead, and has also called on the Sri Lankan government to propose making the shipping lane change permanent.
- She also says whale deaths from ship strikes may be up to 10 times higher than recorded, given that current and wind conditions are more likely to wash carcasses out to sea than toward shore, making them less likely to be detected.
Dog shooting highlights Sri Lanka’s need for stricter animal cruelty laws
- Sri Lanka’s outdated laws on animal welfare are 115 years old and were introduced when the country was under the British yoke.
- With violence toward animals reported on more frequently, animal rights groups are calling for tougher laws to combat cases of animal cruelty.
- The current punishment for mistreating an animal is $0.27 and is among the lowest in South Asia.
- A proposed animal welfare law has not been adopted despite being placed on the parliamentary agenda on 44 occasions.
Photos: How Sri Lanka’s forced organic transition crippled its tea industry
- In April 2021, then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa abruptly banned imports of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, in an attempt to preserve Sri Lanka’s fast-depleting foreign currency reserves.
- The government sold it as a shift to organic agriculture that would make Sri Lanka the world’s first toxin-free nation, but in the process disregarded warnings by academics and agronomists about the disastrous economic fallout.
- Several months after the aggressive shift, Sri Lanka’s agricultural output has plummeted by 20%, while farmers, who account for 27% of the country’s workforce, have been driven into acute poverty and desperation.
New cave bat species in Sri Lanka highlights need for more research
- Researchers describe a new bat species found in Sri Lanka and South India and name it Miniopterus phillipsi in honor of British naturalist W.W.A. Phillips.
- Sri Lanka is home to 31 species of bats, but researchers say there could be more given that neighboring India has 132 bat species already described.
- The number of identified species in the genus Miniopterus has doubled in Africa, but in Asia, M. phillipsi is the first new addition to this genus after a lapse of six decades.
- M. phillipsi is a small, insectivorous bat previously identified as Miniopterus fuliginosus; it inhabits caves and its population remains stable, although habitat loss may soon impact these bats.
Sri Lankan study identifies new jellyfish, sparking interest in the species
- A jellyfish study initiated by the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka has shed light on this ignored marine species that’s rarely been studied since 1905 and contributed to increasing the possible number of jellyfish species found in Sri Lanka to about 150.
- Researchers also described a new box jellyfish species named Carybdea wayamba, also the first species of this genus described from this part of the Indian Ocean, and are working on a number of other species that are potentially new.
- Jellyfish fishery has potential in Sri Lanka and the department of fisheries has made various attempts to popularize it before, but conservationists highlight the need for proper population and distribution study before introducing the new form of fishery.
- Even though the species found in Sri Lankan waters are not lethal, the jellyfish is a medically important species as Sri Lanka records several hospitalizations each year due to stings.
Sri Lanka eyes major compensation case over X-Press Pearl sinking
- Sri Lanka has received $2.5 million in the third interim payment for the sinking of the X-Press Pearl cargo ship in June 2021, giving it a total of just $7.85 million for the worst maritime disaster in the country’s history.
- These payments from the Singapore-flagged vessel’s insurer are mainly to reimburse the government for the cost of the emergency response operations and for direct damages and cleanup.
- Environmental lawyers say the government can and should pursue a much larger compensation claim for the environmental damage wrought.
- The X-Press Pearl sank off Sri Lanka’s western coast after catching fire, in the process spilling its cargo of hazardous chemicals and billions of plastic pellets that continue to dot the country’s beaches.
Sri Lankan researchers bring little-studied ‘flowerpot’ snake to light
- Sri Lanka is home to 10 known species of blindsnakes, a family of soil-burrowing snakes so small that they’re often mistaken for earthworms.
- The most widespread of these is the flowerpot blindsnake (Indotyphlops braminus), which is also the most widely distributed invasive snake in the world, having accidentally hitched rides as far as North America, Africa and Australia in flowerpots for the exotic plant trade.
- A 2020 study, and its 2021 follow-up, proposed moving the species from the genus Indotyphlops to the new genus Virgotyphlops because of its reproductive characteristics that are different from those of other Indotyphlops species.
- But a new study by Sri Lankan researchers, building on field surveys carried out since 2007, says such a move isn’t warranted, and that the flowerpot blindsnake i
s simply an “exceptional” member of its genus.
Sri Lanka fuel shortage takes massive toll on efforts to save wildlife
- Sri Lanka continues to face the brunt of the worst economic crisis in the country’s history, with depleted foreign reserves resulting in acute fuel shortages nationwide.
- The shortages and limited rations are affecting conservation efforts, including the timely treatment of wild animals, regular patrolling to thwart poaching, and mitigation actions to limit human-elephant conflict.
- Fuel allocations for the wildlife conservation department have been halved, and both wildlife and forest officials say this has made operations extremely difficult.
- The threat of forest fires also looms as the dry season gets underway, which typically calls for more patrols to prevent burning by poachers and forest encroachers.
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