EFL recently commented on the allocation of land for resettlement and development in the Mannar District based on the Report of the Integrated Strategic Environmental Assessment (ISEA) of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka published in the year 2014 by the Central Environmental Authority and the Disaster Management Centre of Sri Lanka. The comments focused on the fact that the report only includes protected areas declared up to 2010, and has failed to make allowances and recommendations for gazetted protected areas
The Knuckles Conservation Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage site and due to its diverse natural vegetation, which includes lowland rainforests and montane forests, the records a very high and unique level of biodiversity. It contains charismatic species such as the Knuckles pygmy lizard, Knuckles rock frog, leopards, and elephants. Despite its importance, vital areas of the Knuckles Region have become degraded due to human activities such as encroachment, illegal logging, land clearing, tea planting and cardamom cultivation. The buffer
[mk_button dimension=”two” corner_style=”rounded” size=”large” url=”https://efl.lk/v2/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/efl_wilpattu-deforestation_sinhala.pdf” target=”_blank”]View Sinhala Press Release[/mk_button] Environmental Foundation (Guarantee) Limited together with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society filed a Fundamental Rights application in the Supreme Court (SC (Ref) No. 130/2017- pending support) objecting to the illegal clearing of Reserved Forests in the Wilpattu Forest Complex, on the 31st of March 2017. The respondents for the case include, among others, the Forest Department, Central Environmental Authority, Department of Wildlife Conservation, and the District Secretariat of Mannar. The grievances
