‘New directive sidelining Forest Dept. will place 690,000ha of forest in jeopardy’

Environmentalists, scientists and animals lovers protest

by Ifham Nizam

Environmentalists, scientists and animals lovers warned that the removal of small fragmented forests from the jurisdiction of the Forest Department by amending circular 5/2005 will place 690,000 hectares of forest in jeopardy and destroy wildlife habitats.

Rally For Animal Rights & Environment (RARE) cautioned the move will not only wipe out animals but also destroy endangered and protected species.

The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) said it is disconcerted to note the downsizing of forest lands managed by Divisional Secretaries in terms of a circular issued by the Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation (rescinding previous circulars), which now authorizes the management of all other forest lands to the Conservator General of Forests.

The new directive permits the Conservator General of Forests to release lands for non-forest purposes, it said.

“The new circular has been issued without understanding the present laws, amendments, definitions and the mandate of the issuing officer,” a legal activist said.

Attorney–at-Law Ravindranath Dabare said under sections 1 and 2 of the circular MWFC/1/2020 issued by Bandula Harischandara, Secretary, Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, the subject matter is Residual Forest, which does not exist in Sri Lanka under the Forest Ordinance or other ordinances.

The term used here is misleading as the amended Forest Ordinance 65/2009 considers some forest areas as “any other forest” or “forest other than a Conservation Forest, Reserved Forest or Village Forest”, he noted.

Section 2 of the circular also refers to “residual forest”, which doesn’t come under any law, regulation or other constitutional provision etc. There are no such forests/land in Sri Lanka as all lands/forests come under the law of the land or departmental regulations in the country, he asserted.

The new circular will allow releasing forest lands for non-forest uses subject to selected ad-hoc guidelines, Dabare warned.

“As we understand, the definition “any other forest”, which are other than nature reserves and conservation forests will now come under the jurisdiction of the Forest Ordinance amendment No 65/2009. Although, the Secretary has the power to cancel the previous circulars, the new law does not provide provisions to release the “other forests” for intended purposes”, the lawyer further said.

The circular outlines that forest lands will be “used for economic or other productive uses”. This means converting forest into non-forest uses, he continued. He added that the type of forests which the Secretary is willing to dispose of under the requires an EIA under the National Environmental Act.

CEJ Executive Director, Hemantha Withanage told The Sunday Island: “It’s very sad to see government officers being directed to deregulate forests, which will result in mass forest grabbing and environmental destruction and disasters. We vehemently oppose this undemocratic move and demand the cancellation of the new circular and respect the existing Forest Act (as amended) and the National Environmental Act (as emended).”

He said under the previous Rajapaksa regime, the Forest Department worked towards a the target of increasing the forest cover of the country to 35 per cent from 24 percent at the time. The coverage was then increased to 29 percent adding plantations as forests. As achieving 35 per cent forest cover target was not easy, it was reduced to 32 per cent by the next government.

This target remains unchanged. It is obvious that other forests play a key role in increasing the forest cover in Sri Lanka. If not, the Forest Department will have to declare grass lands also as forests, he added.