Prioritising the environment

The Tourism Minister this week has been pushing to fast-track plans to bring in more tourist arrivals over the next three months. With the country now gradually opening up amidst a successful COVID vaccination drive, it’s natural that Sri Lanka will be eyeing more tourist arrivals – especially in terms of how it will undoubtedly help ease the country’s forex crisis.

However, in the rush to do this it’s vitally important that the Government not forget to actually look after the product they’re so keen to promote.

Most Sri Lankans remain intensely engaged around environmental degradation and continue to demand action from the highest officials in Government. It is clear from statements made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this year that the heated debate of environmental protection vs. development has reached the highest levels of Government, but the response has failed to impress key groups who regularly undertake social media campaigns and other forms of civil protest to demand substantial action. The push for environmental accountability is important for the Government on multiple fronts and has garnered the interest of stakeholders beyond traditional environmentalists.

One of the key reasons for this is because the President and the ‘Viyath Maga’ movement campaigned on a platform that included environmental protection. This was seen as a key pillar in the set of promises made during the campaign trail and one that many voters considered could be kept with relative ease. However, the handling of this issue by the Government since coming into power suggests that the deeper malady of inefficient governance is impacting issues around environment significantly, and policy makers seem unable or incapable of formulating a solution.

Degradation of the environment does not take place in a vacuum. There are many political, economic, social and cultural factors that contribute towards creating the ecosystems for destruction. Sri Lankan politicians, and even the private sector’s definition of environmental protection, and the public’s understanding of environmental conservation appear to be moving in opposite and opposing directions. This is made worse by the ingrained belief that politicians do a poor job of standing up for public interest and are more concerned about development at the cost of the environment.

The Government drew public ire earlier this year when plans were mooted to develop two reservoirs with Chinese involvement in the Sinharaja Forest, which is Sri Lanka’s only rainforest and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Activists roundly bashed the suggestion that reforesting a different area would balance out the loss caused in Sinharaja. This sort of thinking underscores the poor understanding and out-of-touch approach taken by politicians.

Interestingly, also this year, thousands of farmers in Hambantota and elsewhere drove the fight for the Government to declare a wildlife reserve for elephants, while simultaneously in Colombo, the youth were protesting and joining the ‘ecocide’ battle. This clearly indicates that environmental protection is cutting across class, race, religion and other demarcations, coalescing into a movement that is defying political denial and demanding to be heard.

The reality is that the emergence of environmental destruction as a deeply personal issue deserves credible attention by the Government, and it is crucial that with the potential future increase in tourism income, this is not overlooked.