Sri Lanka among three countries with a forest population of 30% – COPA told

The Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) was informed that Sri Lanka is among three countries in the world where the population density is more than 300 per sq.km and the forest population is maintained at 30%. The other two countries being South Korea and Japan, that maintain such a forest system, Forest Conservation Department (FCD) officials said.

This was revealed when the COPA met in Parliament under the Chairmanship of State Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna.

The FCD was summoned before COPA on July 25, to examine the Auditor General’s reports and its performance for 2020, 2021 and 2022. The percentage of forests in the countries of the world is considered to be 31% and it is commendable that the percentage of forests in Sri Lanka is at 30%, FCD officials said.

COPA questioned the officials as to why the entire forest system in Sri Lanka has not been gazetted. Officials stated that, as of 2018, about 1.4 million hectares of forests have been gazette, while about 256,000 hectares of forests have not been gazetted. Accordingly, the COPA Chair instructed to gazette the forests which are yet to be gazzeted, soon as possible, and to submit a report to COPA within two months, including the time taken to gazette, and which authority will be in charge of the forests after gazetting.

FCD Officials pointed out that the highest number of local and foreign tourists visiting the World Heritage Sinharaja Forest has been recorded this year. A total of more than 35,000 tourists visited the Sinharaja forest in the past few months. The COPA Chair directed the officials to enhance the necessary facilities for tourists, without damaging the forest.

Meanwhile, COPA questioned the officials regarding the FCD not maintaining a centralized data system at the head office, to provide information. FCD officials responded that the preliminary work had already been initiated. COPA Chair directed the officials to submit a report on the same.

Furthermore, the COPA was informed that effective internal control measures have not been established to recover the arrears of the FCD. The officials of the National Audit Office pointed out to the COPA that there are black stone quarries, small-scale hydroelectric power plants and transmission towers for shortfall income. According to this, the officials stated that black stone mining in Melasa exceeds the license granted by the FCD for black stone quarrying. The COPA Chair directed to provide only the required quantity of explosives , when contacting the relevant agencies to grant licenses for black stone quarrying. Furthermore, the officials pointed out that there is a large sum of money to be received from the telephone communication institutions for the provision of transmission towers. The COPA Chair directed the officials to recover all the arrears.

The COPA also gave instructions to pay more attention to the plant named Wallapatta, as its export has a high potential to earn foreign exchange. FCD officials informed the COPA that there is no Law banning the cultivation of Wallapatta plant. However, they pointed out that it is prohibited to remove these plants from forests, without fruit. The officials also pointed out that the imported plant called Aquilaria, which has the same characteristics as the Wallapatta plant, is already being cultivated in Sri Lanka, and that it is not easy to distinguish between Wallapatta and Aquilaria plants. Due to the difficulty in identification, poachers are advertising Wallapatta plants cut from the forests, as plants obtained from private plantations. To avoid this situation, FCD officials informed the COPA that a scientific method is being worked upon to differentiate the two types of plants.

State Minister Prasanna Ranaweera, MP Madhura Withanage, Dr. Upul Galappaththi and Isuru Dodangoda, and a group of officials were present at this Committee meeting held.

The post Sri Lanka among three countries with a forest population of 30% – COPA told appeared first on DailyNews.