Impact of Socioeconomic Factors and Environmental Changes on Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 358

Figure 15.6. Utilization of the sensitive hill slopes (Breuste 2010).
Cultivation and construction activities along hill slopes
The process of soil erosion in Sri Lanka began in the 19th century with the
expansion of human settlements and the cultivation of upland rain fed crops.
It was aggravated by the changes in land-use patterns during the British
administration. The upper catchment areas of major rivers are located in
the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka were stripped of natural vegetation to
make way for plantation agriculture such as coffee and tea. Land clearing
continued even after independence primarily for the establishment of human
settlements and for agriculture. During the past fi ve decades, land under
human settlements has doubled, while the land brought under crops other
than tea, rubber, coconut, and paddy has increased by 250% (Yogaratnam
2010). On the other hand, total land under forests and wildlife and nature
reserves has declined by 40%, while land taken up by tea plantations and
rubber has fallen by 35 and 25% respectively (Hewawasam 2010). In this
situation on-site soil loss rates, particularly in the upper catchment area
continue to be greater than soil replacement rates. Other causes are depletion
of soil nutrients, damage to physical and chemical properties of the soil, and
the reduction in the soils' capacity to retain moisture. Cropping patterns
are often inappropriate for soil and microclimatic conditions of the site;