Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 16
Managing Arid Areas and Sand Dunes
in Sri Lanka
R.P.M. Weerasinghe
Synopsis
This chapter analyzes the land degradation situation in Sri Lanka. It
reviews the principal causes of land degradation and the response of government.
These responses include legislative reform, administrative and institutional restruc-
turing and implementation of projects to rehabilitate degraded lands.
Key Points
•
Sri Lanka was once a heavily forested island. Over the past century its closed
canopy forest cover has dwindled rapidly to less than 23 %. In the 1900s it was
reported that the forest cover is near 90 % of the total land. Historically, much of
the loss was attributed to creation of plantations of tea, rubber, coconut and other
crops during colonial times. Recently, settlement schemes to provide livelihood
of landless poor, slash and burn for agriculture, encroachment for cultivation,
village expansion due to population growth, forest fire and other development
activities have contributed to the decline of the island's natural forest cover.
Deforestation on steep slopes of watersheds and removal of grass and other
protective cover both in the wet zone and in the
slash and burn
cultivation areas
of the dry zone leads to severe soil erosion.
•
Growing pressure is being placed by people on the land resources. This has
caused increasing land degradation which remains a critical constraint on
sustainable development of the land resources of the country The man:land
ratio is about 0.36 ha, though net per caput land availability is only about
0.15 ha. The remaining 0.21 ha per person is not readily available, because it is
either designated for conservation or has topographical or ecological constraints.
Approximately 35 % of the country is under agricultural usage and about 31 %
Search WWH ::
Custom Search