Managing Arid Areas and Sand Dunes in Sri Lanka - Combating Desertification in Asia, Africa and the Middle East - page 324

5.1 Response by Government

The concern of the Government regarding this problem is reflected in policy
initiatives taken, enactment of legislation, the formulation of plans and strategies
and the establishment of institutions to arrest soil erosion. The approach to soil
conservation is evidenced in the policies spelt out for management of natural
resources in the National Land Use Policy, Forestry Sector Master Plan and the
Agricultural policy.
There are several main agencies involved in dealing with land related issues in
Sri Lanka and their mandates overlap to a certain extent (see Box 16.1 ).
Land degradation is one of the most acute problems with it being manifested
in the following manner: decline of arable land, decrease in land fertility and
agricultural productivity, loss of irrigation and hydropower generation capacity
due to silting of reservoirs and tanks, floods, and landslides. Biodiversity is being
increasingly eroded as a result of excessive habitat fragmentation and destruction of
ecosystems due to deforestation, filling of wetlands, over exploitation of biological
resources such as timber for commercial purposes, destruction of coral reefs, and
the pollution of inland and coastal waters.
Soil Conservation Act of Sri Lanka first came into effect in 1951 as Act No.
25 with the objective of conserving soil resource, prevention or mitigation of soil
erosion and protection of land against floods and droughts. It was amended in
1996 by Soil Conservation (Amendment) Act No. 24 of 1996 to include wider
scope thus addressing land degradation as well. The Department of Agriculture has
been the implementing agency for the Soil Conservation Act from its inception.
Lack of adequate institutional backing for effective implementation have been a
problem until recent times. The Soil Conservation Act of 1951 was subsumed by
new arrangements following the report of the Presidential commission.
The task force appointed by the President of Sri Lanka in 1982 formulated a
national conservation strategy that incorporated the conservation o f land and soil.
It recommended that the earlier Soil Conservation Act be replaced by a more com-
prehensive Land Use , Soil and Water Conservation Act . It has also recommended
the establishment of soil conservation units in other agencies involved with the
development and use of land and the importance of incorporating the topic of soil
conservation into school curricula. Among NGOs, the Soil Conservation Society
was formed to promote the message of soil conservation to the general public.
The Central Environmental Authority, along with the formulation of an action plan
for the implementation of the recommendations made in the conservation strategy,
actively participates in a variety of conservation programs.
A concerted effort is now being made to formulate land use policies and a
land use plan. Many organizations in Sri Lanka are responsible for guiding land
use related enterprises. The major responsibility lies with the Ministry of Lands,
Irrigation and Mahaweli Development, which includes decisions on state lands not
already allocated to other institutions. The Land Commission, Forest Department,
Department of Wildlife, and Irrigation Department are the major departments under
this ministry dealing with land matters. The Soil Conservation Division of the