Summary Report

DRIVERS OF

DEFORESTATION AND

FOREST DEGRADATION

IN SRI LANKA:

IDENTIFICATION OF KEY

POLICIES AND MEASURES

Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme

April 2015

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Photo

Background Deforestation and degradation of forests jointly contribute to climate change, leading to Global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. To address this climate challenge, the UN has initiated an international mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation of forests (REDD+) which focuses on five activities:

a. Reducing emissions from deforestation; (RED)

b. Reducing emissions from forest degradation; (the second ‘D’)

c. Conservation of forest carbon stocks; (included in the ‘+’)

d. Sustainable management of forests; (included in the ‘+’)

e. Enhancement of forest carbon stocks; (included in the ‘+’)

To prepare a National REDD+ strategy for Sri Lanka, one of the earliest steps is to identify the major drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in the country. Such a study will also identify key policies and measures to control the major drivers and to further conserve, sustainably manage and increase forest carbon stocks. Definitions: Deforestation is the conversion of forest to another land use type which is mainly a result of human activities. In contrast, forest degradation leads to deterioration of the standing vegetation in density, structure and species composition due to human activities and natural causes. It may involve opening of the canopy, modification of the vertical structure, habitat parameters or change of other attributes. Forest degradation does not necessarily involve a reduction of the forest area, instead leads to the decline of the quality of forests. Together, deforestation and forest degradation reduce the area, quality and quantity of vegetation cover and alter the spatial structure of landscape through the process of fragmentation. Questions: This study was structured around finding answers to the following key questions:

1. What are the major drivers of deforestation and forest degradation? 2. What are the underlying socioeconomic and political factors that create and catalyze the

drivers? 3. Which drivers are more destructive compared to others? 4. How the drivers are spatially distributed around the country? 5. How effective are the current laws and policies in controlling the drivers and the

underlying factors? 6. Which drivers can we control and what are the policies and measures we could

implement in the context of REDD+, to reduce emissions by (1) preserving forests to act as carbon sinks and (2) to avoid emissions produced by deforestation?

Conceptual model of the study: The study views deforestation and degradation as a result of a continuous process (deforestation/degradation process) that has driving forces (drivers and catalysts) and restraining forces (inhibitors). Drivers include underlying drivers and major (proximate) drivers. Catalysts are factors that accelerate impacts of drivers whereas preventive forces

(inhibitors) decelerate the impacts of drivers. Deforestation and degradation of forests are outcomes result from interaction of these forces.

The findings are described below.

Three main historical drivers (1800 -1985) Pre-independence era 1800 - 1945: In the early 1800s, there was 70% forest cover in the country a two dominant drivers have been identified for this period.

1. Growth of export plantation economy: During the British colonial period the major

driver was plantation agricultural crops, coffee, tea and rubber that cleared forests in the wet, intermediate, montane and sub-montane zone forests. Large swathes of land were acquired by British rulers through the Crown Lands Encroachment Ordinance (1840) denying the local populations’ traditional customary rights. This created heavy pressure of landlessness among upcountry peasant population.

2. Commercial timber extraction policy: Colonial rulers practiced selective felling of valuable timber species especially in the lowland dry zone that led to degradation of forests throughout the country.

Post-independence era 1948 -1985: 3. Land settlement and irrigation development in the dry zone: Increased landlessness

among peasant population in the wet zone and negligence of food crops production by colonial rulers led to policies for providing lands to the growing peasant population and for achieving the goal of self-sufficiency in food production. This resulted in large-scale conversion of forested state lands in the dry zone under several land settlement and irrigation development schemes. The wave of deforestation associated with this process lasted the second half of the twentieth century. During the five decades period of 1935-1985, the process started with the restoration of ancient tank system by the Irrigation Department. Large-scale river diversion schemes such as Gal Oya, Uda Walawe and Mahaweli which had dual goals of irrigation and hydro-power generation were implemented later on. From 1970s onwards the government directed its attention primarily to the Mahaweli Development Master Plan—a mega project, subsequent accelerated Mahaweli development project (AMDP) where the original 30 year plan was collapsed into a six years. The plan envisaged providing irrigation facilities to 364,230 ha (including new lands) and installation of 507 MW of hydropower.

Box 1 Current extent of forest lands and non-forest tree cover: The study established the following:

32% forest cover 2.1 million ha

31.3 % natural forest 2.04 million ha

o 23.9% closed canopy natural forest 1.5 million ha

0.7% forest plantations 0.07 million ha

13% tree crop home gardens 0.85 million ha

8% coconut and rubber 0.52 million ha

Four major current drivers (1992 to date) This period coincided with the third and final stage of the deforestation associated with land settlement and irrigation development. The current drivers of deforestation and forest degradation differs from those of the past, in that it is a result of four major ongoing parallel processes. These are deforestation due to:

1. Encroachments 2. Infrastructure development projects 3. Private agriculture ventures

Forest degradation due to: 4. Several localized drivers.

Further analysis of these four current drivers are listed in Box 2.

Underlying drivers The drivers are put in motion by several underlying forces. For instance:

Encroachments are due to demand for residential lands, global demand for export crops

(e.g. tea) and local demand for field crops.

Land for infrastructure development is fuelled by the demand for modern services in the

form of urban centers, energy, roads, highways etc.

Private agriculture ventures are the result of export and local demand for products such as

cashew, banana and sugar cane. The last is a government policy to reduce import costs of

sugar.

A host of localized demands and reasons are responsible for forest degradation, among

which the demand for timber and wood products for household, industrial and

infrastructure needs has the biggest impact.

Box 2: Current drivers of deforestation in Sri Lanka Encroachments due to:

o Agriculture

Commercial rainfed highland agriculture

Small-holder plantations in the low country wet zone

­ Maize cultivation has become the dominant activity in Chena in Anuradhapura

­ Overall, traditional agricultural patterns are changing and high market prices

were observed for maize, legumes and vegetables

­ Encroachment of forest lands in wet zone districts of Kalutara and Ratnapura

areas are connected mainly to tea cultivation and to rubber, cinnamon and

cardamom to a limited degree. The encroachments have continued in response

to high international market prices for tea, rubber, cinnamon and cardamom

o Settlement

o Gem mining

Infrastructure development projects: Demand for land for the government initiated major overhauling of the country’s infrastructure under the National Physical Planning Policy & Plan

o Irrigation development projects o Re-settlement o Roads and highways o Harbors, airports o Tourism o Power generation

Transmission lines Major hydro power generation projects Mini hydro power projects

Commercial agriculture ventures o Large private agriculture ventures are responsible for significant deforestation.

Among the major crops involved in such agriculture ventures are sugar cane, cashew

and banana. Deforestation associated with a large-scale banana plantation has

attracted strong protests from conservationists, few years

Localized drivers of forest degradation: o Felling – illicit or otherwise

o Cardamom cultivation

o Firewood collection

o Non-timber forest product gathering

o Cattle grazing

o Forest fires

o Gem mining and Quarrying

Seven catalysts Certain social and economic factors have accelerated the effect of ongoing drivers. These are:

1 Permissive government policies in land sector: e.g. regularization of encroachments 2 Weak enforcement and monitoring capability 3 Poor coordination among agencies 4 Political interference 5 Population growth 6 Technological modernization 7 Commercialization of rural economies

Combinations of catalysts influence each driver. For instance all 7 have an effect on encroachments, while all drivers are affected by population growth and political interference. The major drivers the corresponding underlying forces and catalysts are summarized in Figure 1 and Table 2.

Encroachments

Infrastructure development projects

Many Local drivers

Population growth

Agricultural mechanization

Commercialization of rural economies

Agriculture ventures

Poor coordination

Land policy

Political interference

Fig. 1. The four current drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Sri Lanka and the six- socio economic forces that catalyze the drivers

Spatial distribution of drivers The pattern of deforestation is spatially scattered around the country (Fig. 2). The main characteristics are as follows:

The rate of deforestation (7,147 ha/year) has dropped significantly during the 1992-2010 period compared with the earlier rate reported in the period 1956-1984 (42,200 ha/year).

Deforestation takes place at a relatively higher rate in dry zone than wet zone even though the rate has dropped significantly in all districts.

Taken as a single district, in Anuradhapura where the forest cover change and the rate of deforestation is highest, deforestation is uniformly spread out over the district

In other districts, there are some concentrated patches or ‘hotspots’ of deforestation

e.g. Moneragala district has the second highest deforestation rate and hot spots are

located around joint borders with Badulla and Ampara districts and around the border

with Hambantota district.

Puttlam district on border of Matale and Anuradhapura districts

Kalutara and Ratnapura district border is only hotspot in the wet zone and is relatively minor in scale.

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Fig. 2. The difference in forest cover between 1992 and 2010 and the spatial distribution of deforestation showing that it is scattered throughout the country

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Seven preventive forces (Inhibitors)

While the factors that drive deforestation and forest degradation in Sri Lanka were described above, there are also factors that helped to reduce the rate of deforestation/degradation to some degree by acting as inhibitors. Among the factors that act as key inhibitors are:

1. Forest policy and protected area management

Forest related regulations and the network of protected areas under the purview of the

Forest Department and the Department of Wildlife Conservation are the most potent

inhibitors of deforestation/degradation of forests. The Sri Lanka’s protected areas

system is around 11.6% of the land area and is one of the most extensive in tropical

Asian countries. Table 1 shows a summary of the key policies and laws.

2. Environmental laws and regulations

The National Environment Act of 1980 is the core legislation exists for environmental protection in the country. It provides for the enactment of various regulations against development activities that are deemed to pose threats to the environment The EIA process deserves a special mention in its role as an inhibitor of deforestation and degradation

3. Home gardens

Home gardens are multiple use systems and fulfill a variety of household needs

including timber and wood requirements. According to FSMP, around 70 % of total

supply of construction and industrial wood come from non-forest sources and home

gardens play the major role here Due to their forest like structure they have been

valued for their ecosystem services. As far as deforestation and degradation of forests

are concerned they seem to act as a buffer zone located around the household—a

substitute forest—that reduce the dependency on natural forests.

4. Community dependence and customary rights

In Sri Lanka historical and recent evidence suggests that communities play a significant role as inhibitors when they depend on forest resources for their livelihoods.

5. Public pressure and awareness about environment and forests

Rising public awareness about environment and forests has definite inhibitory effect on deforestation and degradation of forests. Environmental activism and advocacy is on the rise and this aided by more accessible modern communication.

6. Migration for employment Migration for employment, especially for foreign

employment, has become a major driving force of the economy during the last 2-3 decades

7. Off-farm employment Expansion of commercial activities in rural areas increases off-

farm employment opportunities for rural youth. Both these factors (5&6) reduce pressures on encroachments and localized drivers of degradation.

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Table 1: Key policies and laws related to forestry and wildlife

Year Policy/Law Major provisions

1848 Timber ordinance No.24 Reservation of forests largely for timber production

1873 Adoption of climate Reserves

Protection of forests above 5000 feet as climate reserves

1885 Forest ordinance No.10 Protection of forests and their products including wildlife

1907 Forest Ordinance No. 16 (Amended by Act No.13 of 1966)

Protection of forests primarily for controlled timber production

1929 The first forest policy statement reservation of indigenous fauna and flora

1938 Addendum

Clearing of forests above 5000 feet prohibited

1937 Fauna and flora protection ordinance No.2

Amended act No. 44 of 1964

Amended act No. 1 of 1970

protection of wild life in natural reserves and sanctuaries

Nature reserves and jungle corridors incorporated into national

reserves Removal of controlled hunting

provision from the ordinance

1953 National forest policy

Re-stated in 1972 and 1980 and updated in 1995

Emphasis on conserving forests to preserve and ameliorate environment

and to protect flora and fauna for aesthetic, scientific, historical and

socio-economic reasons 1969 UNESCO Biological Programme and

1975UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme

Arboreta representative of the main bio-climatic zones established in forests

1988 National heritage wilderness areas act No.3

Protection of state lands having unique ecosystems, genetic resources or

outstanding natural features

1990 National policy for wild life conservation

Objectives include the maintenance of ecological processes and preservation

of genetic diversity, ex-situ conservation

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Public pressure & awareness

Environmental policy & laws

Community dependence

Forest- policy and protected area management

Home gardens

Migration for employment

Off-farm employment

Fig. 3 Forces that oppose deforestation and forest degradation in Sri Lanka and encourage conservation, sustainable management, increasing carbon stocks.

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Special case of forests in the north and east affected by the civil war

The forests of the former conflict affected areas in northern and eastern provinces is a special case

and the deforestation/degradation in that region cannot be fully accounted for by the drivers that

have operated in the rest of the country from 1980s onwards.

• Clearing areas for security reasons during the conflict.

• Post conflict period since 2009 government sponsored efforts to normalize the area has

caused deforestation

Resettlement schemes of displaced people

Accelerated infrastructure development activities

Rehabilitation of roads, towns and the railway network have been launched at an

accelerated pace.

Forest degradation due to demands of infrastructure activities -extraction of sand, gravel

and stones.

Illegal felling of trees also has increased due to accessibility to forest areas.

Large-scale forest clearing is taking place in some areas due to unplanned development

activities (e.g. resettlement in Wilpattu forest)

Some areas under dense forest in Kulamurippu, Chamalkulam and Nagacholai forest

reserves have recently been cleared for development activities

Encroachers have already settled in dense natural forests in either sides of Paranthan to

Mankulam and Mankulam to Mullaithivu roads.

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Table 2 : Summary of current drivers of deforestation and inhibitors Type of damage

Major drivers Underlying forces Catalysts Preventive forces

D e forestation

Encroachments Demand for residential lands Global demand for export crops (e.g. tea) Global demand for aquaculture products (e.g. shrimp) Local demand for other field crops (e.g. maize, vegetable Other purposes (e.g. gem mining)

Permissive land laws and policies Political interference Limitations of monitoring capacity Poor coordination among agencies Population growth Commercialization of rural economies Mechanization of agricultural technologies

Forest policies and protected area management Internal and external migration of rural labour force Home gardens Off-farm employment Community dependence and customary rights

Development projects

Demand for land in projects on following areas/sectors Irrigation development Urban development Energy (hydropower) Resettlement Tourism Livelihood development Roads and highways Airports, harbours High voltage transmission lines

Population growth Poor coordination among agencies Political interference

Environmental laws and regulation Forest policies and protected area management Public pressure and awareness

Private agriculture ventures

Export and local demand for horticultural products (e.g. cashew, banana) Policy objective of reducing import costs by substituting sugar imports

Political interference Poor coordination among agencies Population growth Mechanization of agricultural technologies

Environmental laws and regulation Forest policies and protected area management Public pressure and awareness

Degradation of forests

Illicit felling Local demand for timber and wood products in Household Industrial Infrastructure

Limitations of monitoring capacity Political interference Population growth

Forest policies and protected area management Home gardens Migration Community dependence and customary rights

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Predicting future scenarios

To predict future scenarios for both deforestation and forest degradation and for controlling and possibly reversing them, the following government policies, plans and strategies were examined.

Proposed strategy to increase the forest cover in the country The government envisions increasing forest cover to 35% by 2020. The Forest department based on the Forestry Sector Master Plan (1995-2020) has formulated a proposal to increase the forest cover to reach this target. Two main strategies proposed to achieve this task are:

Protection and conservation of the remaining forest cover

Expansion of forest cover in to new areas

Protection and conservation of the remaining forest cover

Actions proposed to achieve this objective include:

Surveying and demarcation of boundaries of around 700,000 ha of forests under the

jurisdiction of the department (only about 100,000 remains to be demarcated at this point)

Prevention of encroachments: The following actions have been proposed to control

encroachments ( forest and wild life protection laws are listed in Table 1)

­ Strict enforcement of law

­ Introduction of alternative livelihood development strategies for poor and low

income farmers

­ Strengthening the continuous monitoring of forest boundaries

­ Reforestation of degraded lands.

Implementation of an integrated plan for prevention of forests fires with the participation of

all stake holders

Introduction of improved cattle grazing practices in order to prevent free range cattle in

forests with the collaboration of the Department of Animal Production and Health

Integrated planning to avoid deforestation and degradation of forests due to future

development projects

Making arrangements to protect non-state forests vested with the Land Reforms

Commission (LRC) and private individuals. Following measures have been proposed:

­ LRC lands with forests to be vested with the Forest Department

Incentives to private individuals to preserve forest in their lands

Expansion of forests into new areas

Reforestation of 80,000 ha by the FD through the facilitation of natural regeneration, direct

seeding, scattered planting, and block planting with local species

Providing degraded forest lands by the FD to facilitate the initiative by the Department of

Rubber Development to plant 40,000 ha of rubber plantations by 2019.

Convert 20,000 ha of underutilized private lands to forests by providing free technical advice

and free seedlings

Encourage Estate Sector to raise 25,000 ha of forest plantations utilizing a part of 60,000 ha

of marginal tea lands

Establish urban forests of 10,000 ha in collaboration with the Urban Development Authority

on road sides, stream banks, school premises, religious places and other government lands

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Proposed major policies and strategies which will increase deforestation Negative impacts are to be expected especially from policies for infrastructure development that will increase deforestation and will lead to conflicts with the existing protected area network. Some of the major plans are:

National Physical Planning Policy and Policy (2011-2030)

Long-term (Power) Generation Expansion Plan (2013-2032)

Tourism Development Strategy (2011-2016)

National Road Master Plan (2007-2017)

Proposed major development projects in the irrigation sector and agriculture ventures Over twenty projects and development activities that involve large-scale appropriations of land over 36, 000 ha of which 47 percent (17, 273 ha) come under agriculture ventures. In summary, large scale private agriculture ventures can be identified as a potent driver of deforestation that leads to large pockets of deforestation in the future.

Policies and measures (PAMs) that can reduce deforestation and degradation of forests

Deforestation and degradation of forests are complex problems that call for complex solutions. Given the scattered nature of current drivers of deforestation and degradation of forests, it is not possible to develop a uniform set of PAMs which can address all drivers and catalysts with the same level of efficiency. Therefore a strategy with multiple interventions is required. The policy rationale used in the study to identify specific interventions includes the following logical steps.

Removing or controlling drivers of deforestation

Removing or de-linking catalysts from drivers

Strengthening forces that oppose deforestation (inhibitors)

Adding new inhibitors or transforming the existing ones to be more effective

The underlying drivers of the deforestation process are broad socio-economic factors such as demand for food products, demand for export products etc. which are not possible to remove or manipulate through PAMs. The PAMs therefore focus on removing and controlling the major drivers only. Yet other underlying drivers, catalysts and inhibitors such as political interference, commercialization of rural economies, agricultural mechanization, population growth (catalysts) and migration for employment (inhibitor) are out of the practical range of applicability of PAMS considered here. Strengthening inhibitors which are already in operation is the most cost effective approach. The final PAMS recommended are based on the four major drivers, three catalysts and four inhibitors.

Table 3: Identification of PAMs

Desired direction of change Policies and measures (PAMs)

Harmonize the objectives of

development projects with

their environmental impacts,

Enhance the land use planning process by:

­ improving the current system through necessary capacity

building measures

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vis-à-vis deforestation and

degradation of forests

­ integrating land use planning into all levels of development

planning by means of policy

­ strengthening the coordination between existing LUP agencies

Identify and implement appropriate market-based instruments to

mitigate harmful effects of development projects on forest resources

­ Forest certification

­ Payment for ecosystem services

Strengthen the existing procedures of EIA by;

­ Developing the monitoring capacity

Introduce SEA as a mandatory process for large development projects

Control and reduce

deforestation and

degradation takes place

through

Develop a consistence policy towards encroachments by;

­ discontinuing the current practice of regularization of

encroachments

­ introducing measures for discouraging the practice

Introduce procedures and laws (if necessary) for speedy enforcement

against encroachments

Demarcate all existing forest lands and make necessary measures to

survey and lay the boundary demarcations

Control the effect of

localized drivers of

deforestation

Strengthen the monitoring and enforcement capacity of relevant

agencies, i.e. FD and DWC

Increase the public awareness

Orchestrate the community support through participatory

programmes

Improving the coordination

among agencies

Identification of all key agencies that have stakes in the deforestation

and degradation of in the country at the levels of national, provincial,

district and divisional levels

Establish a coordinating body on deforestation and degradation of

forests at the national level with participation of key national agencies

(e.g. FD, DWC, LUPPD)

Appoint district level cells of the coordinating body with the

participation of local level officers of national agencies and (e.g. DFOs

and RFOS, LUPOs) and relevant provincial and local government officers

Develop an efficient communication channels between the national

body and district level cells for speedy resolution of

deforestation/degradation issues

Strengthen the forest policy

and protected area

Review the existing forest policies and protected area management

tools with respect to the handling of:

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management ­ infrastructure development projects

­ encroachments

­ localized drivers of forest degradation

Identify the areas that needs improvements and weaknesses/loopholes

that need to covered

Introduce essential amendments improve the situation

Update existing institutional arrangements to handle the proposed

improvements

Improve the effectiveness of

home gardens as inhibitor of

deforestation/degradation

Develop home garden models suitable for deforestation hotspots and

take necessary measures to promote them through:

­ community participation programmes

­ coordination with existing livelihood development

programmes (e.g. Divi Neguma)

Managing deforestation ‘hot spots’

A mixed bundle of strategies :

­ Declaration for special area management

­ Surveying and demarcating boundaries of critical and sensitive areas

(SEA):

• E.g. critical watershed areas (tank catchments)

­ Participatory resource governance : co-management

• Participatory land use planning and zoning

• Strengthening the capacity of local communities

• Alternative livelihoods

­ Models of conservation oriented land uses

• Home (forest) garden models

• Conservation farming models

The study also undertook few carbon stocks assessments on lands outside the forestry sector. These

land use classes have been considered as positive towards reducing the impacts on the standing

forests and also absorb carbon. The three categories that have been identified and studied were

listed below;

(a) Formers wood lots

(b) Forest Plantations

(c) Home gardens

The Box 3 provide the data of the findings of the assessment carried out.

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Box 3. Estimation of Carbon stocks: Home gardens, Farmer’s Woodlots and Forest

plantations

Inhibitory measure Forest Carbon Intermediate and Dry Zone

Stocks Wet Zone

Farmers Woodlots Co management

2.38 tonnes C ha-1

year-1

2.68 tonnes C ha-1

year-1

Forest Plantations 1.72 tonnes C ha

-1

year-1

2.30 tonnes C ha-1

year-1

Home gardens: conservation oriented land use; has more continuous biomass removal

1.12 tonnes C ha-1

year-1

1.55 tonnes C ha-1

year-1

Carbon stocks = Live biomass (difference between carbon gain in annual growth and carbon

loss in biomass removal) + Soil carbon sequestration

All three measures show carbon stock increase.

Both home gardens and farmers woodlots could have an impact on decentralization of the

forest management activities to provincial levels and encourage better participation of

communities.

Forest plantations could facilitate the involvement of the private sector.

Reference: Drivers of Deforestation and forest degradation in Sri Lanka: Identification of key policies and

measures, Study report compiled by the Science and Technology Cell of the University of

Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Contacts:

Sri Lanka UN-REDD Programme

Project Management Unit

419/1, Pannipitiya Road, Pelawatta, Battaramulla,

Sri Lanka.

Tel: +94 11 2787532, +94 11 2786077, Fax: +94 11 2786255

Email: