Lanka Nature Conservationists

11/06/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DQEhNi85C/

A devastating report reveals that Earth lost half of its wild animal populations in just 40 years, driven by unsustainable human consumption and habitat destruction.

A critical report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Zoological Society of London has delivered a stark wake-up call, revealing that global wildlife populations plummeted by 50% between 1970 and 2010.

By tracking 10,000 distinct populations across 3,000 species, researchers created the Living Planet Index to measure the catastrophic scale of human impact on the natural world.

Freshwater ecosystems suffered the most devastating blow, with animal numbers crashing by 75% due to severe pollution, excessive water extraction, and river fragmentation by dams. Land and marine species have fared similarly poorly, with both groups seeing their populations tumble by 40% as habitats are cleared and species are overexploited for food.

The biodiversity crisis is fundamentally fueled by humanity's swelling ecological footprint, with global consumption rates requiring 1.5 Earths to sustainably support our current lifestyle.

However, this resource strain is heavily skewed; the report highlights that it would take four planet Earths to sustain the average consumption level of a United States resident, and 2.5 Earths for the United Kingdom [1]. While wealthier countries may point to local conservation gains, researchers warn they are simply outsourcing ecological damage by importing goods tied to deforestation and habitat loss in developing nations.

To curb this decline, experts insist on an immediate global pivot toward sustainable food production, resource equity, and aggressive habitat protection.

source: Carrington, D. ( September 30). Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF. The Guardian

07/06/2026

Lanka Nature Conservationists Newsletter "සොබා අරණ"
June 2026 - Issue 5

16/05/2026

In 1885, in a journal called the ‘The Taprobanian,’ Hugh Nevil first described the ‘Nittaewo’ (නිට්‌ටෑවෝ) of Sri Lanka. Of course, he had never actually seen them. Nevil first heard about the ‘Nittaewo’ from Mudliyar De Zylva of Batticoloa, who claimed they were gorilla-like men, who walked upright, and lived at Lenama (a location inside Kumana). Nevil went so far as to visit Lenama to investigate this story. There, he interviewed several Veddas. According to the latter, the ‘Nittaewo’ were a “cruel and savage race of men,” who were always in conflict with Veddas.

As per the legend, the Veddas drove the ‘Nittaewo’ into a cave and set a fire outside. Supposedly, the fire lasted for 3 days and by then, the ‘Nittaewo’ were extinguished. Nevil, who visited Lenama in the 1880s, claimed one cave at ‘Bambara Gala’ (Bambaragastalawa?) “would perfectly answer for the occurrence.” Indeed, there is a cave at Bambaragastalawa called ‘Ahas Lena’ (අහස් ලේන), which some believe was where the ‘Nittaewo’ were exterminated.

In 1914, when planter Frederick Lewis visited the Panama region, he too heard about the ‘Nittaewo.’ Lewis confirmed the story from at least four sources, one – called ‘Disan Hamy’ – stated that his grandfather, who was a Vedda, participated in the destruction of the ‘Nittaewo.’ The general description of the ‘Nittaewo’ were that they were about 3 feet tall, hairy, with long nails used to eviscerate animals.

Nevil claims that before the ‘Nittaewo,’ another race called the ‘Kanpottas’ (කන්පොත්තා) also lived at Lenama. But is there evidence? So far, there’s –

*A cave at Bambaragastalawa, which may have been where the ‘Nittaewo’ were killed
*An ‘altar’ discovered by A.T. Rambukwelle in 1963
*A plastered building with 3-foot-tall doorways at Bambaragastalawa

However, none of the above are conclusive.

12/05/2026

LNC had our latest Environmental Task Force (ETF) activity in Nallathanni, where young volunteers together with their mentors, took part in planting saplings hoping to help Earth recover, and make a better environment and a healthy ecosystem for wildlife and humans - to live and share our planet in harmony.

07/05/2026

07/05/2026

07/05/2026

නාකොළගනේ නඩු තීන්දුව 06.05.2026 (අද)
ප්‍රධාන කරුණු සහ නියෝග
• ඉඩම් අවභාවිතය සහ නීතිමය පියවර: බෞද්ධ කටයුතු කොමසාරිස්වරයාට නියෝග කර ඇත්තේ විහාර දේවාලගම් පනත යටතේ අදාළ විහාරාධිපති හිමියන්ට එරෙහිව නීතිමය පියවර ගන්නා ලෙසත්, බැහැර කරන ලද ඉඩම් නැවත ශාසනයට පවරා ගන්නා ලෙසත්ය.
• විශේෂ ඒකකයක් පිහිටුවීම: නඩු තීන්දුව ක්‍රියාත්මක කිරීම අධීක්ෂණය කිරීම සඳහා ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ නියෝජ්‍ය සොලිසිටර් ජනරාල්වරයෙකුගේ ප්‍රධානත්වයෙන් විශේෂ ඒකකයක් පිහිටුවීමට නීතිපතිවරයාට නියෝග කරන ලදී.
• අලි කළමනාකරණ රක්ෂිත ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කිරීම: මිනින්දෝරු දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවේ පිඹුරුවල දැක්වෙන වනාන්තර සහ කුඹුරු හෙක්ටයාර 55ක ප්‍රමාණය අලි කළමනාකරණ රක්ෂිතයක් හෝ සංරක්ෂණ ප්‍රදේශයක් ලෙස නම් කිරීමට වනජීවී අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල්වරයාට නියෝග කරන ලදී.
• නීති විරෝධී ඉදිකිරීම් ඉවත් කිරීම: ප්‍රදේශයේ ඇති නීති විරෝධී අලි වැටවල් සහ ඉදිකිරීම් වහාම ඉවත් කිරීමට වනජීවී දෙපාර්තමේන්තුවට බලතල ලබා දී ඇත.
• ප්‍රතිවන වගාව: විනාශ වූ වනාන්තර ප්‍රදේශය අදාළ විහාරාධිපති හිමියන්ගේ පෞද්ගලික වියදමින් නැවත වගා කිරීමට පියවර ගන්නා ලෙස වනජීවී අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල්වරයාට දන්වා ඇත.
• අපරාධ වැරදි සම්බන්ධ පරීක්ෂණ: නඩුවේ සඳහන් අපරාධ වැරදි සම්බන්ධයෙන් පොලිසියට පැමිණිලි කිරීමට පෙත්සම්කරුවන්ට මාසයක කාලයක් ලබා දී ඇති අතර, ඒ පිළිබඳව වහාම පරීක්ෂණ පවත්වා වැරදිකරුවන්ට දඬුවම් කරන ලෙස පොලිස්පතිවරයාට නියෝග කර ඇත.
• ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ සමාව අයැදීම: වනජීවී අධ්‍යක්ෂ ජනරාල්, මධ්‍යම පරිසර අධිකාරිය සහ වයඹ පළාත් පරිසර අධිකාරිය යන ආයතන තම රාජකාරි පැහැර හැරීම සම්බන්ධයෙන් භාෂා තුනෙන්ම පුවත්පත් දැන්වීම් පළ කරමින් ප්‍රසිද්ධියේ කනගාටුව පළ කළ යුතුය. මෙවැනි සිදුවීම් නැවත සිදුනොවීම සඳහා ඔවුන් විසින් ගන්නා පියවරයන් ද මෙම දැන්වීම් තුලින් ප්‍රසිද්ධයට පත්කරන ලෙස නියෝගකර ඇත.

මෙම නඩු තීන්දුව ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණ විනිසුරුවරුන් වන ජනක් ද සිල්වා, ප්‍රියන්ත ප්‍රනාන්දු සහ ආචාර්ය සෝභිත රාජකරුණා යන විනිසුරු මඩුල්ල විසින් ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කරන ලදී.
වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණය සහ රාජ්‍ය නිලධාරීන්ගේ වගකීම් සහගතභාවය සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙය ඉතා වැදගත් සන්ධිස්ථානයක් ලෙස සැලකේ.

07/05/2026

Supreme Court Delivers Historic Victory for Environmental Justice: Forest Destruction in Nakolagane Declared a Violation of Fundamental Rights
COLOMBO – In a landmark judgment delivered today, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ruled that the large-scale deforestation and unauthorized activities in the Nakolagane area constitute a significant violation of the fundamental rights of the public. The court addressed SCFR Application No. 351/2022, filed by the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), concerning the illegal clearing of approximately 1,500 acres of forest near the Nakolagane Purana Rajamaha Viharaya.
Judgment Findings
The bench, comprising Hon. Janak De Silva, J., Hon. K. Priyantha Fernando, J., and Hon. Dr. Sobhitha Rajakaruna, J., held that the failure of state authorities to prevent environmental destruction violated Article 12(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees equal protection of the law—including the right to a clean and healthy environment.
The court rejected the 10th Respondent’s (the Viharadhipathi) claim that the land was "private property" held under a royal "Sannasa". The judgment clarified that temple property is held in trust for the public and the Buddha Sasana, and its custodians are bound by the National Environmental Act (NEA) and the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO).
Key Judicial Mandates and Reliefs
The Supreme Court issued several rigorous directives to restore the ecosystem and ensure accountability:
• Sanctuary Declaration: The Director General of Wildlife Conservation (1st Respondent) is directed to recommend the declaration of the identified forest areas and 55 hectares of cleared land as a Sanctuary or Managed Elephant Reserve.
• Polluter Pays Principle: The 10th Respondent (Viharadhipathi) is ordered to bear the full cost of reforestation and restoring the cleared areas to their original state.
• Public Apology: In a rare move, the Director General of Wildlife, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA), and the North Western Provincial Environmental Authority are ordered to publish a formal apology in national newspapers for failing to discharge their statutory duties.
• Recovery of Temple Lands: The Commissioner of Buddhist Affairs must initiate legal proceedings to set aside any illegal sales or leases of temple land and restore possession for the benefit of the temple.
• Criminal Accountability: The Inspector General of Police (IGP) is directed to expeditiously investigate the criminal acts associated with the forest clearing and prosecute the offenders.
• Dedicated Legal Unit: The Attorney General is directed to establish a dedicated unit to provide legal advice to state agencies to ensure strict compliance with this judgment.
A Precedent for Environmental Stewardship
The Court emphasized that Article 28(f) of the Constitution imposes a duty on every person in Sri Lanka to protect nature and conserve its riches. This judgment serves as a stern warning to both state and non-state actors that the misinterpretation of proprietary rights cannot be used as a shield for environmental degradation.
The CEJ welcomes this decision as a vital step in mitigating the human-elephant conflict and preserving the critical catchment areas of the Palukadawala tank.

For Media Inquiries:
Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ)
No. 20A, Kuruppu Road, Colombo 08
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.cej.lk

19/04/2026

Many animals can hear sounds that humans are completely unable to detect, giving them a major survival advantage in their environments.
Bats and dolphins use echolocation, emitting high-frequency sounds and interpreting the echoes to navigate and hunt with extreme precision.
Elephants communicate using low-frequency infrasound that can travel for kilometers, allowing them to stay connected over vast distances.
Moths, on the other hand, have evolved the ability to detect ultrasonic calls from bats, helping them avoid predators mid-flight.
These remarkable adaptations highlight how diverse and specialized hearing can be across species.

Source: National Geographic.

19/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E4XFwkS3J/

The Sri Lankan Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) was greatly persecuted during British colonial rule. In the early 19thcentury, this majestic cat was declared a ‘vermin.’ After it was labeled an indiscriminate ‘killer’ of the same animals that British ‘sportsmen’ hunted, the latter wasted no time destroying them. Samuel Baker stated in his book (“8 Years in Ceylon”) that “their [the leopard’s] destruction should be encouraged by a Government reward of one pound per head, in which case their number would be materially decreased in a few years.”

In “Hunting & Shooting in Ceylon” (1907), Harry Storey claimed that in some districts, 5 rupees per head was paid to anyone who killed a leopard. Yet few natives pursued the offer – not out of compassion, but because they had to deliver the leopard’s skin. Whereas, they’d sell the skin for more money elsewhere.

In “For the Leopard” (2002), the authors say that from 1872 to 1899, 8473 leopards were slaughtered in all districts in Sri Lanka! In comparison, only 700 to 1000 Sri Lankan leopards remain today. But the persecution of leopards continued well after independence.

In rural areas, ‘trouble leopards’ (including those that targeted livestock) were killed by poison, or even starvation. Later, the leopard skin was sold. One such incident was reported in the “Observer” (October 9th, 1964), where a man caught a leopard (a cattle-killer) at Punanai with a trap cage. It was the 7th leopard captured by the man, who either poisoned or starved them to death. Likewise, he’d later sell the skin.

The Sri Lankan Leopard faces countless challenges today (habitat loss, poaching, snaring etc.) so it’s imperative that past mistakes are not repeated.

Sources –

“8 Years in Ceylon” (1874) by Samuel Baker
“Hunting & Shooting in Ceylon” (1907) by Harry Storey
“For the Leopard” (2002) by Rukshan Jayewardene et al.
“What is Needed to Keep Sri Lanka’s Leopards Roaming Free?” by Jagath Gunawardana/Mongabay