{"id":113210,"date":"2021-04-03T23:05:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T05:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=113210"},"modified":"2021-04-03T16:00:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-03T23:00:02","slug":"human-rights-and-ecological-crisis-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/04\/03\/human-rights-and-ecological-crisis-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018HUMAN RIGHTS\u2019 AND ECOLOGICAL CRISIS IN SRI LANKA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prof. Asoka Bandarage<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The recent UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution A\/HRC\/46\/L.1\/Rev.1<\/a>\nof March 16 has brought extensive charges against Sri Lanka over alleged human\nrights violations, but is arguably seriously\nflawed<\/a>. Opportunistic and strategic use of\nhuman rights by the western powers to maintain hegemony continually ignore violations\nof the rights of nature and humanity rooted in the destructive model of\neconomic development the same powers introduced to the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Historical Background <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Ancient Sri Lanka was known for its\nBuddhist eco-centric approach to life. The origin of the contemporary ecological\nand social crisis can be traced to the colonial period<\/a>\nand the incorporation of the country into the global capitalist economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vast tracts of forest were cut to\nestablish mono-cultural coffee, tea and rubber plantations and local people\nlost rights to ancestral lands and resources. Deforestation<\/a>\ndestroyed water resources that irrigated the rivers leaving village tanks\ndry. Multi-crop subsistence agriculture was undermined, leaving people to\nbecome dependent on imported food supplies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s forest cover declined<\/a>\nfrom 84% in 1881 to 70% in 1900 and to around 50% in 1948, when the British\nleft. Deforestation and plantation development laid the basis for land erosion\nand loss of animal habitats and biodiversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origin of the current human- elephant conflict<\/a>\nis attributed to deforestation starting in the British era, along with the\nwidespread colonial practice of killing animals for sport and trade. The\nrevered elephant was declared a pest and a reward of a few shillings was given\nfor the head of an elephant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the introduction of the Open\nEconomy<\/a> in 1977, Sri Lanka became subjected\nto neo-liberal policies such as privatization and structural adjustment,\nlargely as conditions to loans from the World Bank and the IMF. The massive Mahawaeli River Development Program of\nthis period provided access to land for the poor and a significant increase in\nthe country’s food production and power resources. However, the construction of\ndams and irrigation networks, roads, and similar infrastructure also radically\naltered soil and water systems including degradation of watershed conditions and\nloss of wildlife habitat and populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A related agricultural reform began in the\n1960s (the Green Revolution\u201d), with a campaign to promote the use of agrochemicals\nand transgenic crop varieties, resulting in the loss of original indigenous seed\nvarieties. The Mahaweli program and irrigation have supplied the water for most\nof the rice cultivation in the North Central Province. This area \u00adis also \u2013\nlikely not coincidentally \u00ad<\/sub>\u2013  the\nsite of the nation\u2019s highest incidence of chronic\nkidney disease<\/a> among poor farming\ncommunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Realities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The rich industrialized countries in the Global North<\/a>\nare responsible for nearly 80% of historical global carbon emissions. Yet poor\ncountries in the global South, such as Sri Lanka \u00ad\u2013 whose carbon footprint is\nnegligible \u2013 are the greatest victims of climate disasters. The current and\nlooming impact of climate change on Sri Lanka is massive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n