Yala National Park being cleared for energy project by LOLC

Subject: FW: Yala National Park being cleared for energy project by LOLC
Did you enjoy your last trip to Yala? Do you wish for the park to remain a beautiful protected area?
If yes, read on and find out how one of Sri Lanka’s leading blue chip companies is clearing patches of OUR protected areas.
United Dendro Energy (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Lanka Orix Leasing Company (LOLC) is presently clearing jungles in the buffer zone of Yala National Park to plant 1500 ha of gliricidia for aDendro Power project.
Dendro Power is being sold by LOLC as ‘Green Energy’. Do you think energy is green just because it comes from plants?
Does it make sense to destroy vast acres of natural forest to grow gliricidia to generate power?
THIS PROJECT IS ILLEGAL as it violates section 23 of the National Environment Act.This project has already cleared a large extent for forest land and violated regulations on a number of NEA acts.

NEVER MIND WHO WHAT OR HOW THEY GOT THE PERMISSION TO DO THIS. WE NEED TO STOP THEM BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.
WHAT CAN YOU DO
- PASS THIS EMAIL AROUND, TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHAT IS HAPPENING
- WRITE TO THE PAPERS
- IF YOU KNOW ANYONE AT LOLC ASK THEM TO EXPLAIN HOW IT MAKES SENSE TO CLEAR FORESTS TO GENERATE GREEN ENERGY!
- TAKE PHOTOS WHEN YOU GO TO YALA AND SHARE THEM ON FACEBOOK
- SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN THE GOVERNMENT THAT IS WILLING TO SAVE OUR FORESTS

This is LOLC's reply


United Dendro Energy, a subsidiary in the LOLC Group, is involved in a Dendro power project ( creation of electricity using bio mass including fuel wood). The company has already entered in to a Power Purchase Agreement with the Ceylon Electricity Board to supply 10 megawatts of electricity to the national grid and has plans to expand this operation further. Besides the rate paid for a unit of electricity generated by the usage of waste, the Government has declared the second highest rate for Dendro power plants which is higher than the rate paid for such energy created by Hydro, wind ect in an effort to encourage Dendro power as these power plants more efficient than all other forms of creating electricity. The primary fuel wood to be used is Gliricedia which is commonly found throughout the country. The Government has declared Gliticedia to be the fourth crop of the country considering its benefit in enriching the quality of soli even in barren areas.

Without purchasing the required fuel wood for the power plants from third parties, which can lead to the felling of even the protected forest by many small time fuel wood providers the company decided to have its own plantation even though it is an expensive option.

The land concerned is located about 6 km from the Buffer zone of the Yala National park and not in the buffer zone as claimed in these scandalous emails which are now in circulation. The Forest Department has allocated 1,500 hectares of this land to be developed as a pasture land and initially granted 500 hectares to a Dairy Farmer Society (Magampura Kiri Govi Sanvidanaya) in 1999. The farmers did not have the means to do any development and had approached the company. Having considered the benefits to the company in being able to continuously harvest the branches of the Gliricedia to be used as fuel wood for the power plants it was decided to accept the request of the dairy farmers and proceed with the proposed project subject to obtaining express approval from the Forest Department as well as the conducting of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Other than the express approval of the Conservator of Forests the company also entered in to a Tri Partite agreement the Forest Department and the Dairy Farmer Association prior to proceeding with this project. The Forest Department was of the opinion that an EIA is not necessary. Despite this opinion the company submitted an application to the CEA to conduct and EIA and has now been informed that the Forest Department is not in favour of such an EIA. This is an unfortunate state of affairs as the conducting of an EIA would result in determining whether this project is in compliance with all the legal and environmental requirements.

The photos used in this malicious email are not of this project and are false. The company has given an undertaking that they will strictly follow all the legal requirements.

EFL ( an NGO) has filed a case against the Forest Department, Department of Wild Life Conservation, Central Environmental Authority, ect and the Company in the Supreme Court. In the circumstances we are not able express any opinions publicly but state only facts in response to these mails. We welcome this move and hope this matter will be resolved fast and that permission would be granted for an EIA to be conducted ASAP.

This same company has invested a large sum of money for a sustainable project to remove Prosophis ( an invasive plant) which is destroying the natural vegetation of the Bundala National Park. These invasive plants are also to be used as fuel wood for renewable energy projects including the Dendro Power Plants. Unlike most companies that clear small portions of this invasive pant as CSR exercise this project will actually result in the depletion of Prosphis from the park.

This malicious use of photos (probably form some other country) itself is proof that this is an exercise by parties with ulterior motives to sling mud at the company.

the first email have been doing the email circuit for some time. Though I would post it as well as the reply.

Before anyone say I must be having shares. Yes I do have shares in LOLC, but only 200 shares

Thanks. Sidath.. you pose really good JOURNALISM. We can go google map and check the location. it seems LOLC communique is correct. For Investors understanding the reality is more important. It will guide us to success investment and good sleep at night

EFA is an NGO funded by undisclosed agencies. There are many such NGOs interested in our Natural habitat.
If you analyze most of these investigations, work and allegations done by these people you can see most of the claims are exaggerated.
They highlight some true point or two and develop their story to make a bigger picture.

Actually I got some opportunities to chat with some of these people because I also worked for protection of our flora and fauna from school age as a member of Young Zoologists association.

I feel most of these recently emerged activists , their organizations and funding agencies have hidden agendas.

Some people are living with hatred to any kind of development in the country and some are talking nonsense without studying correct information.

One such fellow is working hard to protect Frogs. He is fighting with authorities to prohibit clearing of private lands many KMs outside the protected areas. His master in Norway has told him these frogs carry ‘to-be found’ chemicals and they can use them to produce future medicines. What happens is they give (invest) money to these NGOs to guard our lands for THEM. Actually this is a billion dollar business, much worth than dendro !.
NGO fellows are the "murakaarayas" of their future wealth in our lands.

Land Clearance in the Buffer Zone of Ruhunu National Park

Despite continuous public outcry about the deforestation and desecration of the nation’s national parks, some high handed corporates have turned a blind eye and deaf ear in pursuit of their own gains.
Bordering Sri Lanka’s Ruhunu National Park, huge bulldozers have cleared away almost 100 ha of scrub forest for a Gliricidia plantation project by United Dendro Energy (Pvt) Ltd (UDE), a subsidiary of Lanka Orix Leasing Company Ltd (LOLC). The total land area expected to be cleared is 1,500 ha which amounts to almost 10% of Yala National Park’s Block 1.

According to Vimukthi Weeratunga, Operations Director Environmental Foundation Limited, this area is contiguous with Yala National Park, Katagamuwa and Kataragama Sanctuaries as it forms an important buffer zone to these protected areas and reduces the negative impacts of humans on these areas as well as the negative impacts of wildlife on developed areas along the western border. “Scrub forests have been identified as one of the country’s major forest types by the Ministry of Environment and the Forest Department. Heavy destruction was very visible, as the site was being cleared by heavy machinery and earth moving equipment,” he averred.

Weeratunga added that this project has commenced without resorting to the due process under the National Environment Act (NEA) Part IV C. The NEA states that no prescribed project should commence without such approval. United Dendro Energy (Pvt) Ltd has already cleared a large extent of forest land and violated some regulations of the act (number 772/22) which have inter-alia stated that any project that involves the clearing of more than 1 hectare of forest land and plantation of any type exceeding 5 hectares needs to be approved through the process which is fully stated under Section 23 BB.

The Forest Ordinance (FO) clearly stipulates that no person shall cut or clear any forest for the purpose of cultivation and/or pasture land without a permit. Even so, the Forest Department cannot give permission for the clearing of such large areas of forest land, as it goes against their National Mandate. When contacted, Brindley de Zilva, Managing Director/CEO of Lanka ORIX Finance Company Ltd. stated, “One thing for sure is that the LOLC Group is not clearing ‘patches of our protected areas’ and/or ‘Jungles in the buffer Zone of Yala National Park’. This project is not illegal and has not violated any laws of the land.” He added, the land on which this project is undertaken had been allocated to the Magampura Kiri Govi Sanvidanaya in the 1990’s for the growing of pasture. The invasive Kalapu Andara has taken over this land and a lack of resources had prevented these poor farmers from achieving their objectives. UDE a subsidiary of LOLC has entered into an agreement with this Dairy Farmers Association to clear the land allocated to them, plant Gliricidia for UDE’s Dendro Project and in turn pasture could be grown for the cattle. “One should spare a thought for these farmers as well. They too have been living in these areas for generations and need support to climb the economic ladder. What other options would they have, chena cultivation?” he asked.

According to the Forest Department, this land was leased specifically for dairy farming and the cultivation of grass for their cattle. Subsequently, United Dendro Energy (Pvt) Ltd had come to an agreement with the dairy farmers and commenced the Gliricidia project. However, a source at the Forest Department states that the energy company has no authority to engage in any agreement with the dairy association as this is a forest land and there are no provisions for a third party involvement here. Despite these stipulations, the Association and the UDE have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Forest Department on January 28, 2011. The source went on to say that this MoU is invalid as it violates the original agreement.

An environmental conservationist attached to the EFL commented that lots of wildlife including herds of resident elephants are known to patronize this land for the katu-andara. “Very soon there is going to be another human-elephant showdown and we are going to lose another majestic animal,” she said bitterly.

4 resident herds

Gps locations from elephant collars show that they are in the area. Visit. Live. Meh.
Part of the land being cleared falls within a mile from the borders of RNP, which has been declared as a Protected Area under the provisions of the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance (FFPO). Therefore this project requires the approval of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) for any development project falling within a one mile area of RNP. Furthermore, the said section makes it mandatory for the party seeking such approval to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and submit the report to the DWC as a project approving agency.

“We have been willing to undertake an Environment Impact Assessment(EIA) However, the Forest Department was of the opinion that it was not necessary. You must be aware that EFL has already gone to courts on this matter and expect the courts to permit us to conduct an EIA,” said de Zilva. But Weeratunga was quick to point out that “As a responsible local company that boasts about becoming green, LOLC should have obtained all the relevant approvals and followed the Dendro Power Principals before the project began.” Destroying forest habitat is entirely against sustainable Dendro power production principles, as fuel wood for Dendro power production should be supplied without any interference and destruction to natural processes and habitats.

“We encourage all responsible citizens to visit this site when you drive to/by Yala to witness this terrible act of habitat destruction in the name of sustainable green energy. Hopefully, our legal system will do the justice for this devastating action,” said Weeratunga.


http://www.nation.lk/edition/news-features/item/15101-environmentalists-don-gloves-to-fight-%E2%80%9Cgreen%E2%80%9D-activists.html

යාල යනු සිංහරාජ මෙන් නොඉඳුල් වනයක් නොවේ එය පැරණි ජනාවාස පිහිටුවා තිබී පසු කලෙක වල් වැදී ගිය බිමකි
එහි පොලොව යට ජනාවාස නටබුන් ඕන තරම් ඇත වලන් කැබලි, දාගැබ් නටබුන් පොලව යට ඇත.
එවන් බිමක් වටේට තවත් විශාල බිම් පෙදෙසක් ආරක්ෂක බිම් වශයෙන් වැඩකට නොගෙන තබා ගැනීමේ තේරුම කුමක් දැයි නොතේරේ.
සිංහරාජයට නම් මෙවැන්නක් අවශ්‍ය විය හැක.
පෙර කාලයේ උඩරට කඳුකරය නියම වනාන්තරය විය. එහි වැටි රැස් වෙන වැසි ජලය වසර පුරා පහත බිම් සරුකරමින් ගලා ගියේය. නාය යෑම් , ඉඩෝර කාල නොමැති තරම් විය. රට වටේ පහත බිම් ජනය පදිංචි වී වගා කෙරිණි
තේ වගාව සඳහා අක්කර ලක්ෂ ගානක් ශුද්ධ කල පසු මෙය වෙනස් විය.

After the newest cabinet reshuffle we get Single ministry for Environment and Renewable Energy.

This is a Bad news for one fraction and a good news for the other.

Chinwi wrote:After the newest cabinet reshuffle we get Single ministry for Environment and Renewable Energy.

This is a Bad news for one fraction and a good news for the other.

තිරසාර සංවර්ධනයක් සදහා පාරිසරික සමතුලිතතාවයද වැදගත් වේ. පසුගිය දශකය තුල විශාල වන සංහාරයක් සිදුවූ අතර එහි බලපෑම් දැන් දැනෙමින් පවතී. අක්‍රමවත් කාලගුණය, සුළු වැසි තත්වයකින් විශාල ගංවතුර තත්වයන්, නිතර නියං තත්ත්වයන් ඇතිවීම, අලි ඇතුන් විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් මිය යාම ( වනාන්තර කැපීම නිසා අලි ගම් වැදීමෙන් අලි ඇතුන් මෙන්ම පුද්ගලයන් මියයාම) ආදී වශයෙන් උදාහරණ දැක්විය හැක. මෙහි බලපෑම අදට වඩා හෙට දැනෙනු ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ට දීර්ඝ නියං තත්ත්වයන්ට මුහුණදීමට සිදු විය හැක. අලි ඇතුන් ඡායාරුප වලින් දැකගැනීමට සිදුවෙනු ඇත.......සංවර්ධනය යනු ආදායම් ලැබිය හැකි සියලු දෙයින්ම මුදල් ඉපයීම නොවේ. සෝමාවති, සිංහරාජ වනාන්තර වල දැනටමත් හෝටල් තනා අවසන්ය. පරිසර පනත් සංශෝධනය කොට කැලා කැප හෝටල් තැනීමට දේශීය සහ විදේශීය ආයෝජකයනට විකුණා අවසන්ය.( පුද්ගලිකරණය නොකරන බව පැවසුවත්) මෙවැනි බලශක්ති සහ හොටෙල් ව්‍යපෘති පරිසරයට අවම හානියක් වෙන පරිදි සිදු කිරීම වැදගත් , ඒ වගේම යාල වනෝද්‍යානයට යම් හානියක් සිදු කරන්නේ නම් ඊට එරෙහි වීම වැදගත්

Chinwi wrote:EFA is an NGO funded by undisclosed agencies. There are many such NGOs interested in our Natural habitat.

I feel most of these recently emerged activists , their organizations and funding agencies have hidden agendas.
.

I can see that the anti NGO sentiment is very much alive. I was also a member of YZA, WNPS, FOG etc