Breathtaking Scenery as Far as the Eye Can See- By Risidra Mendis
Source:Ceylontoday
Misty mountains and breathtaking scenery as far as the eye can see. Tucked away in Central Sri Lanka in the Districts of Matale and Kandy lies the Knuckles Mountain Range. The Sinhalese residents traditionally refer to the area as ‘Dumbara Kanduvetiya’, meaning Mist-laden Mountain Range.
The early British surveyors gave this misty mountain the name ‘Knuckles’, referring to a series of recumbent folds and peaks in the west of the massif, which resemble the knuckles of clenched fists when viewed from certain locations in the Kandy District.
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The higher montane area is often robed in thick layers of cloud. In addition to its aesthetic value, the range is of great scientific interest. It is a climatic microcosm of the rest of Sri Lanka, as the conditions of all the climatic zones in the country are exhibited in the massif.
At higher elevations, there is a series of isolated cloud forests, harbouring a variety of flora and fauna and is home to a significantly higher proportion of the country’s biodiversity. The isolated Dumbara range harbours several relict, endemic flora and fauna that are distinct from the Central massif.
Research indicates that 34 per cent of Sri Lanka’s endemic trees, shrubs, and herbs are only found in these forests. Dumbara (Knuckles) Conservation Forest was included in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Natural World Heritage list in 2010 as part of the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka.
Dumbara Range
The Dumbara range consists of nine peaks over 1,200 metres (4,000 ft), with the highest peak, ‘Gombaniya’ 1,906 metres (6,248 feet) and Kirigalpotta 1,647 metres, the second highest peak in Sri Lanka.
Despite its breathtaking scenery, rich biodiversity and still-to-be-explored areas, threats to this beautiful mountain range still loom high. The loss of biodiversity due to illegal activities such as poaching, polluted water and the illegal clearing of prime forest land for cardamom cultivation on a large scale in the montane forests are major threats to the fragile forest ecosystem.
The invasive exotic plant species such as Mist Flower (Ageratina riparia) that is increasingly spreading into the montane forest areas and montane grasslands is destroying the unique native Sri Lankan flora.
Keeping in mind the need to address these issues and take timely action before it is too late is the result of a project that involves many important stakeholders such as the Forest Department, Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, Land Use and Policy Planning Department, the Central Provincial Council, the Agriculture Department and the Department of Export Agriculture.
“The Green Climate Fund is giving out funding for the implementation of climate resilience projects in different countries. The first project is operated under the Ministry of Irrigation, known as the Climate Resilient Management Project, a community-based project. This project is divided into many sections and strengthening climate resilience of subsistence farmers and agricultural plantation communities residing in the vulnerable river basin, watershed areas and downstream of the Knuckles Mountain Range catchment of Sri Lanka,” National Project Director and Additional Secretary, Land and Legal, Ministry of Irrigation, Chandika V. Ethugala told Ceylon Today.
Implementing partners
There are two main implementing partners for this project, the Ministry of Irrigation and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), she says, and ICRAF gives the technical input and the Ministry of Irrigation is supposed to implement the project.
“The project started in September 2023 and the total cost for this project is USD 48.875 million. Out of this, USD 29.9 million is given to Irrigation as a grant. USD 10.5 million goes directly to ICRAF to implement certain antiquities for the project that are preidentified and another USD 9.2 million we have to find from local funding. This project operates in five districts. Kandy, Matale in upstream districts and Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Kurunegala in the downstream districts,” Ethugala explained.
We are investing money upstream, she says, because we want to make sure the quality and quantity of water flowing through the downstream are quantity-wise increased and quality-wise improved.
“We have to do capacity development and awareness in the downstream areas. We are working in four major river basins Kala Oya, Yan Oya, Malwathu Oya and Amban Ganga. The main stakeholders out of 80 are the Forest Department, Mahaweli Authority of Sri Lanka, Land Use and Policy Planning Department, Central Provincial Council, Agriculture Department and Department of Export Agriculture,” Ethugala said.
The activities have already been identified and implementing agencies have already been identified, she added, with three main components of this project.
Ecosystem Service
“As part of the project, we are going to introduce value-added products for the farmers expanding, especially with Agricultural produce as well as for paddy. There is another new aspect we are going to introduce, which is Payment for Ecosystem. If one person or somebody contributes to sustainably managing the ecosystem, we are going to pay for this,” Ethugala explained.
“For example, as I said, if the person is having land protection measures in their homelands and preventing soil erosion, the person is providing an ecosystem service that ultimately benefits the downstream and the whole country. So, we are going to make a payment for that.”
We are working on the hydrological boundary, she says, because we are looking at landscapes altogether along the river basin, we want to make sure the water yield does not drop with climate change and the water quality is maintained appropriately.
“We are looking at the landscape and not just the administrative boundaries. We have to develop a reporting mechanism based on sub-river basins. This is a very scientific project and we have to introduce a lot of new techniques. We have to introduce forest restoration, not just replanting. Then we are going to introduce the very environmentally friendly natural regeneration method and then the short side protection,” Ethugala stated.
Community Project
Even the roadside drainage we have to decide very carefully, she added, and not to impact the animals in the area. “To protect biodiversity, we have to have environmental and animal-friendly constructions. So, those types of unique interventions are there. Moreover, this is a community project and we have to make sure communities benefit from the project and we are looking forward to seeing the same communities going to be the protectors of the biodiversity hotspots in the Knuckles region,” Ethugala said.
She says the Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation powers a vast landscape in the area and the Forest Department started with the removal of invasive species and started the nursery. “The Mahaweli Authority has started the farmer community awareness and cropping intensity among others and also we got the services from private banks and they will give two laboratories to two remote schools in the area under their CSR activities, as cofinancing for the project,” Ethugala added.
The Sub-River Basin Unit Delivery Team Manager is Pradeep Samarawickrema, she says, and he is coordinating with the stakeholders to implement it. “In future, we will start with the research, where we are going to employ students from universities as much as possible for the project. Ultimately, we hope to allow them to pursue their higher studies through this project, and then it will be beneficial to the country, rather than just doing a job. We have equipped the Department of Export Agriculture with a soil testing machine, where when given to farmers, they can rapidly test the soil, instead of the traditional methods. 500 samples per day can be tested,” Ethugala explained.
