This article featured in the Daily News on 7th June 2016 was a highly informative wakeup call endorsing the World Environment day and its focus for the year. Year 2016 has been allocated to create more awareness and to eventually gather forces for the Fight against the illegal trade in wildlife, which erodes precious biodiversity and threatens the survival of elephants, rhinos and tigers as well as many other species.
Compiled by Prof. Hemanthi Ranasinghe, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies of University of Sri Jayewardenepura; this article speaks of the global crisis in wildlife and habitat protection and narrows it down to Sri Lanka which happens to be one of 35 biodiversity hotspots in the world stating that our biggest threat comes in form of overgrazing, farming and development as well as Poaching and trafficking in wildlife driven by transnational organized crime-groups.
She stands firm on the grounds that “Sri Lanka should become an active partner in cracking down the illegal international wildlife trade and at the same time the country should conserve its own precious fauna and flora for future generations.” She also states that “the government must ensure that flora and fauna in the country will not be threatened with any development projects and should not seek short-term political mileage which will lead to the extinction soon of critically endangered fauna and flora in Sri Lanka.”
See more : http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/06/07/features/83871
