By Sajeewa Chamikara
Land and Agriculture Reform Movement
We recently exposed that the Divisional Secretary of Buttala, Rasika Thilakaratne, had illegally leased forest lands located in the Rahathangama Grama Niladhari Division—forests that serve as critical elephant habitats in the Buttala and Wellawaya Divisional Secretariat divisions of the Monaragala District—to several companies and businessmen. In response, both the Divisional Secretary and officials from the Forest Conservation Department claimed these lands were allocated based on Circular MWFC/1/2020.
This admission effectively confirms that an unlawful act has occurred. According to the mentioned circular, leasing forests that function as elephant habitats or are proposed to become protected areas is not permitted. Moreover, the implementation of this circular has been suspended under writ petition No. CAWRT/436/20 filed in the Court of Appeal by the Environmental Justice Center, which sought to halt the implementation of the circular issued on November 4, 2020.
Despite this, the Forest Conservation Department, along with the Divisional Secretary, has gone ahead with leasing these forest lands to private entities, blatantly violating existing legal provisions.
Violations Under an Illegal Circular
The circular MWFC/1/2020 was issued by former Secretary of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation, M.K. Bandula Harischandra. It outlines that when allocating land for economic or productive use, authorities must consider the areas that serve as wild elephant migration routes, zones vital for biodiversity conservation and forest cover expansion, and lands unfit for development due to other specific environmental concerns.
Further, Circular No. 2/2021 issued by former Secretary of the Ministry of Lands, R.A.A.K. Ranawaka, on August 6, 2021, emphasized the need to survey and identify all forest lands managed by Divisional Secretaries as per Circular MWFC/1/2020. Importantly, neither of these suspended circulars includes any provision for leasing such forest lands to private entities.
Nonetheless, the Forest Conservation Department stated that 5,500 acres of forest in the Demaliya-Wandama area were handed over to the Divisional Secretary of Buttala, allegedly following these very circulars. This confirms that a coordinated operation to illegally transfer forest land between the Forest Department and the Divisional Secretary has taken place.
Environmental Impact of Forest Land Trafficking
The illegal leasing of forest lands in Demaliya-Wandama has severely impacted the migration corridors used by elephants traveling from Lunugamvehera National Park to Handapanagala Lake. These forests are home to approximately 120 wild elephants, whose displacement has caused them to invade human settlements and farmland in areas such as Blocks 14 and 16, Telulla, Ethilwewa, Kithulkote, Ulkanda, Handapanagala, and Pelwatte. This has significantly escalated human-elephant conflict in these regions.
The Demaliya-Wandama-Kudaoya State Forest covers 2,694 hectares and includes catchment areas around critical water tanks such as Kadawara Wewa, Paralu Wewa, Demaliya Wewa, Hurathgamuwa Wewa, and Guneris Wewa. These lands also fall within the catchment of the Kirindi Oya. The area had been proposed as the site for the Demaliya-Wandama Wild Elephant Management Reserve under the Uma Oya Multipurpose Project, a plan that has now been undermined by illegal leasing.
Violation of the Forest Conservation Ordinance
The Demaliya-Wandama-Kuda Oya forest is identified as the Demaliya-Kuda Oya Proposed Reserve and is protected as a State Forest under Section 20(1) of the Forest Conservation Ordinance, as last amended by Act No. 65 of 2009. This law prohibits unauthorized actions such as cutting trees, cultivating land, constructing temporary or permanent buildings, residing in, or building roads within State Forests.
Any individual found guilty of violating these provisions may face imprisonment of up to two years, a fine ranging from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 50,000, or both. Furthermore, the court may impose additional fines to compensate for the environmental damage caused. Section 20(2) of the ordinance also penalizes those who assist in carrying out such illegal activities, subjecting them to the same legal consequences.
