THE COST OF LAND DEGRADATION IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

The major question that this paper addresses is: What are the immediate cost of landdegradation for a nation'} The objective of the analysis is to develop suitable measures toexplain the national costs of land degradation. This paper further illustrates a spectrum ofapproaches to estimate land degradation-induced onsitc and olfxitc environmental cffcctx inSri Lanka. The main onsitc effect is the loss of soil productivity. The loss of productivity oldownstream irrigated agriculture and hydropower generation. Ilushing cost of downstreamreservoirs. operation and maintenance cost of highways network in the upland, are amongthe common costs of olfsitc effects. The study further suggests possible macro andcomplementary micro policy to minimize land degradation-induced onsitc and olTsitL'environmental costs in Sri Lanka.