Forest Ecosystem Services and Human Well Being: A Sri Lankan Perspective

Abstract

Having reached a critical minimum cover, Sri Lanka’s natural forests are presently under amoratorium, which has suspended any form of commercial timber extraction andmanagement for timber. Since 1989, these forests have been assigned primarily forconservation of their rich biodiversity that provides multiple benefits. Forests being a keycomponent of the island’s natural capital, they make a vital contribution to ecological serviceinfrastructure (conservation of biodiversity, water and soil, climate regulation through carbonsequestration and storage, provision of habitats for wildlife including wild germplasm,pollinators and predators of agricultural pests etc.) and in no small measure, to nature-basedtourism, for which Sri Lanka has already gained global recognition. In addition, these forestsharbour important non-wood forest products (NWFPs) that make a significant contribution tolocal economies and livelihoods, by provisioning traditional food, medicinal and/or healthcareresources, which lately are emerging even as export commodities.

At a global scale, with the development of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, there is asignificant paradigm shift to include these ecosystem goods and environmental services in tonational accounting systems. The Rio+20 agreement and several international follow-upinitiatives advocate measures to value the contribution of ecosystems to human well-beingthrough economic-ecological and social (triple bottom line) accounting such as green GDP.

Sri Lanka faces a challenge at this crucial phase of rapid development, set out in the NationalPhysical Plan 2011-2030, to engage in an emerging global initiative to drive towards agreener economy. Nonetheless, this seemingly portentous challengeopens up manyopportunities, both for research and development, to be aligned and repositioned with theevolving global scenarios in the forestry as well as other sectors, so that visionary planningnow would avoid costly remedial measures in the future. Sri Lanka is richly endowed with areligio-cultural heritage that is inextricably linked with its equally rich natural heritage. Tomove towards a greener economy, while learning from these past experiences and judiciouslyblending them with innovative thinking to suit modern situations, is indeed the task ahead ofall of us. We still have time-tested models entwined with traditional wisdom for appropriatelygreening the forestry as well as other related sectors and meeting our own sustainabledevelopment goals. The challenge now is to re-define the vision for Sri Lanka’s forests in thelight of emerging sustainable development goals, and to build the necessary in-countrycapacity to demonstrate its benefits to policymakers in our move towards a greener economy.