Land for Agriculture vs Conservation – what lies ahead?

In July, the WNPS took a deep dive into one of the most challenging topics being thrown around, which is connected to the politicians and certain authorities trying hard to release even further precious forest and protected lands for Agriculture, based on Food security. Award winning Conservationist Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda and the eminent and experienced Prof. Devaka Weerakoon shared excellent insights during a fantastic session.

Moderated by Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, the session unveiled insights on how Sri Lanka had failed to improve its food security and agricultural productivity over years despite so much more land being allocated. It looked at what answers were easily feasibly without further destruction of the kind we have seen all these years. The social aspects and the issues of how little money was passed down to the grassroots and to those directly engaged in agriculture, and even impacts that the ad-hoc poverty driven folks returning to agriculture on any available land                      cause, were explored. The failure of the regulatory mechanisms and the massive food wastage proportions were highlighted by the speakers among many other elements. This was not a session to be missed and we encourage members to click HERE and catch up on this talk.