Biodiversity Assessment of the Hunuwela Estate, Kahawatte Plantations PLC, Pelmadulla
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Biodiversity Assessment of the Hunuwela Estate, Kahawatte Plantations PLC, Pelmadulla April 2012 IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature, Sri Lanka Country Programme Survey team Mr. Sampath de A. Goonatilake (Fauna expert) Mr. Sarath Ekanayake (Flora expert) Mr. Chandana Asela (Fauna expert) GIS Map Kapila Gunaratne Project oversight Dr. Devaka Weerakoon Coordinated by Mr. Shamen Vidanage Mr. Bandula Withanachchi Photos Sampath de A Goonatilake © IUCN Sri Lanka Cover photo: Hunuwela Estate, Hunuwela–north division Macadamia Orchid; background Ravana Kapolla mountain ridge i CONTENTS Acknowledgements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii 1. Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 2. Objectives ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 3. Methodology ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 3.1 Site Description ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 3.2 Assessment Method ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 3.2.1 Overall methodological approach --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 3.2.2 Selection of sampling sites and sampling frequency ---------------------------------------------- 5 3.2.3 Methodology adopted for the Floral Survey --------------------------------------------------------- 5 3.2.4 Methodology adopted for the Faunal Survey ------------------------------------------------------- 5 3.2.5 Species identification, classification and nomenclature ------------------------------------------ 6 4. Results ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7 4.1 The Habitats ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 4.2 The Species ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 4.2.1 Flora ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 4.2.2 Fauna ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 4.3 Community based forest uses ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 4.4 Threats to the biodiversity ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 5. Recommendations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 5.1 Suggestions for improving the environment outlook of Hunuwela estae -------------------- 13 5.2 Development of landscape level biodiversity management plan for the estate ------------ 13 5.3 Improvement of community engagements in environmental development ------------------- 14 5.4 Campaigning, publicity, rapport building and branding -------------------------------------------- 15 5.5 Eco friendly community based small industries ------------------------------------------------------ 15 6. References ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Map 1: Hunuwela estate and its divisions -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 Table 1: Summary of faunal sampling techniques ------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Table 2: Some key references used for species identification and Nomenclature ---------------------- 6 Table 3: Total number of species recorded within the Hunuwela Estate ---------------------------------- 9 Appendix 1: Sampling sites and the Habitats ------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Appendix 2: Floral checklist with respect to their Habitats -------------------------------------------------- 20 Appendix 3: Faunal checklist with respect to their Habitats ------------------------------------------------- 30 Appendix 4: Implementation plan ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 Appendix 5: List of Butterfly host plants for butterfly gardens ---------------------------------------------- 46 Appendix 6: Photo catalog of the Hunuwela estate ----------------------------------------------------------- 49 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks are due to Mr. Roshan Rajadurai (Director/CEO Kahawatta Plantations Ltd.), Mr. Viren Ruberu (Director, Kahawatta Plantations Ltd.,), Mr. C.P. Papalie (Manager, Kahawatta Plantations Ltd.) and Mr. Asanaka Abeyakoon (Environment Manager, Dilmah Conservation) for their kind cooperation and support extended to this study. We would also like to thank Mr. Isuru Karunaratne, Estate Manager Hunuwela Estate and Mr. Upul Assistant Manager and estate staff for providing the necessary logistical support during the field study. iii 1 INTRODUCTION At least two-thirds of the terrestrial environment of the planet earth consists of managed ecosystems such as agricultural systems, plantation forests and human settlements (McNeely, 1995, Bambaradeniya et al., 2003). Therefore, the value of such managed ecosystems for conservation of biodiversity cannot be overlooked. However, the impact of agriculture on biodiversity in the region has been through conversion of biodiversity-rich natural habitats into much simpler agricultural systems. This land-use conversion has led to loss and fragmentation of native habitats with consequent losses of vegetation, and displacement or destruction of plants, animals and microorganisms resulting in biodiversity losses. Due to heterogeneity of the ecosystems the destruction of even a portion of an ecosystem may cause loss of plants and animal species, which are often providers of important services such as pollination, maintenance of soil integrity, catchment protection or biological control of undesirable species to man. Therefore, in recent times, there has been a major paradigm shift around the world, from the extractive industrial model towards ecology-based approaches variously called eco-agriculture or agroecology (Earles 2005, Scherr & Shames 2006). Sri Lanka is one of the biodiversity hotspots in south Asia, with megabiodiversity centres such as Sinharaja, Peak wilderness and Knuckles. Several centuries ago most of the wet and montane zone of Sri Lanka would have been covered with such biodiversity rich pristine habitats as historical evidence indicate that this region gas been sparsely populated in the past. However, with the introduction of the exotic plantation system in the 18th century, vast areas of the biodiversity rich humid mountain and lowland forest ecosystems, especially in wet zone of Sri Lanka has been transformed to monoculture plantations such as Tea and Rubber. This trend continued even after independence. As a consequence nearly 95% of the rain forests in Sri Lanka were converted to monoculture plantations over the last two centuries. The earliest monoculture plantations that have been established in Sri Lanka includes Coffee (Coffea arabica), Cinnamon (Cinomom zelanicum) and Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) followed by Tea (Camellia sinensis) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) that remains as the main monoculture plantations today. Nearly two thirds of the land area of Sri Lanka can be classified as managed ecosystems (Maddumabandara, 2000). Out of these many of the managed ecosystems in the wet and montane zone at present share boundaries with natural forests. Further many of these managed ecosystems carry patches of natural habitats within their estates. These natural habitats function as crucial refugia or critical corridors between fragmented habitat patches, for the local biodiversity. Therefore, adopting sustainable management approaches to conserve these natural habitat patches as well as minimize the impacts on natural forest habitats present in the boundaries of the large estate plantations have become one of the priority areas in the overall biodiversity conservation strategy of Sri Lanka. In support of this national strategic goal, Dilmah Conservation under the MJF Group has launched an initiative to further improve the sustainability of biological resources within and bordering the estates managed by the group through integration of biodiversity conservation principles into the management system of their estates. The first step of such an initiative is to develop a detailed inventory of the biological resources present within and immediately adjacent to their estates. To carry out this activity MJF group has forged a partnership with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a global authority on biodiversity conservation. Under this programme IUCN will 1 conduct rapid biodiversity appraisals of the estates managed by the MJF group to inventories their biological resources, to identify priority conservation actions and to provide recommendations for sustainable agro-ecological practices within these estates. 2 2 OBJECTIVES The present study was carried out to; 1. Document the status of the biodiversity existing within the Hunuwela estate using rapid assessment methods. 2. Assess the past and ongoing biodiversity conservation initiatives implemented by the estate. 3. Identify the potential for building relationships with biodiversity and livelihoods