Government of Sri Lanka METRO COLOMBO URBAN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (MCUDP) No. MCUDP/PHRD/03 The Consultancy Services for the Preparation of a Management Strategy for Wetlands and Carrying out an Assessment of Water Quality in the Inland Waterways and Lakes within Metro Colombo Area FINAL METRO COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Landscape and Urban design office _ FRANCE January 2016 FINAL REPORT_COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Metro Colombo Urban Development Project ‐ Consultancy Services for the Preparation of Management Strategy for Wetlands and Carrying out an Assessment of Water Quality in the Inland Waterways and Lakes within Metro Colombo Area TEAM MEMBERS Rob MCINNES ................................................ Team leader Sibila JAKSIC .................................................. Institutions and policy Project manager Rob MCINNES ................................................ Ecosystem services_PRA_Questionnaires Mark EVERARD .............................................. Ecosystem services Anusha BANDARA ......................................... Ecosystem services _Economic valuation Lalith AMARALAL ........................................... Ecosystem services_PRA GREEN MOVEMENT ...................................... Ecosystem services _Questionnaires Devaka WEERAKOON .................................... Biodiversity Gilles MOYNOT .............................................. Biodiversity Guillaume SALMON ....................................... Communication Plan Nicolas BARGIER ............................................ Water and soil quality Ranjana PIYADASA ........................................ Water and soil quality Pierre RIGAUDIERE ........................................ Physical features_Hydrology Anura RANWALA ........................................... Physical features_Hydrology GIS team : Thilina Buddima PALLETHANNE, Anthony ROUÉ, Vu Hai LE, Inakshi KARUNAWARDANA, Olivier PETOT (ASCONIT) and “SAFEGE” GIS team Supportive roles : Missaka HETTIARACHCHI ............................. Institutions and policy Mathieu SOUQUET ....................................... Wetland Management Strategy Keerthi Sri JAYAWARDENA ........................... Hydrology background Indrasiri L.H .................................................. Expert GIS Janaka DHARMASENA .................................. Urban planning issues Emmanuel THIRY .......................................... Advisory on governance issue Page | ii FINAL REPORT_COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Metro Colombo Urban Development Project ‐ Consultancy Services for the Preparation of Management Strategy for Wetlands and Carrying out an Assessment of Water Quality in the Inland Waterways and Lakes within Metro Colombo Area Field assessment and survey were accomplished with participation of GREEN MOVEMENT staff for ecosystem services assessment and students from Colombo University for water quality and ecological surveys. Metro Colombo Wetland Management Strategy was developed as a complementary initiative towards achieving capacity enhancement for flood and drainage management under the World Bank funded Metro Colombo Urban Development Project. The study received grant funding from the Japan Policy and Human Resources Development Fund and was directly supervised by the Wetland Management Division of the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation : Dr. N. S. Wijayarathne ‐ Deputy General Manager L C G Soysa ‐ AGM ‐ Coordinator W D C T Gunasiri ‐ Environmental Scientist ‐ Surface and Ground Water and Soil surveys P D Pindeniya ‐ Ecologist ‐ Biodiversity Field surveys Ranoshi Siripala ‐ Ecologist ‐ Biodiversity Field surveys Kumudu Shirani ‐ Engineer ‐ Ecosystem Service Assessment U Y I L Dharmasoma ‐ Surface and Ground Water surveys Dammika Marasinghe ‐ Administrative Officer ‐ Social Surveys Page | iii FINAL REPORT_COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Metro Colombo Urban Development Project ‐ Consultancy Services for the Preparation of Management Strategy for Wetlands and Carrying out an Assessment of Water Quality in the Inland Waterways and Lakes within Metro Colombo Area LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ADD Agrarian Development Department CEA Central Environment Authority CMR Colombo Metropolitan Region CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBO Community‐based Organization CC&CRMD Coast Conservation and Coastal Resources Management Department CMR Colombo Metropolitan Region CZM Coastal Zone Management CZMP Coastal Zone Management Plan DRR Disaster Risk Reduction DWLC Department for Wildlife Conservation EFL Environmental Foundation Limited EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMP Environmental Management Plans EPL Environmental Protection Licence FAO Food and Agriculture Organization GIS Geographical Information System GM Green Movement HGM Hydrogeomorphic IEE Initial Environmental Examination IMCC Inter‐Ministerial Co‐coordinating Committee ITPSL Institute of Town Planners Sri Lanka IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature LA Local Authority MFF Mangroves for the Future MCUDP Metro Colombo Urban Development Project NARA National Aquatic Resources Agency (now called National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency) NARESA Natural Resources, Energy and Science Authority (now called National Science Foundation) NCB National Coordinating Body NEA National Environmental Act NGO Non‐governmental Organization NPP National Physical Plan NPPC The National Physical Planning Council NPPD The National Physical Planning Department NPPP National Physical Planning Policy NSC National Steering Committee NWPS National Wetland Policy and Strategy NWSC National Wetland Steering Committee PAA Project Approving Agencies PRA Participatory rural appraisal RSC Regional Steering Committee RMWE RM Wetlands & Environment Ltd SAM Special Area Management SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment SLLRDC Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation UDA Urban Development Authority UNDP United Nations Development Program UNEP United Nations Environmental Program WI Wetlands International WMS Wetland Management Strategy WMD Wetland Management Division Page | iv FINAL REPORT_COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Metro Colombo Urban Development Project ‐ Consultancy Services for the Preparation of Management Strategy for Wetlands and Carrying out an Assessment of Water Quality in the Inland Waterways and Lakes within Metro Colombo Area CONTENTS KEY POLICY AND COMMUNICATION MESSAGES _______________________________________ 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY___________________________________________________________ 13 NOTE ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE DOCUMENT ______________________________________ 15 1 THE STATE OF WETLANDS IN COLOMBO ___________________________________ 16 1.1 COLOMBO – A DYNAMIC CITY ___________________________________________ 16 1.2 COLOMBO’S DISAPPEARING WETLANDS ___________________________________ 17 2 WHY ARE WETLANDS IMPORTANT? _______________________________________ 24 2.1 WETLANDS AND HUMAN WELL‐BEING ____________________________________ 24 2.2 WETLANDS AND NATURE CONSERVATION _________________________________ 27 2.3 INTEGRATING WETLAND VALUES _________________________________________ 28 3 PRINCIPLES, GOAL AND STRUCTURE OF THE WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY _ 30 3.1 UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES _______________________________________________ 30 3.2 GOAL ________________________________________________________________ 32 3.3 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES _________________________________________________ 33 4 THE WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY __________________________________ 35 4.1 GOAL ________________________________________________________________ 35 4.2 STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES _________________________________________________ 36 5 REFERENCES __________________________________________________________ 63 6 APPENDICES __________________________________________________________ 64 6.1 APPENDIX 1 _ CHARACTERISATION OF THE WETLANDS OF THE CMR ____________ 64 6.2 APPENDIX 2 _ PRE‐FEASIBILITY STUDIES FOR DEMONSTRATION SITES ___________ 69 6.3 APPENDIX 3_ MONITORING AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORK _________________ 87 6.4 APPENDIX 4 _ COMMUNICATIONS PLAN ___________________________________ 95 7 TECHNICAL REPORTS __________________________________________________ 105 Page | v FINAL REPORT_COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY Metro Colombo Urban Development Project ‐ Consultancy Services for the Preparation of Management Strategy for Wetlands and Carrying out an Assessment of Water Quality in the Inland Waterways and Lakes within Metro Colombo Area COLOMBO WETLAND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY KEY POLICY AND COMMUNICATION MESSAGES Importance of wetlands Colombo is a city built on and around wetlands. Despite progressive and degradation, wetlands still cover some 20 km2 of the Colombo Metropolitan Region. The wetlands are fundamental to the well‐being of the people of Colombo. All of the wetlands, even the most degraded ones, provide a range of benefits which contribute to human well‐being in the city. Of all the benefits provided by the wetlands, over 90% of these benefits remain within Colombo Metropolitan Region. The wetlands significantly benefit the urban poor. The income for households in and around the wetlands is less than 40% of the average income for the Metropolitan Colombo Region. Over 60% of these local households directly benefit from livelihoods and products derived from the wetlands and 100% will be receiving indirect benefits from flood mitigtion, climate cooling and pest regulation. The wetlands assist in delivering food security. Rice cultivation in the paddy lands