AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE OF THE HAMBANTOTA DISTRICT V 2 Central Environmental Authority Parisara Mawatha Maligawatta New Town Colombo 10 SRI LANKA Telephone No: 449455/6, 437487/8/9 CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY Fax No: 01-446749. MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROFTL OF THE HAMBANTOTA DISTRICT CEA Library •ii 04176 A Report written by Dr. Kanthi Ratnayake of a study sponsored by the Central Environmental Authority with NORAD collaboration Prepared in 1989 The findings, interpretation and conclusions expressed in this document does not necessarily represent the views of the Central Environmental Authority. This document may be reproduced in full or in part with due acknowledgement to the Central Environmental Authority. Class iS?^-* No. Printed at the State Printing Corporation, Sri Lanka. FOREWORD Sri Lanka's national energies and efforts during the last few decades have increasingly been towards the achievement of economic and social goals of development. However, unplanned development, without due regard to the protection and management of the environment, could lead to the reduction of the country's natural resources base and the degradation of the environment. The fruitful incorporation and integration of environ­ mental considerations into the development strategies are fundamental to sustainable development. Unfortunately environmental concerns have not been incorporated into the planning process of some development projects and programmes. This has been mainly due to the lack of information on available human and natural resources, their utilization and development. The Central Environmental Authority launched a programme to prepare District Environmental Profiles for each of the districts within the Island to identify and review the human and natural resources, their utilization, and significant environmental problems, associated with each district. I am grateful to the Norwegian Embassy for Development Co-operation (NORAD) for providing the necessary financial assistance to carry out this project. The profiles have been prepared for the CEA by various competent and authoritative personnel and their ready cooperation in the successful completion of this exercise is duly acknowledged. The project has been managed by the Natural Resources Management Division of the CEA. I trust that this Environmental Profile would serve as a tool in the future development planning process for effective protection and management of the environment. G. K. Amaratunga Chairman Central Environmental Authority December 1992. REFERENCE OHLY CONTENTS Preface VII List of Maps IX XI Introduction 01 Chapter 1 - The Rationale and Conceptual Basis, Objectives, and Methodology 05 Chapter 2 - The Geographical Setting and General Characteristics 07 Chapter 3 - The Physical Environment 17 Chapter 4 - The Human Environment 24 Chapter 5 - Whither the Environment: Problems and Prospects 30 Chapter 6 - Summing Up and Recommendations PREFACE The Cetral Environmetal Authority in collaboration with NOR AD sponsored the present study. The primary objective of the study was to compile an envirnmental profile of the Hambantota District that will facilitate the development of an Action Plan, for the scientific management of its environment. This report endeavours to present the salient features as well as the main environmental problems of the region, and to identify the key environmental issues that confront the planner. Our study has made a conscious effort to understand the environment as an entity where both physical and cultural factors interact with each other, as an interrelated, organic 'whole'. The guidelines that we have suggested for the development of the Action Plan are also founded upon this holistic perception of the environment. The strategy for policies would emerge as a set of practical inferences from rational analysis of the facts pertaining to the District environment. The Hambantota District is primarily an agricultural region, exhibiting a distinct rural character. The initial phasing out of the pathways for field work, therefore, focussed firstly, on the inquiry into the factors affecting agriculture, their nature, and problems, and secondly, on mineral resources and development of industry in the District. However, arising from the gravely uncertain security situation and circumstances beyond our control, which prevented us from undertaking field investigations according to the set targets, inquiry into the industrial sector will be left as obiter dicta, in the present Report. I am very thankful to the Central Enviromental Authority for inviting me to undertake this study, for the study of the environment is one that is very close to a geographer's heart. I am also particularly grateful that the CEA gave me an unusually long period of time to prepare this Report, having understood the practical problems that I faced working in a District in the south of Sri Lanka. I wish to convey my since appreciation to the Government Agent, Hambantota, and the District Environmental Committee, for having provided valuable insights into the nature of environmental problems, through the many discussions we had with them. Also, I wish to place on record my gratitude to Dr. A. L. Schaap and Dr. Sumanasekara, for the willing co-operation they extended to me, at consultations with them. I am indebted to my team of researchers — Mr. Upali Weerakkody, Mr. M. M. A. Razzaq, and Mr. M. Ratnayake, of the Department of Geography, University of Ruhuna, for assisting me at every stage of this undertaking. I wish to also gratefully acknowledge the cartographic services of Miss. S. Dediyagala of my Department, in the preparation of this Report. Finally, I express my appreciation to all those who willingly co-operated with us in the field, and very specially, the A.G. A's, the Grama Sevakas, and the simple farmers who put up with our inquiries and intrusions. The work involved gave us much pleasure and many friendships. Kanthl Ratnayake. University of Ruhuna, Department of Geography. LIST OF MAPS 1. Location of Hambantota District 2. Hambantota District — A.G.A.'s Divisions 3. Geological Structure and Minerals 4. Topography, Climate, and Agro-Ecological Zones 5. Water Resources 6. Main Soil Types 7. Population Distribution INTRODUCTION This Report, "The Hambantota District: An Environmental Profile" is the outcome of a study that was sponsored by the Central Environmental Authority of Sri Lanka, in collaboration with NORAD. The Central Environmental Authority is the lead agency of the Government of Sri Lanka for the formulation and implementation of strategies for environmental protection and management of the country. This major responsibility of the CEA guided our approach to the present study, and also influenced the operational processes of analysis. In other words, this study looks at the environment as a dynamic entity, composed of both natural and man-made elements that interact with each other in complex ways, thus displaying an intricate web of interrelationships. All natural phenomena on the earth, all forms of life and all forms of human activity form a single, integrated system, in which no single component can have an entirely separate existence. Each component, in some way affects and, in turn, is affected by all other compoments. This idea of'holism' in the environment provides the most appropriate rational, scientific basis for any plan of action pertaining to any given environment. The environmental profile of Hambantota too, has been drawn up recognizing the fact that the understanding of the ever-present geographical interrelationships in the Hambantota District is absolutely essential for the successful formulation and implementation of any strategy designed towards the utilization and management of the environment. CHAPTER 1 THE RATIONALE AND CONCEPTUAL BASIS, OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY 1.1 The Rationale and Conceptual Basis. One of the most fundamental problems confronting us at present is how to meet the basic needs and requirements of the population, without simultaneously destroying the resource base which in fact, is the environment. However, it is unfortunate that, in spite of the fact that development planning and action-oriented programmes have been given much prominence since Independence in 1948, the scientific understanding of the environment as the basis of all developmental activity, has received little attention. The linkages between development and environment, and their interdependencies were not recognized for several decades since Independence. This, in effect, meant that developmental issues were discussed and programmes undertaken without a rational, scientific evaluation of their operational context, that is, the totality of the environment. Based upon our theoretical knowledge, as well as experiences in the field regarding the nature and functioning of any geographical environment, this report expounds the view that the environment should be recognized as an ecosystem, consisting of natural and man-made elements. These interact in complex ways, within the dynamics of their population and their physical environmental dimensions. An environmentally sound programme of work can be formulated and implemented only if this basic scientific truth about the "wholeness" of the environment is well understood by all concerned. In drawing up an Environmental Profile, the challenge that confronts us is not only to present the current picture of the environment, but also to point towards environmental