The office of the Conservator of Forests of Sri Lanka was established in 1887 but a separate Department to undertake forestry activities was not established until 1899. There have been several changes in institutions since then and currently almost all the FGR work is under the jurisdiction of the FD, in collaboration with other departments such as the Department of Agriculture, etc. There are two main research stations and the one at Kumbalpola has been developed as the Central Forest Research Station of the country, while the other center at Badulla is functioning as a sub-station.
The FD is headed by the Conservator General of Forests with the assistance of three Additional Conservators of Forests. The research division is headed by the Additional Conservator of Forests (Research) and consist of five Research Officers, five Technical assistants and three Lab Attendants. In addition, a forestry information service unit with desktop publishing facilities has been established recently at the Head office.
The Forest Ordinance has provisions for Minister-in-charge of the Forest Department to declare areas for forest conservation. In this regard the Minister may publish gazette notifications declaring any forest area, which has unique ecosystems, genetic resources or is a habitat of rare and endemic species of flora and fauna or of threatened species, in order to achieve an ecological balance as a conservation forest.
For example, most of the threatened mangrove areas that had been owned by the private sector have been taken over by the FD for conservation under this provision. The National Forest Policy approved in 1995 gives an overriding priority to conservation of biodiversity and protection of watersheds in the forest ecosystems.
One of the main objectives identified in the policy is to conserve forests for posterity, with particular emphasis to biodiversity, soils, water and historical, cultural, religious and aesthetic values. The following statements in the policy clearly stressed the need for conservation of biodiversity:
Statement 2.1: All state forest resources will be brought under sustainable management both in terms of continued existence of important ecosystems and flow of forest products and services.
Statement 2.3: The natural forests will be allocated firstly for conservation, and secondly for regulated multiple-use production forestry.
Statement 2.4: For the management and protection of the natural forests and forest plantations, the state will, where appropriate, form partnerships with local people, rural communities and other stakeholders to introduce appropriate tenurial arrangements.
Statement 4.4: Effective measures to protect the forest and prevent illegal trade in wood, non-wood forest products and endangered species of flora and fauna will be instituted.
Statement 5.3: The state will provide full support to the various resource managers for sustainable forestry development, and its institutions will be reoriented and strengthened to enable them to accomplish their role.
Statement 6.3: Nature-based tourism will be promoted to the extent that it does not damage the ecosystems and insofar as it provides benefits to the local population.
Statement 6.5: The general public and industries will be educated about the importance of forestry and of conserving biodiversity and protecting watersheds.
Sri Lanka has become a party to a number of international agreements related to the conservation of biodiversity; these include the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention), Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl habitat (Ramsar Wetland Convention), Convention on Biological Diversity and Convention on Climate Change.
The Forest Ordinance has provisions to regulate the import and export of timber and seeds of forest tree species and other forest products and to provide for the issue of permit for these items. The regulations have been framed under this provision to restrict export of plants, seeds and plant products of species listed under the publication "The 1999 List of Threatened Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka" compiled by the IUCN.
The new Forest Policy includes provisions for:
• Enhancing the contribution of forestry to the welfare of the rural population and strengthening of the national economy, with emphasis on equity.
• Putting state forest resources under sustainable management, allocating the natural forests for regulated multiple-use forestry after the needs for conservation have been given priority.
• Forming partnerships with rural people, rural communities, and other stakeholders, and introducing appropriate tenurial arrangements.
• Rehabilitating degraded forestlands for conservation and multiple-use production.
• Promoting tree growing by rural people - individually or collectively - and by NGOs.
• Putting the responsibility for production and marketing of commercial forest products into the hands of rural people, organized groups, cooperatives, etc.
The Forest Ordinance is being revised, providing the legal basis for the above-mentioned issues. A prominent feature of the new legislation is that it classifies the forest estate into three categories, namely: Strict Conservation Forests, Conservations Forests and Multiple Use Forests. The definition of the Multiple Use Forests as a category of forest in Forest Ordinance provides much flexibility to develop partnerships and share benefits with local community. The regulations that will be framed under the new Forest Ordinance are going to enhance the accessibility to Multiple Use Forests by the local community.
