Prof.Hemanthi Ranasinghe, Council member and Past President, represented the Institute of Environmental Professionals and 聽provided several recommendations. She proposes that the National Physical Plan should align itself with the recommendations of the Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA), which ensures the environmental aspects are included in policy, plan and programme preparation. Furthermore, the planning needs to be ecosystem centered instead of being people centered if any more environmental disasters are to be avoided in future. Prof.Ranasinghe also added that the spread of urban areas should be limited and alternative development ideas must be brought in. Above all, policy and plans should be stable in spite of changes in governments and people.

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Media briefing was organised by CAFFE

Prof. Hemanthi Ranasinghe expressed her views at a聽media briefing organised by CAFFE (Campaign for Free and Fair聽Elections) with the facilitation of its Executive Director, Mr Keerthi Tennakoon.
The Panellists and their focus for the briefing were as follows;
Myself – Prof. Hemanthi Ranasinghe 鈥� Environment
Mr Mano Thiththawella 鈥� the former Advisor to President and CEO, EAP聽Group – Business
Mr. Chris Tilaka 鈥揝ri Dharmakirti, Chairman, National Ocean Affairs
Committee 鈥� Banking and SMEs
Mr Ajith Amarasekera 鈥� CEO, Swarnamahal 鈥� Consumer Affairs

Main areas of focus

The main areas of focus are power and energy,聽transport, industry, sustainable housing and lifestyles, waste management,聽agriculture, land use and forestry. Adoption of the environmental and climate聽change concerns into national and sectoral plans and programs is mandatory.
Strategic Environmental Assessments had been conducted in certain聽Provinces of the country and need to be conducted in all the Provinces. They聽use the physical, biological, socio economic and cultural attributes and聽potential and zone the areas into their best land use type including聽conservation and development. These findings need to be properly聽incorporated into the National Physical Plan and all the other sub national and聽sectoral plans to enable planned development avoiding haphazardness.

Energy

With regards to energy, it was stressed that rather than resorting to an
environmentally unsustainable option like coal, less polluting alternatives
such as natural gas need to be strongly promoted while working on achieving
the target of 20% of the energy demand to be met by renewable resources by
2020. The attention on solar energy as grid connected solar, solar homes and
net metering using roof top solar need to be enhanced significantly. Tax
reliefs and cost reductions need to be done to encourage investors as well as
home owners to produce solar energy. Biomass also needs enhancement
significantly.

Sustainable Transport

With regards to sustainable transport options, mass transit systems need to be
encouraged further while discouraging the single user vehicles. With regards
to the former, the present public transport need to be significantly improved
by way of introducing more public buses, Bus Rapid Transits which would
travel on dedicated lanes on the road, Monorails/ improving the railways,
improving the water transport where feasible. Incentives need to be provided
for car pooling and more public car parks and shuttle buses need to be
introduced. The import taxes of vehicles with reduced GHG emissions such
as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles etc. need to be reduced so that they
would be more affordable. The tax policies need to be consistent.

Industry

With regards to the Industry, green industries need to be promoted using
facilitation and imposition of penalties for mal practices. 鈥楶olluter Principle鈥�
which was reintroduced after the Coca Cola incident need to be consistent.
For the industries with low ecological footprints tax wavers and other
monetary benefits need to be provided. For the goods which produce
hazardous waste a tax will be imposed to the product and this difference will
be credited to a separate account either in Central Environmental Authority or
Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment and will be used only for
encouraging environmentally sound operations.

Household and commercial sector

With regards to the household and commercial sector, emphasis should be on
adopting environmentally friendly technologies which promotes sustainable
development while conserving the resources. The ban of polythene for
consumer use need to be consistent and production of alternatives need to be
further supported. Revision of the building codes to include environmental
and climate change concerns such as having roof top solar, rainwater
harvesting, recycling and reuse of water, inclusion of waste management
equipment as appropriate etc. The energy labelling in all appliances need to
be further promoted.

Agriculture

With regards to the agriculture, emphasis need to be made on organic
agriculture by providing subsidies for organic fertilisers, enhancing organic
markets etc.

Forestry

With regards to forestry, forest plantations/enrichment of natural forests in
areas need to be done and this can be ably assisted by Strategic
Environmental Assessments. Equal attention need to be placed on
maintaining the established forest estates.

Waste Management

With regards to waste management, public private partnerships need to be
further enhanced in waste collection, storage and proper disposal. Sanitary
landfills needs to be constructed to service all the Provinces. These could also
take care of the hazardous wastes and be instrumental in generating energy
from waste.

Check this in Hiru News

– Hiran

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The International Forestry and Environment Symposium聽is one of the prime events organized by the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, which inaugurated back in 1995. It helps to discuss the latest developments in the field of forestry and environment science. As it deals with research done by both veteran and juvenile researchers, the symposium gives a chance to look at many angles concerning this subject, as well as to provide future projects and research a guidance.

This year’s symposium was chaired by Dr.Prasanthi Gunawadene and was coordinated by Dr.Daham Jayawardene. Vice Chancellor Prof. Sampath Amaratunge graced the Inauguration ceremony as the chief guest.

Watch Highlights of the symposium 2015

International Forestry and Environment Symposium – Glimpses of past 20 years

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Please Contact 0771115565 or 0112758414 for more information.

For details visit:

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The Program was conducted for Grade 6 Students of Colombo International School by at Department of Foresrtry and Environment Science, University of Sri Jayewardeneapura. Dr Pirayan Pererea and Demostrators of the Department particiapted as resource persons.

Pixed By: Trishan Chamara Perera

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The Agreement was signed on 20th March 2015 at Karadiyana WMA Site Office. Under this MOU, CFS will carry out and report environmental monitoring at the Karadiyana Dump site. It also allows DFES students to use the site as a platform for research.

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鈥�91传媒 is an oasis. In the future, greater number of the world population will follow this country’s method because every other country will be in disaster without an effective sustainable mechanism. Your method of sustainability will be the key for the future鈥� said聽Prof. Peter Timmerman of聽Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University, Toronto, Canada 聽at Department of Forestry and Environment Science, University of Sri Jayewardeneprua.

Prof. Peter Timmerman delivered his speech at the MSc in Forestry and Environment Management inaugural session which was held at the Forestry auditorium, 91传媒 on 27^th of March 2015. Dean of the faculty of graduate studies, Prof. Swarna Piyasiri; Dean of the Faculty of Applied sciences, Prof. Sudantha Liyanage; Head of the Department of Forestry and Environment science, Dr. Prashanthi Gunawardana; Professor Department of Forestry and Environment science, Prof. Hiran Amarasekara; Coordinator of Post graduate Diploma in Forestry and Environment science, Dr. Priyan Perera also addressed the gathering.聽Prof. Timmerman is in 91传媒 these days working on his research project with Prof Hemanthi Ranasighe.

He further added that Scientific聽researche should benefit the world in Global Situation or help environment students. The major problems that the world is having today and near future are;
Deforestation
Global Warming
Loss of Species
Threat to basic ecosystem functioning
Human population rising to 9 Billion
Breach of nuclear barrier

贬别苍肠别听more of the present is not an option. People should definitely look for sustainability. Sustainability is a story that keeps going. Through the acts of the 21^st century deciding how the world will look like for another 10,000 years. Sustainable behavior in an instance doesn鈥檛 work . What matters is the 鈥淪ustainable model for living鈥�. In this, sustainable stories are important.

The modern life model of the people is based on; standard economics, self interested rational consumers, 鈥渞omantic individualism鈥�, and with infinite desires which never fully satisfied. The industrial revolution has led people to 鈥渟hop鈥� for the needs they have. According to the romantic individualism people expect freedom and 聽break free from chains. But a huge contrast has built between individualism and life as a collective mass. It鈥檚 so contradictory that all people expect freedom but they end up in excessive work and stress.

World population is in desperate need for a paradigm shift. They should understand that they live within a bounded, finite planet and take 鈥渓ife conditions not as constrains鈥�. A new ecological economics is a need. Freedom within is gained because of the earth we live in. The option is not to go against the grain but going with the grain of things. Because the meaning of human life is close to the earth life because human is a earthling and a part of nature. If the trend continues, the world will be end up heavily degraded and a degraded earth is a degraded life.

91传媒ns has a very sustainable lifestyle with three key components.
Village
Tank/Forest
and Temple

This depicts the village life of the people fused with natural environment and Buddhist teaching. With all the trouble that 91传媒 had over the years; the natural environment, resources and humanity survived because of the sustainability of that model, He added.

Prof. Peter Timmerman is a Senior Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University Toronto. His main areas of research currently include environmental philosophy and ethics, with special reference to topics such as nuclear waste management, climate change, and ecological economics. His earlier publications include a monograph on climate change (Vulnerability, Resilience and the Collapse of Society (1983)); reports to various nuclear commissions (including The Long Haul (1994); and the editing of a volume in the Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change (2001). His most recent publications are on topics ranging from the music of John Cage to Buddhist ethical responses to Genetically Modified Organisms. He supervises/advises PhD students in topics ranging from Environmental Music to Deep Ecology. He is on the board of the Canadian Forum on Religion and Ecology (CFORE), and writes extensively on religious and spiritual teachings as they apply to environmental concerns. As part of an SSHRC funded project on the ethical foundations of ecological economics, he writes on the basic tenets of alternative economic systems around the world. He appears on television from time to time as a commentator.

– Binoy Abeywickrama

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