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Sri Lanka's greatest natural treasure faces crisis

Sri Lanka's greatest natural treasure, its coastline with its abundant beauty and marine resources, face a crisis as population numbers increase, cities grow, and development accelerates across the region. The coastal zones and ocean waters of South Asia have become a dumping ground for municipal sewage, toxic factory discharges, herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, oils, and household garbage, threatening their health, productivity and biodiversity.

In response, over 100 senior government, NGO and private sector officials, from the South Asia region and the United Nations Environment Programme will meet this Monday to Wednesday (28-30 April) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to address the growing crisis.

Led by Hon. Rukman Senanayake, Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources, Government of Sri Lanka, delegates will seek cooperative, realistic and proactive solutions to the environmental problems caused by the double-edged swords of urban development and tourism, agricultural expansion and industrial growth. The Hon. Rukman Senanayake, will inaugurate the meeting and deliver the Key Note Address at 9 a.m.

"We all need development. Indeed, our people, our cities, our farmers, and our children are entitled to a bright and productive future. But we must not kill the goose that lays the golden egg. Our coastline, our marine environment, is a rich and wonderful heritage, and we must treat it with respect, ensuring that it remains productive and beautiful for future generations" said Dr. Veerle Vandeweerd, Coordinator UNEP-GPA Coordination Office. "This regional meeting is a major and positive step in providing a brighter future for all Sri Lankans, and the region."

The conference will be held at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo, commencing at 9am, Monday, 28 April. A press conference led by Dr. Veerle Vandeweerd, Coordinator of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities will be held at the Galadari Hotel at 1800 hours.

Facts and Figures

  • Goods and services provided by the ocean are estimated at over US$21 billion annually
  • Some 1 billion people live in coastal urban centres
  • Almost 50 per cent of the world's coasts are threatened by development-related activities
  • Bathing in polluted water may cause 250 million cases of gastro-enteritis and respiratory disease every year
  • 1 in 20 people bathing in slightly contaminated, but still 'acceptable', water become ill
  • Eating infected shellfish is a common cause of infectious hepatitis and long-term liver damage - and may cause 50,000 to 100,000 deaths every year

The Global Programme of Action

The Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (GPA) is a non-binding intergovernmental programme adopted in 1995 by a conference of 108 governments in Washington, D.C. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides the secretariat for the GPA. The function of the GPA Coordination Office, located in The Hague, is to facilitate and catalyse the implementation of the GPA by governments and regional organisations.

The 2002-2006 work programme for the GPA Coordination Office focuses on moving from planning to action. Activities is based on six principles:

  1. To focus on action building on the achievement of national level programmes
  2. To facilitate the mobilisation of financial resources
  3. Building partnerships with the private sector and civil society
  4. Linking marine and coastal issues with concerns of the freshwater management community
  5. Cooperation and coordination with other international organisations
  6. Replication and upscaling of best and innovative practices at local, national, regional and global levels.

Priority regions for the period 2002-2006 are South Asia, Eastern Africa, the Wider Caribbean and West Africa. In South Asia, the South Asian Seas Action Plan (SASAP) adopted by five countries in the region, namely Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, provides the regional framework for the implementation of the GPA. The South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) is the Secretariat of SASAP.

Some of the issues the GPA addresses are:

  • Coastal legislation in South Asia;
  • Urban pollution including sewage;
  • Waste discharges from shrimp farms;
  • Problems arising from irrigated agriculture such as the use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers;
  • Ship breaking and oil spills from shore facilities.

For interviews or further information in please contact Sanjini de Silva Dias, Communications Coordinator, International Water Management Institute.(s.desilva-dias@cgiar.org)

For information please contact Jack Durrell at IWMI (j.durrell@cgiar.org)