The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is moving to address longstanding gaps in wetland conservation by planning to manage ecologically sensitive areas currently excluded from legal protection.
At present, wetlands are primarily safeguarded under the National Environmental Act, No. 47 of 1980, which allows for the designation of environmentally sensitive areas. Further regulatory support comes from the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, which lists many wetlands as sanctuaries or national parks. However, numerous wetlands on private lands and under the Land Reform Commission (LRC) remain absent from the official directory.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (11), the CEA Director General Kapila Mahesh Rajapaksha stated the Authority will soon be empowered to manage all wetlands, including those on private and LRC lands not currently protected under the existing laws.
“The definition we use to identify a wetland is the Ramsar Convention’s definition,” he said. Article 1 of the said Convention, which defines wetlands as “areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six metres”. He noted that even an abandoned paddy field can evolve into a wetland over time.
"Even though there is a wetland directory, we don’t have a full-scale census of all the wetlands in the country," Rajapaksha acknowledged.
He explained that the lack of formal recognition for these sites has meant an absence of management plans or procedures. “In the recent future, the responsibility of the wetlands would be coming under the CEA. We will not have the right to the property, yet, if it is a wetland, and if anyone is engaged in land filling or engaging in any other activities, we have the power and provisions to stop them,” he asserted.
Highlighting the critical environmental functions of wetlands, such as cooling cities, absorbing stormwater, and improving air and water quality, Rajapaksha noted that these initiatives would support sustainable development. “Development is needed. We don’t think that it should be stopped. But, in the process, these ecosystems should not be harmed,” he added.