The Man versus Wild Battle: an Analysis on Wilpattu Deforestation and Illegal Resettlement Projects

Abstract

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees” said Henry Thoreall. Now a day what is happening is the opposite of this quote. People do take walks in the woods, but they never become taller than the trees because they chop down the trees before the walk come to an end. In Sri Lanka the situation is the same. This research aims to assess the adverse impact of Wilpattu Deforestation and Illegal Resettlement Projects. Wipattu, the largest Forest reserve in Sri Lanka is well known for the flourishing eco-system that prevails there. An ample extent of Wilpattu now has been deforested with the purpose of providing shelters to the internally displaced persons (IDPs). Due to these irresponsible human actions, the Wilpattu National park and the animal species in it have become the victims of this increasing threat. At the same time the question arises is that whether these housing projects are permitted or not by the relevant authorities and though it clearly seems to be illegal, why the actions have not been taken yet to prevent this? This seems to be a clear violation of Environmental Law in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this research is to identify the rules and regulations that are violated in this issue and also to identify the remedies for that. When seeking solutions for this issue it was clearly visible that the responsibility of protecting Wilpattu belongs to both the relevant authorities and every individual in Sri Lanka. This research has used a quantitative data analysis with the sources like journals, text books, law reports, articles.