Wet boggy soil is which the soil is badly or imperfectly drained. Generally these areas can be find high rainfall areas. The surfaces have no connection to ground water sources. When rainwater is trapped in bag mosses, their extraordinary capacity to retain water raises the water table to just a few centimeters. The vertical water exchange is very low. Rainwater seeps through the upper peat layers at a rate of the bog soil. The boggy soil is poorly drained area, a climate where precipitation exceeds evaporation & a nutrient poor environment that favors peat mosses in their ecologic competition against higher plants. Growth of higher plants is also curbed by peat mosses themselves, because they bind available nutrients & render the bog water acidic, with a pH of 3 – 4.
Only a limited variety of highly specialized higher plants can survives on boggy soil. They have to be acid resistant & able to take root in a spongy, extremely wet, oxygen poor environment. Nutrients are scare & in their competition for light. The plants have to adapt to the growth pattern of peat moss.
The diseases thrive in wet boggy soil with poor drainage. A free draining soil is a solution. Improving drainage of the soil by sub soiling, mole drains, laying pipes to carry excess water away will help. By addition of fertilizer can increase the fertility of the soil. So apply various methods to improve the quality of the soil can increase the growth of plants on the wet boggy soil.
Showing posts with label 2003 batch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2003 batch. Show all posts
Friday, August 03, 2007
Review of EIA report of Baseline extension phase 3.
A proposal has been prepared by the Road Development Authority (RDA) to extend the Baseline road from Kirillapone, High Level Road junction to the Galle Road. This is the third & final phase of the Baseline Road Project. The feasibility study for this extension has selected three alternative traces. Option one is Extends towards South from its starting point at High level Road & falls to the Galle road at Williams junction. Option two is, starts from Baseline –High level road junction & joins the Galle road at Mt. Lavinia. The option three is, follows the same alignment as option 2 up to the Attidiya Development Zone & continues south from this point onwards & crosses Attidiya Mirihana road. Then follows up to Galle road. The trace/s has been designed to a speed of 70 km/hr with dual 3 lanes. Option 3 has been identified & selected as the preferred alternative for further studies & was studies in detail for its environmental impacts.
The cost of this was estimated at Sri Lanka Rupees 4771 million. The feasibility study has revealed that the proposed project would affect 448 buildings with the complete demolition of 337 properties & partial demolition of 111. The scope of this study covers the present status of the environment in the project area & the likely effects of the project on the physical, biological & socio economic environment. Mitigatory measures to minimize or eradicate the adverse environmental consequences are also detailed in the report along with a monitoring plan to ensure that the mitigatory measures proposed will be carried out on long term basis.
When consider the project area, it belongs to three local government authorities; Dehiwala/Mount Lavinia MC, Colombo MC & Ratmalana DS Division. Majority of the affected population live in Dehiwala MC area. In the proposed road reservation about 80% of the land is used for residential purposes. Social infrastructure facilities in the area fairly developed & expect in low income communities majority of the population enjoy good standard of living with regard to schooling, health care, transportation etc. due to urbanization the ecological resources in the project area are limited to home gardens, water bodies, streams & two patches of degraded marshes in Attidiya, Kawdana & Badowita. The area has uniform climatological condition prevail over the full extent with little local variation. Drainage pattern is thus primarily a result of topographical variations.
When we consider the environmental impacts they divided the environment in to three parts. They are Physical, Biological & Socio economics environments. And they divided each one in to several parameters & identified several impacts that relevant to the project. Eg; Impact on noise/land use/ air etc.
When consider the mitigatory measures, the report included the measures in more details. Most of them are very adoptable to Sri Lanka.
When consider whole EIA report the project will be a very important & useful project
The cost of this was estimated at Sri Lanka Rupees 4771 million. The feasibility study has revealed that the proposed project would affect 448 buildings with the complete demolition of 337 properties & partial demolition of 111. The scope of this study covers the present status of the environment in the project area & the likely effects of the project on the physical, biological & socio economic environment. Mitigatory measures to minimize or eradicate the adverse environmental consequences are also detailed in the report along with a monitoring plan to ensure that the mitigatory measures proposed will be carried out on long term basis.
When consider the project area, it belongs to three local government authorities; Dehiwala/Mount Lavinia MC, Colombo MC & Ratmalana DS Division. Majority of the affected population live in Dehiwala MC area. In the proposed road reservation about 80% of the land is used for residential purposes. Social infrastructure facilities in the area fairly developed & expect in low income communities majority of the population enjoy good standard of living with regard to schooling, health care, transportation etc. due to urbanization the ecological resources in the project area are limited to home gardens, water bodies, streams & two patches of degraded marshes in Attidiya, Kawdana & Badowita. The area has uniform climatological condition prevail over the full extent with little local variation. Drainage pattern is thus primarily a result of topographical variations.
When we consider the environmental impacts they divided the environment in to three parts. They are Physical, Biological & Socio economics environments. And they divided each one in to several parameters & identified several impacts that relevant to the project. Eg; Impact on noise/land use/ air etc.
When consider the mitigatory measures, the report included the measures in more details. Most of them are very adoptable to Sri Lanka.
When consider whole EIA report the project will be a very important & useful project
Review of policies related to waste management in Sri Lanka.
Waste is a growing problem in Sri Lanka aggravated in the absence of proper management systems. Waste includes any matter prescribe to be waste & any matter, whether liquid, solid, gaseous or radioactive, which is discharged, emitted or deposited in the environment in such volume, constituency or manner as to cause an alternation of the environment. Mainly there are two types of wastes. They are solid waste and hazardous waste. Solid waste is described as non liquid waste material arising from domestic, trade, commercial, industrial & agricultural activities as well as waste arising from public sectors. Hazardous wastes have become an important environmental matter in many countries including Sri Lanka.
Mismanagement of waste & its improper lead to health & environmental problems. Air pollution, water pollution can arise because of the waste. Mainly hazardous wastes make serious health problems such as cancers.
Generation of waste is increasing with the increase of the population, technological development & the changes of life style of the people. Therefore policies should be formulated to encourage waste management practices through waste avoidance/reduction, reuse & recycling & thereafter final disposal in an environmental sound manner. When we consider the policies which are relating to the waste management in Sri Lanka, we can consider about the Municipal Council Ordinance, Urban Council Ordinance, Pradeshiya Sabha Act, National Environment Act, Amendment to the National Environmental (Protection & Quality) regulations No.01 of 1990, Basel convention & Rota dam convention.
If someone looks at those acts, he/she can think that waste management is properly happen in Sri Lanka. But actually there are various problems related to the waste management. Eg: Local authorities have lack of knowledge to preparation of suitable project proposals, It cannot be easy to get actions against the haphazard activities related to waste management done by LA,s, No legal mandatory for source separation and producer responsibility, polluter pay principals, etc.
Even if there are problems, many programmes are conducting in Sri Lanka. Some examples for those programmes are Composting programes, sanitary land fill in Mawanella, Bio gas generators in Tamankaduwa & Pathadumbara, Incineration programme carrying by Holcim Company, etc.
It’s necessary to get implementation actions for above mention problems such as educate the local authorities by giving resources, Create a separate Tax for waste management or spot fine system for the illegal dumping, Make a proper disposal mechanism for hazardous waste, etc.
If can solve the problems related to the waste management and can implement the existing programmes, we can make a proper waste management system in Sri Lanka.
Mismanagement of waste & its improper lead to health & environmental problems. Air pollution, water pollution can arise because of the waste. Mainly hazardous wastes make serious health problems such as cancers.
Generation of waste is increasing with the increase of the population, technological development & the changes of life style of the people. Therefore policies should be formulated to encourage waste management practices through waste avoidance/reduction, reuse & recycling & thereafter final disposal in an environmental sound manner. When we consider the policies which are relating to the waste management in Sri Lanka, we can consider about the Municipal Council Ordinance, Urban Council Ordinance, Pradeshiya Sabha Act, National Environment Act, Amendment to the National Environmental (Protection & Quality) regulations No.01 of 1990, Basel convention & Rota dam convention.
If someone looks at those acts, he/she can think that waste management is properly happen in Sri Lanka. But actually there are various problems related to the waste management. Eg: Local authorities have lack of knowledge to preparation of suitable project proposals, It cannot be easy to get actions against the haphazard activities related to waste management done by LA,s, No legal mandatory for source separation and producer responsibility, polluter pay principals, etc.
Even if there are problems, many programmes are conducting in Sri Lanka. Some examples for those programmes are Composting programes, sanitary land fill in Mawanella, Bio gas generators in Tamankaduwa & Pathadumbara, Incineration programme carrying by Holcim Company, etc.
It’s necessary to get implementation actions for above mention problems such as educate the local authorities by giving resources, Create a separate Tax for waste management or spot fine system for the illegal dumping, Make a proper disposal mechanism for hazardous waste, etc.
If can solve the problems related to the waste management and can implement the existing programmes, we can make a proper waste management system in Sri Lanka.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Preparation of a Management Plan for Small Scale Teak Plantations
K M T S Jayarathne and S M C U P Subasinghe
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
Teak (Tectona gradis) is one of the most valuable timber species in the tropics. It is introduced to Sri Lanka in 1680 by Dutch. At present 45,336.9 ha of teak plantations are maintained by the Sri Lanka Forest Department as homogeneous plantations in dry and intermediate zones. Other than that teak is grown as mixtures with Jak, Margosa, Eucalyptus and Mahogany. The popular methods of establishing teak plantations were Taungya System and PFPs (Participatory Forestry Projects). Teak is maintained as State owned lands, Private lands or Farmers woodlots.
Teak Plantations in Sri Lanka are maintained for productive purposes. Therefore the costs and benefits must be considered economically and ecologically before drawing up proper management plans, especially for the small scale plantations. The yield from properly managed plantations is obtained not only from the final felling but also from silvicultural operations which are applied at regular intervals. In order to manipulate those activities and to maximize the income with minimum environmental impacts comprehensive management plans are required.
With the above considerations, the present study was designed to achieve the following objectives; (i) to identify the maximum extent of a small scale plantation; (ii) to prepare a comprehensive working plan for a selected plantation; (iii) to identify the environmental damages and possible conservation methods in small scale teak plantation management and (iv) to prepare cost and income values at intermediate and final harvestings.
The selected land (12.5 ha) for the present study was initially owned by Rambapokuna Temple in Rambapokuna village in Kurunegala district (309 Kandegedara GN division, Nikaweratiya DS division). It was acquired by the Forest Department in 1999 and given 0.4 ha to each farmer under 25 years lease agreement. The particular block which was used for the data collection was owned by Mrs. W.A. Karunawathi (policy no RP/FW/30/99).
As the plantation is homogeneous the Transect Sampling Technique was applied to collect the necessary data. A transect was demarcated along the diagonal of the land and 0.02 circular plots were demarcated with 5 m intervals. Total height and dbh of the trees were measured from total 04 plots (42 stems) to calculate the basal area and volume.
When the result were analyzed, it was identified that the distribution of dbh is approximately normal. The average tree dbh, height and volume are 11.22 cm, 8.80 m and 0.051 m3 respectively. Pre-commercial thinning has already been done in 2007 without a scientific study. When compared with Provisional Yield Tables published by Forest Department, this site belongs to “height class III”.
The currant volume of the plantation was projected to the future using the appropriate yield table to calculate the income and cost by time series analysis. It is estimated that 48.895m3 of total timber volume which can produce the income of Rs. 3,094,799.00 (assuming 75% timber recovery in harvesting) during the thinnings and final felling which are to be done in 2014, 2024, 2034 and 2049. The total cost of extraction and replanting was estimated as Rs 636,021.08 for the particular teak block. It is calculated that the Net Present Value (NPV) of the total income and total cost will be Rs 162,528.60 assuming the present discount rate of Sri Lanka is 10%.
The above calculations were based only on use values of the plantation. However it is recommended to consider the non-use values such as soil protection, CO2 absorption, O2 emission, climate regulation etc, using an appropriate method. The currant management plan was prepared only for 0.4 ha because of the time and capital constrains. It is strongly recommended to extrapolate this study to different site types covering a vast area of the country in order to obtain the most accurate results so that a precise management plan can be drawn. Otherwise the management guidelines will be less effective.
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
Teak (Tectona gradis) is one of the most valuable timber species in the tropics. It is introduced to Sri Lanka in 1680 by Dutch. At present 45,336.9 ha of teak plantations are maintained by the Sri Lanka Forest Department as homogeneous plantations in dry and intermediate zones. Other than that teak is grown as mixtures with Jak, Margosa, Eucalyptus and Mahogany. The popular methods of establishing teak plantations were Taungya System and PFPs (Participatory Forestry Projects). Teak is maintained as State owned lands, Private lands or Farmers woodlots.
Teak Plantations in Sri Lanka are maintained for productive purposes. Therefore the costs and benefits must be considered economically and ecologically before drawing up proper management plans, especially for the small scale plantations. The yield from properly managed plantations is obtained not only from the final felling but also from silvicultural operations which are applied at regular intervals. In order to manipulate those activities and to maximize the income with minimum environmental impacts comprehensive management plans are required.
With the above considerations, the present study was designed to achieve the following objectives; (i) to identify the maximum extent of a small scale plantation; (ii) to prepare a comprehensive working plan for a selected plantation; (iii) to identify the environmental damages and possible conservation methods in small scale teak plantation management and (iv) to prepare cost and income values at intermediate and final harvestings.
The selected land (12.5 ha) for the present study was initially owned by Rambapokuna Temple in Rambapokuna village in Kurunegala district (309 Kandegedara GN division, Nikaweratiya DS division). It was acquired by the Forest Department in 1999 and given 0.4 ha to each farmer under 25 years lease agreement. The particular block which was used for the data collection was owned by Mrs. W.A. Karunawathi (policy no RP/FW/30/99).
As the plantation is homogeneous the Transect Sampling Technique was applied to collect the necessary data. A transect was demarcated along the diagonal of the land and 0.02 circular plots were demarcated with 5 m intervals. Total height and dbh of the trees were measured from total 04 plots (42 stems) to calculate the basal area and volume.
When the result were analyzed, it was identified that the distribution of dbh is approximately normal. The average tree dbh, height and volume are 11.22 cm, 8.80 m and 0.051 m3 respectively. Pre-commercial thinning has already been done in 2007 without a scientific study. When compared with Provisional Yield Tables published by Forest Department, this site belongs to “height class III”.
The currant volume of the plantation was projected to the future using the appropriate yield table to calculate the income and cost by time series analysis. It is estimated that 48.895m3 of total timber volume which can produce the income of Rs. 3,094,799.00 (assuming 75% timber recovery in harvesting) during the thinnings and final felling which are to be done in 2014, 2024, 2034 and 2049. The total cost of extraction and replanting was estimated as Rs 636,021.08 for the particular teak block. It is calculated that the Net Present Value (NPV) of the total income and total cost will be Rs 162,528.60 assuming the present discount rate of Sri Lanka is 10%.
The above calculations were based only on use values of the plantation. However it is recommended to consider the non-use values such as soil protection, CO2 absorption, O2 emission, climate regulation etc, using an appropriate method. The currant management plan was prepared only for 0.4 ha because of the time and capital constrains. It is strongly recommended to extrapolate this study to different site types covering a vast area of the country in order to obtain the most accurate results so that a precise management plan can be drawn. Otherwise the management guidelines will be less effective.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)