Coastal Degradation in Sri Lanka

Planning And Implementation Of Coastal Zone Management In Sri Lanka.

The definition of coastal degradation refers to the alteration or destruction of coast lines due to human activity.

Sri Lanka is an island state with a coastline of approximately 1600km and a land area of around 64000km2.

Coastal erosion has been identified as a major natural hazard faced by Sri Lanka for a very long time.

Impact has also increased at alarming rates as a result of unplanned human invention in the coastal zone.

With more than half the country's total population settled in coastal areas, the unplanned development of coastal infrastructure resulting from increased settlements has naturally led to accelerated degradation of the coastal environment.

The important environmental problems in Sri Lanka's coastal zone

Coastal erosion, flooding and drainage Construction site of coastal zone Clearing coastal vegetation Coral mining Sand mining Discharge sewage water Fish farming Oil slicks Beach pollutions Some tourism activities

Coastal Degradation in Tourism Industry

The importance of coastal zones to the tourism industry and the need to protect such resources is not only vital to the economy of nations but presents growing problems for many localities and regions.

Beaches have become synonymous with tourism and with current predictions of climate change and sea-level rise; they are under significant threat of erosion worldwide.

From an assessment of the effects of erosion, including evaluation of impacts on coastal destinations and tourism development, the consequences for global tourism business are projected.

An analysis of hard and soft engineering responses showed that coastal protection measures should be linked to physical processes whilst management strategies included a case study proposal for beach nourishment, in response to the erosion of a tourist beach.

(Pollute the coastal area/ Illegal constructions in beach area (hotels, resorts)/ Some tourism activities / Coral bleach)

Recommendation:

In our opinion is in Sri Lanka has such beautiful coastal area, but there is some issue in 2004 when Tsunami come and degradation coastal zone, and that period coastal erosion was very high. In tourism industry there must be a natural coastal are for tourism attraction. Then we must protect our sea side avoid pollution

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Fresh Water Pollution in Sri Lanka

Freshwater ecosystems and pollution

Plants and animals can’t live without freshwater, because all organisms are made up mostly by water. A tree for example is about 60% water by weight and most animals are about 50-65% water. Also each of us needs huge amounts of water

The concentration of dissolved O2 highly depends also on the amount of  pollutants, because most water pollutants cause low oxygen levels in freshwater.

There are a few natural sources of pollutants present in aquatic ecosystems. But mostly, freshwater ecosystems may become unbalanced by factors due to human activities.

Freshwater species  Insects Crustaceans Fish Amphibians Arthropods Plants Fungi Bacteria Algae Viruses

Fresh Water Pollution In Tourism Industry

Fresh water is a major part of tourism and hospitality industry, in such a case there are so many water resources help to increase revenue of tourism industry, there are so many water plants in Sri Lanka. All the rivers, lakes, nature pools have such a opportunity to develop tourism attractions. So, we must protect our water resources for our future.

• Pollution of inland water• Urbanization• Industrialization• Pesticide Pollution• Nutrient Pollution

• Some tourism activities

Recommendations

Research is necessary on residues of pesticides in water ways, ground water and in living tissues since pesticide use is intensive, and available information is inadequate.

Passing acts on parliament. Adequate sanitary facilities need to be provided especially in

urban areas to prevent pollution of ground water. In order to minimize industrial pollution central waste water

treatment plants have to be established in industrial parks Minimize tourism activities polluted in water

 

Urban And Industrial Wastes in Sri Lanka

Waste management 

Waste management define as the processes involved in dealing with the waste of humans and organisms, including minimization, handling, processing, storage, recycling, transport, and final disposal

Increased urban and industrial waste is a serious environmental problems in Sri Lanka.

Almost every city in the country faces industrial waste and lack proper dumping or recycling solutions.

Colombo is the most affected urban area which faces a serious threat with respect to the disposal of around 1500 tons of solid waste material per day .

The waste problem

Government organization Legal Aspects Life cycles

Waste management in tourism industry

• In Sri Lanka the hospitality sector ranks as one of the most energy intensive and has a high-energy cost.

• Similarly, the use of water and other natural resources, and the generation of waste, are all high. Becoming resource-efficient, while meeting the diverse requirements of customers is a challenging task.

• Through an increasing awareness about the global environmental crisis, it has become essential for the Sri Lankan hotel sector to implement appropriate energy, water and waste management systems, and to adopt environmental best practices.

Recommendations

Measures for waste reduction at the source, should probably focus on reducing the number of plastic bags provided at hotels (or used by consumers), and on reducing the amount of (plastic) packaging waste. Better alternatives should be provided.

Introduce waste management system for hotels. Plastic packaging materials should be marked for material type, to ease sorting

for mechanical recycling. Many imported products are already marked. The possibilities for tertiary recycling of plastics should be investigated Properly engineered hotels are needed. At the very least, suitable locations

should be selected for new hotels (which means that a suitability check has to be performed).

More research is needed into the effects of the current open hotels. Some samples of groundwater and surface water in the vicinity of some dumpsites should at least be taken and analyzed.