The Hon. Ravindra Bandara

¶ 01 Mr. Presiding Member, I move:

¶ 02 “This Parliament resolves that, considering the damage caused to water sources and the environment by pine plantations, especially in the hill country including Uva Province, measures be taken to remove such plantations and replace them with productive indigenous cultivations.”

¶ 03 Pine and eucalyptus plantations began here largely in the 1960s–70s. They were established around mid‑country patana grasslands—once natural forests that colonial powers cleared for coffee and then tea. The patana emerged on lands where plantation attempts failed. Over about a century, some areas began reverting to forest, but repeated fires and misguided decisions led to pine and eucalyptus—non‑native species—being planted densely.

¶ 04 These plantations drastically alter ecosystems. Their leaf litter does not decompose like normal foliage; it forms a plastic‑like layer. In such areas you hardly see butterflies, birds, or amphibians; large mammals avoid them. The dense rows create a canopy and floor covering that prevents undergrowth; even wild saplings will not establish. The dry, resinous litter fuels frequent fires.

¶ 05 Crucially, the natural hydrological cycle is disrupted. Under normal conditions, forest soils absorb and slowly release water, sustaining streams through the dry season. In these plantations, with litter impeding infiltration and soils eroding, springs diminish. During rains, rivers run chocolate‑brown from sediment as topsoil washes away, leaving bare rock. That is a major loss.

¶ 06 A 1980 commission halted pine expansion, but eucalyptus replaced it—like swapping ginger for chilli and then back again. Promised benefits—pulp, timber—did not materialize at the needed scale. These are not natural forests.

¶ 07 Removal must be scientific. Clear‑felling fails because the system has adapted to rows. We should remove in strips, allowing sun and rain to reach the soil, rehabilitate soils with community participation, encourage mosses and groundcovers, then small shrubs, then trees—phased over five to six years—eventually removing remaining strips and restoring native forest. The central highlands are the country’s heart; we must protect them. That is my proposal.

¶ 08 Thank you.