by Anuradhi Jayasinghe
Aloe vera is a perennial species, cultivated industrially for its medicinal value. Aura Lanka herbal (Pvt) Ltd has also initiated Sri Lanka’s largest aloe vera cultivation in the Anuradhapura district with the mindset of enhancing the community and natural wellbeing of the area. Since the commencement of the project, it has created debates across the country especially since the project has failed to present valid, comprehensive environmental approvals.
As per the already-obtained Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the permitted land plots were only occupied for domestic cultivation with no forest intact, but the objective of land clearing was not only for Aloe vera. According to Aura Lanka Herbals (Pvt) Ltd, this initial clearing is a US$ 370 million investment, and hidden activities blanketed in the EIA report are building water tanks and irrigation systems, an international stadium, and a modern town plan. The approved EIA only consisted of the Aloe vera production. This is a clear violation of the National Environmental Act. Thus, it is conclusive that this project has no EIA approval. It is highly unlikely that the EIA process has covered all required steps since the assessment process seems to have ignored areas of the project.
Most of the lands for this project have been obtained by farmers through permits which were issued through the Land Development Ordinance section 19 (2) and these lands come under the purview of the Divisional Secretary (DS), where they ca only utilise the land under special conditions. For instance, apart from constructing a house and a toilet, permit-holders cannot construct any additional facility on these lands. Farmers who wish to register for this project must obtain permission from the DS office. The granted permissions are also conditional as they were
- not to cut down any trees of commercial value without the prior approval of the DS
- not to damage public property
- not to transport any minerals out of the land
- not to change the topography of the land
According to the project agreement, the nurturing of the plants is to be done by the farmers under the financial support from Aura Lanka herbals. However any issue relevant to the lands must be solved by the farmers at their own expense. This means it is the farmer who will be accused of violating the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance (FFPO), not the company.
Farmers in Yaya 18 in Anuradhapura cultivate only one harvesting season due to a lack of water to support cultivations. Believing in unforeseen benefits, so far nearly 80 farmers have signed the agreement to give their lands to the project and the agreements are valid for 10 years. As the first phase of the company prepares the land for the farmers for the first phase of the project, 10% of the profits obtained by the farmers must be given to the company. Apart from adhering to the conditions by the DS office in cultivating aloe vera, they must comply with company conditions. Accordingly, farmers are not allowed to plant any crop other than aloe vera in his/her land. Seeing the benefits that families received by giving their lands to the project, the rest of the households are now planning to give their lands to the project. People cannot grow other crops for a living or at least for domestic consumption, they would be allowed to benefit from the said project.
Some of the facilities given by Aura Lanka herbals to this area the installation of solar panels, road constructions, constructing the houses for farmers and distributing nutritional packages worth Rs.5000 per month. Providing such facilities seems to have created an environment that encourages household to voluntarily give their lands to the project and thereby the company does not have to deal with community outcry.
These farmers who are already combating poverty, climatic calamities and human elephant conflicts embrace those said facilities or benefits by the Aura Lanka herbals warmly and work on any action set out by the company. For instance, farmers’ whose lands are very rocky where no planting could take place, have agreed to give the rocks to fill the reservoir constructed by the company. This is on one hand a violation of the conditions by the DS for the use of the land.
People living in this area in Anuradhapura in the dry zone do not share equal wellbeing aspirations as those who live in areas like Colombo. Yet, the decisions to continue these projects are approved by people in Colombo who do not wish to live or never have lived a poor farming lifestyle. Also, the decision makers and those who are approving the projects are seemingly have neglected the impacts of the project on farm families. This is a huge loophole in large scale development and agricultural projects in Sri Lanka, where the impacts on society are given the least attention.
Farmers in this project area are cultivating aloe vera by removing existing plantations and agreeing to give the only lands they have to a private company for unclear future benefits. There is no evidence to show how those farmers been provided with the knowledge on how to achieve the expected benefits and information on acting in any unprecedented situation. There is no way to assess the impact on the livelihoods without doing a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) along with EIA. An Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is a process of “identifying, predicting and evaluating the likely environmental, socio-economic, and cultural impacts due to the implementation of a project, and to propose mitigation actions together with management and monitoring measures; not only to reduce negative impacts but also provide positive contributions to the natural environment and well-being of the community”.
What if the farmer doesn’t get the expected profits from aloe vera – who would compensate for his effort? As mentioned earlier, farmers are now violating the conditions mentioned by the DS when cultivating aloe vera by way of removing rocks out of their lands. What happens to the family if the father or mother is charged for violating the DS’ conditions for the use of land? Will Aura Lanka take precautions to minimise the human elephant conflicts in these areas and is there any assurance to the farmers that their crop will not get hurt by wild elephants? According to the agreement, farmers cannot cultivate any crop other than aloe vera in their land but what happens if aloe vera cultivation goes wrong – can the farmers move back into his/her usual cropping system? Likewise, there are series of unanswered questions related to this project. Thus, it is essential to include the social impact assessment of the project before it’s too late.
On the other hand, no evidence is available to prove that the reservoir and dam constructions have met the EIA requirements. Above all, these reservoir and dam constructions are taking place in the Wilpattu buffer zone. It is a must for any activity within one mile radius of the buffer zone of a national park to obtain the written approval from the Director General of the Department of Wildlife conservation. Knowing that the project has not obtained any valid approval the cabinet approval for the project has obtained on August 30th 2021.
The strategic management framework of the Wilpattu protected area complex has identified Buffer zone communities and Buffer zone landholders as the low important but highly influential stakeholders for effective implementation of strategic action framework in managing the national park.
Moreover, the project has not only exploited the Wilpattu buffer zone, the tank that is being constructed is also along an elephant corridor. By way of clearing water from the Wilpattu catchment area and constructing the tank along an elephant corridor. Thus, the existing human-elephant conflict will be aggravated due to the disruption of elephant habitats, habitat fragmentation and mass encroachments into their habitats.
According to the project proposal aloe vera roots, tubers, gel, and external parts of leaves are to be extracted to make various products (e.g.: energy drinks, pills, ointments, etc.). Thus, although the project proposal has convinced many of the successful rate due to the adaptability and resilience of aloe vera in the dry zone, to achieve quality outputs, scientifically there is a positive relationship between water availability and the aloe vera biomass. Thus, the lower availability of soil water was accompanied by a reduction in the number of new leaves and plantlets. A higher success rate of the project is highly unlikely since the farmers must manage the water burden on their own if the company fails to provide sufficient water to the farming families.
Even though the largest aloe vera cultivation project in Sri Lanka has obtained Cabinet approval recently, such projects still need further environmental and social impact assessments to bring about the desired social and environmental outcomes. Else, only the objective of the company giants will succeed, by way of blanketing the negative externalities on the society and the environment.Blog writers raise issues of contemporary relevance and contribute to a vibrant discussion on human rights and related issues. They express their personal views and not necessarily those of the LST, its Board and its members.
