National Action Plan For Haritha Lanka Programme 2009.

The Haritha Lanka Programme was developed through an interactive process involving all the key ministries. Its missions focus on addressing the critical issues that would frustrate the economic development programmes. Clean air and clean and adequate supplies of water must be available to all. The country’s natural heritage of fauna and flora must be protected. The industries must put into practice measures for preventing environmental pollution. The island’s limited land resources should be used in a rational way and the coastal zone requires special attention to ensure that its integrity remains unblemished and that it would continue to serve as a major contributor to the country’s economy. Actions to address these key areas are embodied in the strategies and proposed actions set out under the ten missions of the Haritha Lanka Programme. The 10 Missions of the National Action Plan are as follows: 1. Clean Air; 2. Saving the Fauna, Flora and Ecosystems; 3. Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change; 4. Wise Use of the Coastal Belt and the Sea around; 5. Responsible Use of the Land Resources; 6. Doing away with the Dumps; 7. Water for all and always; 8. Green Cities for Health and Prosperity; 9. Greening the Industries; 10. Knowledge for Right Choices.
Strategies for Mission 3 deal with Meeting the Challenges of Climate Change as follows: 1. Establish country specific policies and action plans to counter adverse climate change impacts; 2. Promote the use of economically viable, environment friendly, renewable energy resources, with emphasis on non-conventional energy resources; 3. Optimize energy consumption through energy efficiency in enterprises and promoting substitution of fossil fuels by renewable energies in economic and production sectors; 4. Promote supply side & end use energy efficiency; 5. Promote carbon sequestration; 6. Promote Integrated waste management; 7. Identify Infrastructure vulnerability to climate change; 8. Ensure that land use zoning reduces vulnerability to adverse impacts of climate change; 9. Make rain water harvesting at site level mandatory; 10. Take adaptive measures expecting an increase of vectors. 11. Establish Food Security in the face of climate change threats; 12. Develop and adopt energy saving technologies in agriculture.
Strategies for Mission 5 deal with Responsible Use of Land Resources as follows: 1. Reduce land degradation in agricultural areas; 2. Rehabilitate deteriorated lands; 3. Develop and implement programmes for the use of non-cultivated agricultural lands; 4. Optimize soil conservation through mandatory & other measures; 5. Promote precision farming, traditional verities of crops and crops to fit agro-ecological condition; 6. Conserve, restoring and improve important representative landscapes; 7. Integrate a system to restore, reclaim and rehabilitate mined areas; 8. Carry out assessment on Forest cover of Sri Lanka, including different categories of forests; 9. Improve management of commercial plantations; 10. Promote the integrated management of upper watersheds; 11. Mitigate and adaptation to drought; 12. Review Land related Laws. Strategies for Mission 7 deal with Water for All and Always as follows: 1. Establish a systematic water allocation system and improve efficiency and equity in water distribution for various purposes; 2. Organize a rehabilitation scheme for small tanks and revitalize the tank cascade system developed; 3. Transform the irrigation system to meet new challenges; 4. Keep drinking water sources free from contamination through proper zoning and control measures; 5. Integrate conservation, re-use and recycling practices at all levels of water use; 6. Strictly enforce the Polluter Pays Principle for water polluting industries/activities; 7. Strengthen implementation of integrated water resource management systems; 8. Reduce fertilizer leaching and eutrophication.
Accomplishing the missions and attaining the goal of Haritha Lanka would require the country to steer through a path of sustainable development. The importance of sustainable development was highlighted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, dubbed the Earth Summit, which was held in 1992. For the first time in the history of the United Nations, countries were invited to be represented by their heads of state. The message was clear – there was an overwhelming need for all countries to make a concerted effort to meet the challenge of balancing economic development with environmental care, and this message had to be accepted and acted upon by all countries at the highest political level. Sri Lanka’s strategy for sustainable development focuses on eradicating poverty, ensuring competitiveness in the economy, improving social development, ensuring good governance and maintaining a clean and healthy environment.