Seagrass-Watch Magazine Issue 47 - March 2013 | Page 49

Apart from seagrass communities, this
section of the lagoon was also rich with
macro-algae, benthic molluscs and many
commercially viable fish species. All of the
sampled islets were bordered with
mangroves, whose root systems provided
an excellent habitat for juvenile fish and
crustaceans, while acting as spawning
grounds and safe-heavens. All together,
these communities gave rise to the diverse
benthic ecosystems of the Dutch-Bay
region of the Puttlam Lagoon. However,
these communities are now threatened by
the developmental activities of the
ongoing tourism development project.
All prescribed development activities are
executed under the environmental law of
Sri Lanka. Depending upon the
magnitude and the degree of the impact(s)
to the ecosystems, respective EIA or Initial
Environmental Examination (IEE) studies
have been and will be conducted. So,
theoretically, these development projects
would be environmentally sustainable.
But this has not always been the case.
A gap in Sri Lanka's environmental law
enforcement is the lack of postdevelopment monitoring. Nobody knows
whether a project proponent has followed
the environmental guidelines of the EIA
document until an
environmental problem
occurs. Therefore, some
projects are likely to squeeze
through the legal framework
and potentially modify or
destroy sensitive ecosystems
(such as seagrass meadows).
The impacts of destroying
seagrass meadows could
trigger a network of
collapses: such as loss of
biodiversity, productivity,
lagoon-fisheries, local
economy and the tourism as
w e l l . To a v o i d s u c h
consequences, government
will need to reinforce the
legal framework.
Conducting environmental
assessments (as parts of EIA
process) prior to project
design and implementation
is only part of the process
and not sufficient on its own.
Post-development
monitoring and evaluation is
a key tool to assessing the
developers compliance to
environmental guidelines.
It is clear that if proper
management is not
implemented when large

References
1. Pathirana, K. P. P Kamal, A. R. I., Riyasand, M. C., & ALM,
.,
S. (2008). Management of coastal resources in Puttalam
lagoon, sri lanka. COPEDEC VII-U.A.E
2. http://www.sltda.lk/kalpitiya (Accessed 06.09.2012)

scale activities are proposed, such as
K a l p i t i y a - D u t c h B a y To u r i s m
Development Project, which includes
numerous environmental modifications
and impacts, sensitive ecosystems such as
seagrass meadows would immediately
drop from their pristine state. These
ecosystems would then degrade over
time, generating large scale
environmental, economical and even
social controversies. Avoiding or
mitigating losses, particularly in cases such
as Dutch Bay, is very important, especially
where most of the native community is
fully or partly dependent on natural
resources of the Puttlam lagoon.

Seagrass abundances at EIA survey locations

Kovilkuda
Ippanthivu
Periya Arichchal

Puliyankuda
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

% seagrass cover

Seagrass found
Samples of Halodule uninervis and Halophila ovalis (left), collected from Dutch Bay.
The density of these seagrass meadows was highest near-shore of the islets and
much lower in more open areas. Enhalus acoroides (below) was found in the
relatively deeper (>0.5m) and turbid waters of the lagoon: whereas, all other species
(Thalassia hemprichii, left) were observed to thrive in shallow silt-rich substratum
near the shores.

MARCH 2013

49