Ananda Mallawatantri

IUCN Sri Lanka

The land use pattern, disaster scenarios, and the impact on human needs are different over the past decades. In this context, mainstreaming disaster risk reduction in ecosystem-based approaches requires multi-sector and multi-stakeholder engagement with a better conceptual model, improved understanding of ecosystems, effective community engagement,...

After the 30-year long civil war was over, the Government of Sri Lanka commenced an accelerated programme to develop the Northern Province. If not carefully planned, such a programme will result in the loss of biodiversity and the consequent loss of services that ecosystems provide humans. Therefore, documenting the biodiversity found within coasta...

After the three decade-long civil war was over, the Government of Sri Lanka commenced an accelerated programme to develop the Northern Province. If not properly planned, these developmental projects will result in the loss of biological diversity and, in particular, the consequent loss of services that ecosystems provide humans. One of the importan...

The geographic boundaries have provided the essential requirement of isolation for species and ecosystems to evolve. However, human intervention supporting long-distance movement of plants and animals have made several species cross geographical and political barriers, enter new habitats and become invasive in the introduced environment. Developmen...

This report provides evaluation of 54 small grants provided under Mangroves for the Future (MFF) initiative in Sri Lanka covering covering the period 2009 - 2012. The evaluation was carried out from mid June to end August 2014.

Integrated Strategic Environmental Assessment (ISEA) is an advanced version of the Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA) process that involves data integration and coordination of among multiple stakeholders working on large number of plans and strategies, in a specific area. The diverse set of post-conflict development plans put forward by Govern...

Degradation rates of 14C ring labeled carbofuran and diazinon in selected Sri Lankan soils were studied using 0.1 μCi/10 g soil in Nuwara Eliya (red yellow podzolic), Pugoda (alluvials) Kalpitiya and Negombo (regosols) soils by incubating at 28 °C of temperature for 13 hours light and 11 hours dark conditions and measuring the activity of liberated...

The brackish coastal wetlands in the Bundala National Park, the only RAMSAR site of southern Sri Lanka, are an important waterfowl habitat and economic zone. Bundala Lagoon, one of the three key lagoons of the Bundala wetlands, remains largely intact and relatively pristine, but the other two interconnected lagoons, namely, Embilikala and Malala, a...

The watershed natural resources management framework is prevalent today because land use in watersheds is presumed to be reflected in receiving stream water quality. However, landscape characteristics affecting soil erosion and water quality (e.g., precipitation, geomorphology, slope, soil internal drainage, cropping system) often vary significantl...

Among research publications in soil science, few have had a greater impact than those by Nielsen et al. (1973) or Biggar and Nielsen (1976). According to Science Citation Index, the former paper, entitled “Spatial variability of field-measured soilwater properties,” has been cited by scientific peers over 390 times. The 1976 paper, entitled “Spatia...

The transfer function model is widely used to estimate solute transport patterns at the field scale. Leaching risk assessments with the transfer function model may be influenced by spatial variability in toe net applied water (NAW) distribution, but few researchers have investigated this possibility. The objective of this study was to evaluate the...

The effect of changes in soil characteristics with depth because of soil horizonation and macroporosity on fate of pesticides is poorly understood. Soil from the surface A horizons (0-0.65 m), albic E horizons (1.05-1.35 m), argillic Bt horizons (1.4-3.5 m), and surface linings of macropores in the argillic horizons (Bt-M, 1.4-3.5 m) of a Thatuna s...