The Ministry of Environment in Sri Lanka has announced that it has received 189 complaints from the public concerning wildlife and forest-related offenses. Currently, 94 of these complaints are being investigated, while legal action has been initiated in 95 cases. These complaints have come in over the last two months since the launch of the ‘1995’ hotline, part of the “Wana Surekuma – Joint Operations Unit” under the Ministry’s ‘Vanaspati’ national initiative. The Ministry highlighted that the complaints involve issues like forest destruction, illegal wildlife activities, the reclamation of mangroves and wetlands, and the clearing of forest reserves. Most of the complaints have been reported from the Monaragala and Anuradhapura districts. A review meeting to discuss the actions taken regarding these wildlife and forest crime complaints was held on the 20th of this month at the Ministry of Environment, chaired by the Minister of Environment. Furthermore, the Ministry encourages the public to report wildlife and forest crimes anytime through the 24-hour hotline service available at the short code 1995.
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