OF THE MAN AND THE BIOSPHERE PROGRAMME IN SRI LANKA

This paper summarises the major programmes carried out uncler the purview of the Man and Eiosphere National Committee of Sri Lanka. Uncler the UNESCO MA13 programme 41 forest reserves covering a total extent of 72760 ha have been demarcated. Two of these viz, EIurulu and Sinharaja, were admitted to the international network of biosphere reserves. The study ol' the environmental impacts of the Mahaweli Irrigation Project initiated in 1.977 was a major contribution towards environment conservation and sustainable development. Progress was made on the 'evision of Trimen's Handboolc to the Flora of Ceylon, originally published between 1893 ancl 1900. The pi-oject on the preparation of checlrlists and handbooks to the fauna and flora, and othelactivities such as jnternationallregional workshops and future directions of the MAE programme in Sri Lanlra are briefly discussed.


INTRODUCTION
The "Man and the Biosphere" programme (MAB) was launched by UNESCO in 1971 as an interdisciplinary and intergovernmental programme.It was a clirect outcome of the UNESCO-Biosphere Conference of 1968 which drew attention to the urgent need for a more rational approach to the use of natural resources.The main objective of the MAB programme was to develop the basis, within the natural and the social sciences, for the conservation and rational use of nature and the resources of the biosphere.The programme in Sri Lanlca was coordinated by NARJESA (then the National Science Council, under the Ministry of Scientific Mairs) and the Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO (SLNC).A National Committee for the Man and the Biosphere programme was appointed in 1971 by the Minister of Education, under whose purview the SLNC functioned, with the concurrence of the b s t e r of Industries and Scientdic Mairs.The Committee consisted of 12 members drawn from universities, research organisations, and relevant government departments.The National Committee presently f~~nctions directly under NARESA in the Ministry of Science & Technology.It is 1-econstituted every 2-3 years.By the 1980s several non-governmental organisations (NGOs) had gained acceptance as responsible champions of the cause of environmental conservation.The Ministry recognised the positive role they could play by appointing representatives of three NGOs to the MA33 Committee i n 1992.
The first MAE Committee took note of the very rapid destruction that was going on of the few remaining natural forests in the island and the acute shol-tage of personnel trxined in environmental studies.High priority was therefore given to the establishment and protection of forest reserves and to the ed~~cation and training of personnel in environmental studies.The Committee identified the following broad areas for study -taxonomy, ecology, a survey of natural.resources, ar~d pollution.Subcommittees were appointed where necessary to identify specific project areas and personnel comnlissioned to carry out the work.With the establishment of a statutory Committee on Natural Resources in 1982, this aspect of the work was transferred to the new Committee.However oversight of the work handled by the National Mangrove Committee, established in 1984, and the Technical Committee for Conservation of Genetic Resources, set up in 1988 was passed on to the MAB Committee with the dxsolution of these Committees in 1992.I t is not possible to deal with every aspect of the work undertaken by the MAB Committee over a period of over 25 years, in this paper.Only the most important programmes are discussed under the following subheaclulgs -biospl~ere reserves, research, educatxon and traimng in environmental studles, completion of the revision of the Flora of Ceylon, and other activities.Although a progressive transition &om the strictly protected area to an area of sustainable use by man for agriculture, settlement or other activities was conceptualised at a very early stage of the biosphere reserve concept, the NIAB reserves in the country were totally dedicated for conservation.Thus they correspond to the "core area" set apart for conserving biological dwersity, monitoring minimally disturbed ecosystems, and undertaking nondestructive research and other uses such as education.The other two elements of the MAB reserve concept are, the "buffer zone" and the "transition area".The buffer zone which usually surrounds or adjoins thecore areais for cooperative activities compatible with sound ecological practices, including environmental education, recreation, ecotourism and applied and basic research.The transition area is a flexible area of cooperation"which may contain avariety of agricultural activities, settlements and other uses and in whch local committees, management agencies, scientists, non governmental organisations, economic interests and other stakeholders work together to manage and sustainably develop the area's resources"'.
The national NIAB reserves have been selected from the different bio-climatic zones and range from 3 to 50,000 ha, though there are few areas below 10 ha and only two reserves over 10,000 ha (Table 1).The different types of climax vegetation such as the tropical wet evergreen forests, dry mixed evergreen forests, patanas and savannah woodlands are represented in the areas designated as reserves.
NARESA provided funds to the Forest Department for demarcating and fencing the MAB reserves, which originated as IBP arboreta, under its programme on demarcation andmaintenance ofMAB reserves.In 1988, Sinharaja, the largest tract of rainforest remainiug in the country, was declared a national heritage wilderness area under the National Heritage Wilderness Areas Act No. 3 of 1988.
The recommendation of the MAB National Committee a few years previously to include the Sinharaja forest reserve in the list of World Heritage properties also bore fruit in the same year when it was designated a world heritage site under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.According to the biosphere reserve concept of the UNESCO NIAB programme, each biosphere reserve is intended to fulfil three complementary functions viz, a conservation function, to preserve genetic resources, species, ecosystems and landscapes ; a development function, to foster sustainable economic and human development ; and a logistic support function, to support demonstration projects, environmental education and training, and research and monitoring related to local, national and global issues of conservation and sustainable development.
Significant progress has been achieved in the latter function in the Sinharaja biosphere reserve, largely due to the interest and initiative of a research group from the University of Peradeniya (vide Annex 1).In 1980 a "research hut" was constructed at Sinharaja with a n allocation of Rs 100000/= from NARESA.Without the provision of this basic facility of a field research station in the forest reserve it is doubtful whether such progress could have been achieved.The facility is managed by the Forest Department along with the conservation and educational centres subsequently developed by the Department.The MAB Committee also recommended funding of a field research station at the Hurulu reserve (1985), and made a n allocation of Rs 100,000/= in 1990 towards establishing a facility for researchers at Horton Plains Strict Natural Reserve.However work at Hurulu was stayed due to security reasons, and no progress has been made by the Wild Life Department on the provision of a research facility at Horton Plains as envisaged.
The MAB reserves have no special legal status, but have been administratively designated as MAB reserves under the existing legislation in Sri Lanka.The clesignation and demarcation ofthese reserves gave the lead to the establisl2ment of'a protected area network in the country, a t a time when conservatioi~ was not given any priority status in forest management, the main objective of management being timber production.At present however, 33 additional forests covering an extent of 75752 h a have been designated conservation forests by the Forest Department (Table 2 ), based on Me results of the National Conservation Review.-Other conservation forests The national system of protected areas covers over 14% of total land area, the area managed by the Forest Department and the Wild Lifc Department being 2.2% and 12.4% respectively.This is higher than in many other S o u t l ~ and South-East Asian countries.However many of the protected areas are small and isolated reflecting the fragmented nature of much of the remaining natural habltat.Sixty one percent of the MAB reserves are less than 100 h a in extent and 85% less than 1000 h a (Figure 1).The situation with thc protected areas administered by the Wild Life Department is somewhat better with most of the areas being over 1000 ha.Nevertheless opportunities to protect large blocks of forest are becoming fewer.

F i y r e I: Distribution of MAB reserves by size
There is a need to review and rationalise the national MAB reserves in the context of the total protected area network in the country.Boundaries of the reserves have been demarcated several years ago, and the present extents in many areas may have to be revised according to the ground situation.In cases where the MAB reserve falls within an area declared a conservation forest, this will form the core area within a larger, protected area.This exercise will have to be done by the Forest Department in the context ofthe recently concluded National Conservation Review, whose over-riding objective was to define a national system of conservation forests in which watersheds important for soil conservation and hydrology are protected, forest biodiversity is fully represented and cultural, economic and social needs are met.
The sites designated as MAB reserves in Sri Lanka are all forest areas.Other ecosystems are not represented.This deficiency is not only in the case of Sri Lanka's MAB reserves.An international conference of experts was organisr,d by UNESCO in 1995 in Seville, Spain, at which a strategy, now known as the "Seville Strategy", with recommendations for the fbture development of biosphere reserves in the 21st century were drawn up.Under one of the ten key directions identified by the conference which laid the foundation for the strategy, it is noted that "there i s a partlcz~lar potential, and need, to apply the biosplzere reserve concept in the coastal and m.ctrine envirolzments".The MAB National Committee is presently l o o h ~g into suitable wetland or coastal areas for designation as reserves.

RESEARCH
The MAB Committee initiated and sponsored a number of studies particularly during the early years, during which time the broad area of natural resources and environment came under its purview.NARESA provided initial financing of Rs 891001-in 1971 for 6 projects, and from 1977 onwards a special allocation for MAB activities was provided - The Mahaweli Development Board contributed a sum of Rs.730,000/= in 1979, and a further Rs.100,0001= the following year, for the project in the Mahaweli area.Some studies were funded by UNESCO.
The projects undertaken by the IVL4B Committee are listed a t Annex 2. One of the first and most significant studies initiated by the Committee viz, monitoring of the eilvironmental impact of the Mahaweli project is described below.Socio-economic survey

Monitoring of the physical environment
The following projects were carried out:

Monitoring of the biotic environment
(a) Flora -Astudy of the flora of the System H area was designed to be carried out over a period of time so that changes could be monitored and compared with baseline data obtained from relatively undisturbed areas.(b) Fauna -The pnmary objectwe of this study was to gather baselme data on the composition and distrubution of important parts of the aquatic fauna, particularly the plankton, major benth~c forms and major fish forms.

Socio-economic survey
The objective of this study was to obtain socio-economic data from the settlers.
An area where farmers were already resident, and a village which would not be directly influenced by the Mahaweli project, were also included in the survey.
The entire project was carried out ~71th the collaboration ancl suppol-t, includmg financial support, of the Maliaweli Development Board 'and thc findings were communicated to the Board in confidential briefings and reports.This was mainly because some of the results could be wrongly interpreted and posslbly cause embarassment to the authorities.However the work has been published in several scientific papers and two M.Phil theses.
The scenario at the time the work was started by NARESA and the MAB National Committee was: there was considerable pressure on the nat~~ral resources and environment of the country as a result of the rapidly growing population, and a general lack of official recognition of the i.mportance of environmental.protection, in the abse~lce of legislation specifically for environniental protection, and management.The National Environmental Act was enacted in 1980 and amended subsequently; the Environmental Impact Assessment procc >SS came into effect years later.Thus, this is a major contribution of the MAB National Committee to environmental conservation and national.development quite apart from the scientific output and research training benefits from the studies.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN ENVIRONMENTJ'AL STUDIES
Sri Lanka was probably one of the best botanized tropical islands by thc turn of this century, having attracted many famous foreign scientists to study lzer rich and interesting flora (and fauna).Most of the publications wet c however in journals abroad and often in continental European languages and tll~ls inaccessible to researchers in Sri Lanka.Further, the dearth, and in some cases the total inadequacy, of guides or handbooks to the flora and fauna of the country posed a serious constraint for biological field studies in the country.It was to fulfil this need that the MAB Committee sponsored a project for the preparation of checklists and handbooks to the fauna and flora with the objective of preparing background literature on the local plants and animals.The project commenced in 1977 and was centred in the botany and zoology laboratories of the University of Colombo.Under this project, specimens were collected, stud.ied and collated, and check lists of species, keys to and descriptions of genera, and handbooks for their identification prepared.Nearly 10 years later, the MAl3 Committee initiated the Botanical Survey Project, in order to prepare checklists of plants of selected habitats e. g. salt marsh plants, seashore plants, mangroves and water plants.
A total of 21 publications have been produced (Annex 3).This series of checldists and handbooks cover most plant groups, except the lichens and marine algae.
With regard to the fauna, checklists/handbooks have been prepared on birds, mosquitoes, arnphibia, mammals and land snails of Sri Ladc.a.The recently revived Zoological Survey of Sri Lanka, coordinated by NARESA, could now consider filling in the gaps in faunal checklists.

REVISION OF THE "FLORA OF CEYLON
The MAB National Committee through NARESA was instrumental in revivin.g the revision of Trimen's Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, securing funding for the project and coordinating the project.The history of this project warrants record i n a review of this nature.
Trimen's Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, published about a hundred years ago between 1893 and 1900, was considered at that time to be one of the most complete and outstandiilg works on the flowering plants of any tropical.country.In 1931, A.H.G.Alston added to the five volumes of 'Primen's 19ora a sixth containing additions, revisions and corrections.With the passage of ti.me, copies i n a satisfactory state of preservation became extremely rare.Further, much new information had accumulated by the middle of this ccatury, and in the light of changing concepts regardhg the names and identity of plants, systems of classifications etc. Trimen's handbook proved to be outdated.

Professor B.A. A b e y ~i c k ~a m a ,
recobpized the need for a n up-to-date Flora, and resolved upon a complete revision or a t least its reprinting.In 1967 the Smithsonian Institution initiated a number of research projects in Sri Lanlra.Among them were several dealing with plant ecology, in which Professor Abeywickrama was associated as Co-Principal Investigator with Dr F.R. l'osberg of the Smithsonian Institution who was Principal Investigator.I11 the course of their discussions, Professor Abeywickrama suggested that the Smitllsonian Institution should initiate a project to revise Trimen's flora.This was taken up and th.e Flora Revision Project started in February 1968, thirty years ago.The participation of botanists from several countries, most of them expei-ts in pa~-tic~~l.arfhmilies represented in the Sri Lankan flora, were enlisted for the st~tcly.
The Smithsonian -supported project was originally for fivc years, and was later extended in stages, and work went on uninterrupted up to December 1979.Arrangements for printing t h e volumes of the :revisecl flo1.a were made with a publisher in India, befhre the project came to an end.Tbe first volume of the Revised Flora appeared in 1980, and since then further volumes were published a t regular intervals.Dr Fosberg continued to help by editing the manuscripts even after the project came to an end, until his deathin 1993.He was one ofthe founders of the Flora Revisiorl Project, and the success of its first phase was almost entirely due to his efforts.
At the end of the Smith.soniansupportedproject, of' the total of 215 famil.ies of Sri Lanliat~ flowering pl.ants, 70 stil.1 remained to be i.evised, and neither the ful-tds for their revision nor the required expertise was available in S1-i Lanka.In 1990, acting on a proposal by Professor A b e y ~i c h -~u l ~~., supported by the MAB National Committee, NARESA made a request to the British Overseas Development Adrninistration (ODA) to support the compl.etion of the flora ixvision.ODA agreed, and appointed the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as thci.ragent.Dr W.D. Clayton as Principal Investigator enlisted collaborating scientists and co-orhlated their work.NARESA co-01-dnated the work in S1-i Lanlia in collaboratiol~ with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, and the Forestry Planni~ig Unit of the Ministry of Forestry through which the funds were channelled as part of' a larger project on Forestry Research and Informatio~l which.co~llrnenced in 1991.Prof. M.D. Dassanayake, as Co-Principal Investigator assigned fan-tjljes to the local botanists, and the project was gmded by a NARESAAdvisoiy Co111111ittec.Th.e project was based a t the Natioilal Herbarium.Volumes VII to XI of the Revised Flora were published during this period.The Xth. volurne, being thc first cntil-ely under ODA auspices, was published in 1996.
By the end of'this phase of the project in May 1997, all the flowering plant families of the Sri Lanlian flora had been revised, and I1 volumes of the Revised Flora published.The printing of the remaining volumes is expected i;o encl with volume XIV.ODA agreed to support the wvision also oftllc S1-i I ~n k a n ferns.The work is now in progress, and when the manuscripts are ready a 15th volume will be added to the Revised Flora.NARESA has providcd ~llldiilg for the final phase of'this work which is p'lanned fbr completion by the encl of 1998.A total of 215 families comprising 3662 species are covered in the revision.
A very significant function of the Flora Project was to give Sri Lznkan botanists, especially students, the opportunity to acquire a competence in taxononlic studies by actually working with experts, both in the field as well as in the herbarium.They had the invaluable experience of assisting and working with some of the most outstanding plant taxonomists of our time.The trained men are now pursuing useful careers in taxonomy or related fields in Sri Lanka and ~ other countries.
In the course of their herbarium work, the scientists rendered to the National Herbarium in Peradeniya the most valuable service of annotating the specimens with their correct, up-to-date names, which greatly increased the value and usefulness of the specimens to other users of the herbarium.The project added to the National Herbarium about 50,000 new specimens of' Si-j Lankan plants collected in the course of the work, raising the total collection at the Herbarium from about 75,000 to about 125,000.
The field work involved in the revision of the flora helped to draw attention to the wealth and diversity of Sri Lanka's plant resoui.cesand also to the degradation of the natural vegetation and the resulting disappearance or increasing variety of some species.Some species that Trimcn reported as common in his day are now rare ; some have been located only after much search or have not been located at all.The volumes of the revised flora have provided ecologists, students of wild life and conservationists with new information regarding the identitv of Sri Lankan plant species, and their distribution within the country and j.11 neighbouring countries.In addition, botanists participating in the revision have published scientific papers in local and international journals wit11 descriptions of rare and new species.
The completion of the flora revision is not in any sense the end of'lloristic study in Sri Lanka.As Trimen has said in the introduction to h.is book, the study of a country's plant life is a continually advancing and never ending process.In fact, in the light of lrnowledge that has accumulated in recent years, many parts of the earlier revised volumes are already in need of revision.The flora 1.evisio11 brought together.existing information gained from tl2.e taxonomic study of' our f1owerin.gplants to form an up-to-date knowledge base.It now relnains to further investigate groups, large or small, in gl-eater detail and so build 011 this base and advance our 1rnowl.edge of our plant life and plant resources.
Trimen's Flora and the revision deal only with the flowering plants of Sri Lanka, apart from the ferns which are being revised now.Groups suck as the liverworts and mosses, fungi, algae and lichens, have never been studied to the same depth as the flowering plants.Among them may be species which will one day prove to be very valuable natural resources.It is hoped that means will be found to survey these groups as well, and so produce a complete information base of the plant resources of our country.To carry on this work what is needed is an ongoing Botanical Survey with permanent staff and annual budgetary allocations, like the Botanical Survey of India.Arecommendation to this effect has been made to the Director General of the Deparment of Agriculture under whom the National Herbarium functions.

OTHER ACTIVITIES
The MAB National Committee has sponsored and organised several workshops and seminars.Three regional meetings are worthy of mention : Environment education programmes have also been undertaken.In a NARESA-March for Conservation (MfC) joint programme on promoting and enhancing conservation education in Sri Lanka, the following were carried out commencing 1992 : preparation and publication of educational and publicity posters on coral reefs; production of simple pictorial booklets for young students on mammals, birds, rainforests etc; workshops for teachers to enhance their skills with respect to conservation education.This programme was a sequel to the NARESA-MfC programme carried out earlier to identify the constraints to making conservation education in schools meaningful and effective.
The MAB National Committee functioning as a watch-dog organisation on the environment took part in the discussion of the environmental impacts of the proposed Forestry Master Plan (1986) and alerted the authorities on the problems inherent in the proposed plan.This intervention contributed in no small measure to the eventual revision of the plan.Recommendations have also been made to the authorities onvarious aspects such as conservation measures to be implemented with regard to endangered species (1985), land alienation (1990), export of water plants and ornamental fish (1993), and landslides (1994).

FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The preservation of genetic resources, species, ecosystems and landscapes 1s a key function of biosphere reserves.The MAB National Committee has planned to get a review of the biosphere reserves with regard to their integrity and status, and their place in the protected area network in the country.Selection of new areas e.g.Knuckles, Peak Wilderness, and a wetland or coastal habitat for designation as MAB reserves will be considered.
But biosphere reserves are much more than just protected areas.They promote an integrated approach to achieving a sustainable balance between the sometimes conflicting goals of conserving biodiversity, promoting economic development and maintaining associated cultural values.They are thus well placed to contribute to the implementation of the International Convention on Biological Diversity whose major objectives are the conservation and sustainable use of biodversity, and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from its use.Perhaps more attention needs to be given to the development function in the national reserves in general.As stated earlier, much has been achieved in promoting research & monitoring, education & training and demonstration projects in Sinharaja.Attention should now be focussed on developing the logistic support function in other reserves as well.
The Seville Strategy1 provides recommendations for developing effective biosphere reserves and for setting out the condtions for the appropriate functioning of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.It suggests the level i.e. international, national, and individual biosphere reserve, at which each recommendation will be most effective.Monitoring the implementation of these recommendations will be an important part of the MAB programme.
Sponsoring of research is an ongoing activity under the MAB programme.Research on the biosphere is carried out under NARESA's committees such as the Biological Sciences Committee and Natural Resources Committee, and the Zoological Survey of Sri Lanka.The MAE3 committee is currently considering a research project on population dynamics of selected endemic fish species.
Biodiversity information is central to any effort towards better conservation and management of living resources.The MAB committee has embarked on a programme to retrieve as much as possible of the available unpublished data on Sri Lanka's biodiversity and publish selected information as a series of MAB Occasional Papers.
It is expected that the MAB National Committee will continue to be alert to important environmental issues facing the country from time to time, be it deforestation, export of threatened plants and animals, bio-piracy, import of Genetically moddied organisms etc., and make recommendations to the authorities, through NARESA, for better conservation and management of our natural resources and environment.

Annex 1 USE OF THE SINHARAJA BIOSPHERE RESERVE FOR RESEARCH, MONITORING, EDUCATION AND TRAINING'
The Sinharaja World Heritage site was used a t the first instance to describe the floristic diversity of woody plant species and identification of' t.llreatenec1 as kvell as economically important specie^,',"^ popu1at;lon biology, reproductive biology and rege~leration dynamics of economic plants with a view to their d.on~estication.""They were followed by interdisciplinary studies in.cluding applied, ecological-f'orest1-y and seedling ecol~&~.~." sociological and resource e ~o n o r n i c s ' ~~~~~~' comparative studies on soil biology and fertility and nutrient dynamics of' natural ancl modified forests includmg monoculture plantations.These studes yielded useful baseline infoi-rnatio~l on soil.fertility in relation to land use in, the rain forest and the buffer zone.All the above studies strengthened national, regional and international collaboration in research, education and training.They provided the oppol-tunity for post-graduate researchers from local and overseas institutions to participate in research at Sinharaja.The active participation of overseas collaborators in researcll and educatioil has contributed significantly to the improvement of research and teaching in forest ecology and management at Peradeniya University.Furthermore, in all the studies, the local villagers were given a n opportunity to participate, thus m&ng t h s research more meaningful to them and at the same time harnessing their indigenous knowledge of the forest.Some of these field assistants arc? working now as visitor guides thereby sharing their experience with the visitors.
The scientists have collaborated with international research networks lilre the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility (TSBF) programme, International Working Group on Dipterocarpaceae (IWGD), International Network for DIVERSITAS in Western Pacific and Asia (DIWPA) a n d Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).This coll.aborationallowed them to participate i n ecological and environn~eiltal mon.itoring and modelling at national, regional and global level.The adoption of standardzed protocols for data collection and management in these networl< studies facilitated the accessibility, interchange and utilization of scientific information These research findings have been incorporated into unde~graduate as well as school curricula and field training programmes, school exhibitions, poster sessions, visitor guides and national level biodiversity action plans, forestry and f'orest research policy guidelines.A field guide to the common tree and shrub species of Sri Lanka was published recently2"ith the expericnce gained over the years on the Sri Lankan flora.
The research group has over the decades created a truly international collaborati.veresearch programme focused on the sustainable management and conservation of rain forests in Sri Lanlia.The strength of this programme has been.based on the initial biological studies going on for over 20 years in the Si.nharaja forest.This programme is now fully complemented by researchers involved with social and economic analyses of resource use issues in the south-west of Sri Lanka.The close collaboration of the research group with the Forestry Planning Unit and the Forest Departnlent under the Ministt-y of Forests and En.vironment has paved the way for incorporating the research outputs into national.level forestry planning and implementation in Sri Lanka.

2. 0
BIOSPHERE RESERVES Biosphere reserves are "areas of terrestrial and coastal 1 marine ecosystems or a combination thereof; which are internationally recognised within the fi-arneworlc of UNESCO's Programme on Man and the Biosphere".In 1969 the local Committee of the International Biological Programme demarcated a number of 20 h a blocks of forests as arboreta in the main bio-climatic zones of Sri Lanka.With the IBP projects coming under UNESCO in 1971, and expansion of tlGs programme as the Man and Biosphere Programme, larger forest areas both natural and planted were declared MA16 reserves.TlGs was done by the Conservator of Forests on the recommendation of the MAl3 Committee.Up to t h s time, forests were considered primady as a resource for timber extraction, and the declaration of the nation.alMAB reserves marked a shift in emphasis from timber prod.uction to conservation.At present there are 41 MAB reserves covering a total extent of 72760 ha.Two reserves viz, Hurulu and Sinharaja have been admitted to the world network of biosphere reserves with their designation as inte~national MAB reserves in 1977 and 1978 respectively.The special features of the international MAB reserves are -they form part of an international network they provide for manipulative research in portions of the reserves they combine conservation, research, education & training as major objectives they play an integrative role with local communities whose social and economic activities comprise a significant management input they focus their efforts on the relationship between man and the biosphereThe world network of biosphere reserves comprises 352 reserves fiom 87 countries.

3. 1
M o n i t o r i n g of t h e total e n v i r o n m e n t a l i m p a c t of t h e Mahaweli p r o j e c t TheAccel.eratedMahaweli Irrigation Project as envisaged a t the time (late 3.970s) was the largest development project ever undertaken in Sri Lanlza.The tran.s-basin watcr diversion, creation of new reservoirs, clearing of forests, land development, settling of farmers' families, intensive agriculture and other activities would cause drastic and often permanent changes to the natural ecosystem.Based on a pre-feasibility report prepared by NARESA in 1977, the i?lA.l3National Committee embarked on three sub-projects in an attempt to study the total environmental impact of the project : : Monitoring of the physical environment :' Survey of the biota :: (a) Water -t h e chemical balance of t h e irrigation system of theKalawewa area was studied for the purpose of predicting thequality of irrigation a n d drainage waters.A number of chemical and physicalparameters were analysed.(b) Soil -t h s project was carried out with the objective of monitoring the changes in the soils of System H of the Mahaweli Project resulting from the introduction of irrigation and intensive c~zltivation.
& lzydrology -The purpose of this study was t o monitor and evaluate the impact of development on the climate, soil and hydrology of Kalawewa.
(a) Regional training workshop on the Ecology and Conservation of Humid Tropical Forests of the Indo-Malayan Realm-held in Colombo in 1987 with technical and financial assistance from UNESCO, World Heritage Convention and USAID.Participants from 11 countries in the South and South East Asian region including Sri Lanka attended the workshop.(b) International symposium on the Ecology and Landscape Management in Sri Lanka, held in Colombo in 1990.Over 200 scientists, both local and foreign, attended the symposium which was co-sponsored by NARESA.(c) Regional seminar on the Forests of the Humid Tropics of South and South East Asia held in Kandy, in 1996 to commemorate 40 years of the study of tropical vegetation under the umbrella of UNESCO.This was jointly funded by UNESCO, NORAD and the MacArthur Foundation.Sixty 1.ocal and foreign scientists attended, and 25 papers were presented.The proceedings of this seminar are in press.
1:',"1,'"."6Studies on reproductive biology, genetic diversity, mating s y s t e r n ~~~' ~~' % a l ~d molecular cladist,ics19 provided valuable information on genetic diversity within and among populations, genetic relatedness among sympatric clades of species a n d illformati011 for p l a n t breeding a n d improvement.Restoration, of late-successional rain forest canopy species using Pinz~s car.ihnecc.as a nurse species in S i i ~h a r a j a ~.~~.~' have yielded extremely usehl results for forest~y exte~lsion work in the buffer zone through local participation.These interdisciplin.aryand inter-institutional. collaborative research efforts have paid rich dividends in guiding research along the MAB concepts.
Abstracted from a submission to NARESA b y Drs C.V.S. & I.A.U.N.Gunatillelie ancl Drs P.S. & P.M.S. Ashton -July 1997 generated.on the floristic composition and dynamics in.rain forest ecosystems.