Environment and Natural Resources Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, said at the AGM of the Institute of Environmental Professionals of Sri Lanka, the need to incorporate environmental considerations in the development process is well recognised in Sri Lanka.

"The private sector is one of the main stakeholders of the present development process. Therefore, efficient mobilisation and building partnerships are needed to facilitate the above construction process," he said.

Environmental Impact Assessment of large scale projects is now well established in Sri Lanka, he said.

Although Strategic Environment Assessment is well established in many western countries, it is not very widely practiced in the South Asian region, he said.

It is a powerful tool to assess the possible impacts of strategic decisions such as policies, plans and programmes.

Sri Lanka has already carried out SEA for the Trincomalee development plan and the SEA for Hambantota has just commenced.

Plans are also underway to carry out a similar exercise for the Northern Province. With the expected large scale development in the North, a SEA will be timely, he said.

"The focus on short term profits and lack of attention to environmental degradation has resulted in a huge ecological deficit," he said.

Ranawaka believes the long term solution to the current worldwide crisis is the adoption of green economy concepts.

"Adoption of such concepts is not foreign to us in Sri Lanka, as our ancestors were well aware of the need to protect the environment for the use of future generations while making use of it for the present generation."