As enacted

Contents

9. Replacement of section 6 of the principal enactment

Official English translation. Where it differs from the Sinhala or Tamil text, the Act itself says which text prevails.

Section 6 of the principal enactment is hereby repealed and the following section substituted therefor:—

6. (1) No person shall be permitted to enter a Conservation Forest other than under the authority of a permit issued by the Conservator-General of Forests or a person authorized by him in that behalf for the purpose of:—

(a)

engaging in scientific research within a Conservation Forest;

(b)

observing the fauna and flora in a

Conservation Forest; or

(c)

implementation of the activities prescribed in the Management Plan.

(2)

Subject to the provisions of subsection (1), a person who, in a Conservation Forest:—

(a)

trespasses or causes trespass or remains therein;

(b)

fells, cuts, saws or causes the felling, cutting or sawing of or alters, converts, collects, removes or

“Acts prohibited in a

Conservation

Forest.

transports or marks, lops or girdle, any plant, tree or timber or collects, removes or transports or has in his possession, custody or control of any forest produce or erects a scaffolding or constructs a saw pit;

(c)

removes the bark or leaves from any tree or strips of the bark from any tree or cuts its branches or taps or burns any tree or otherwise damages it;

(d)

permits cattle to trespass, cuts grass or any other plant or feeds cattle with such grass or plants;

(e)

blocks any waterways within such forest or obtains water from such waterway by means of a pipe line or any other devices or pollutes or poisons water or pollutes the forest environment by dumping and disposing any garbage in the forest;

(f)

transports, removes, uproots or destroys any plant or any part of it or causes any loss or damage to any plant or part of it;

(g)

sells, exposes, exhibits or offers for sale any plant found within such forest;

(h)

kills or attempts to kill any bird, animal, reptile, amphibian or sets traps or snares or guns, constructs and uses ambushes or molests, disturbs or shoots or attempts to molest, disturb or shoot or attempts to remove any such bird, animal, reptile or amphibian;

(i)

sells, offers for sale or exposes for sale any bird, animal, reptile or any part of any such bird, animal or reptile;

(j)

takes or destroys an egg of any bird or animal or reptile or removes or destroys any dwelling or nest of any bird, animal or reptile;

(k)

fires any gun or does any other act which disturbs or is likely to disturb any animal or does any act which interferes or is likely to interfere with the breeding place of any such animal;

(l)

possesses or uses any trap or weapon or tool or explosives or poisonous substance which is capable of being used to injure or destroy any animal or plant;

(m)

erects any permanent or temporary building or occupies any building so erected;

(n)

makes any fresh clearing or quarries stone or extracts coral or molluse shells or digs or mines for plumbago, gems or minerals, burns lime or charcoal or blasts rocks, or collects or removes or transports sand, soil or stones;

(o)

kindles or keeps or carries any fire or causes the kindling of any fire or allows any fire to keep burning or to spread;

(p)

clears or breaks up soil or digs any land for cultivation or for any other purpose or cultivates any such cleared land or erects a hut or does any other activity on it;

(q)

constructs any road or alters or damages any road so constructed or uses a road so constructed;

(r)

damages, alters, removes or disfigures any wall, ditch, embankment, fence, hurdle, gutter, hedge, name board or sign board or any other boundary mark;

shall be guilty of an offence and be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years or to a fine not less than rupees twenty thousand and not exceeding rupees two hundred thousand or to both such imprisonment and fine. In addition to the above, the court may award compensation for any damage caused to the Conservation Forest.

Such compensation shall not be less than the value of the damage caused to the

Conservation Forest, and shall be charged and recovered as a fine levied by Court.

(3)

Any person who aids or abets in the commission of any offence specified in subsection (1), or causes any such offence to be committed shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to the same punishment as is specified for the commission of that offence.

(4)

The Conservator-General of Forests may issue permits to engage in scientific research to any person—

(a)

who has made an application in the prescribed form; and

(b)

made payment of the prescribed fee, for observation of flora and fauna within such areas subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.”.

Read on from s 10