Eco-Tourism for Sustainable Development Case study in Knuckles Mountain Forest in Sri Lanka

Eco-tourism has become an important economic activity and it providesopportunities for visitors to experience powerful manifestations of nature, culture and tolearn about the importance of biodiversity conservation. Ecological-based tourism couldbenefit the community and environment in a sustainable and community-friendlymanner. Knuckles mountain range, which is blended with natural and cultural resources,is considered as an attractive ecotourism destination place in Sri Lanka. The objectivesof this study were to identify existing eco-tourism activities in the region and introducethe eco-tourism for the sustainability of the Knuckles forest and the peripheralcommunity. Data was collected using a field survey, participatory rural appraisal andinformal meetings with stakeholders and publish materials. Field survey was conductedwithin two village clusters namely Meemure and Reveston. Five villagers were selectedfrom one cluster and 10 households were selected from each village.Research findings show that the lack of awareness and lack of availability ofproper information are the most common causes for the less tourist arrival to this area.The majority of the visitors are local tourists who come in small groups. These visitorsexpect improvement of infrastructure and strengthening of the institutional capacity toenable the environment of local people to interpret the ecological and social heritage.Based on the findings of the study the most important issues that should be taken intoconsideration in promoting tourism in Knuckles are: strengthening the institutionalcapacities of relevant stakeholders, developments of infrastructure in the area, publicizeKnuckles range in the media, encourage villagers to participate in eco-tourism activities.This alternative benefit will help to the peripheral community to sustain theirlivelihoods, forest resource management and help social, economic and environmentsustainability in the Knuckles area.Key words: Eco-tourism and sustainable development, Community development,Sustainable forest managemen

Diatom frustules enhancing the efficiency of gel polymer electrolyte based dye-sensitized solar cells with multilayer photoelectrodes

The incorporation of nanostructures that improve light scattering and dye adsorption has been suggested for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), but the manufacture of photonic and nanostructured materials with the desired properties is not an easy task. In nature, however, the process of light-harvesting for photosynthesis has, in some cases, evolved structures with remarkable wavelength-sensitive light-trapping properties. The present work is focused on enhancing the efficiency of quasi solid-state DSSCs by capitalizing on the light trapping properties of diatom frustules since they provide complex 3-dimensional structures for scattering and trapping light. This study reports a promising approach to prepare TiO2 nanocrystal (14 nm) based photo-electrodes by utilizing the waveguiding and photon localization effects of nanostructured diatom frustules for enhancing light harvesting without deteriorating the electron conduction. Single and double-layered photo-electrodes were prepared with different frustule/nanocrystal combinations and conformations on transparent conductive oxide substrates. This study clearly reports impressive efficiency and short circuit current density enhancements of about 35% and 39%, respectively, due to the incorporation of diatom frustules extracted from a ubiquitous species. The SEM images obtained in this work reveal that the produced thin films had a remarkable surface coverage of evenly distributed frustules within the TiO2 nanoparticle layer. To the best of our knowledge, this study reports the first quasi solid-state DSSC based on a photo-electrode with incorporated bio-formed nanostructures

CONSTRUCTION OF A PRECISE GROWTH MODEL TO PREDICT THE NDIVIDUAL STEM VOLUME OF Alstonia macrophylla WALL. EX G. DON

In order to reduce the pressure on existing Natural Forests in Sri Lanka,Forest Department promoted growing timber species as plantations and inhome gardens. Among the suggested species Alstonia macrophylla(Hawarinuga) has recently become popular due to its fast growth rate, ease ofestablishment and timber value. There are about 1913 ha extent of Alstoniamacrophylla plantations at the end of the year 1998 maintained by the ForestDepartment of Sri Lanka. However, this figure must be higher than thatbecause many other private organizations are establishing Alstoniamacrophylla plantations in the wet zone in large scale. This species is alsogrown in home gardens, alleys and borders as non-blocks (non-plantations).However, at present there is no method at present for estimating the stemvolume of this species, which is considered as the most important variable incommercial forestry. Therefore a mathematical model was constructed in thisstudy to predict the individual stem volume of Alstonia macrophylla treesgrown in plantations.Since Alstonia macrophylla is widely found in wet zone of Sri Lanka, studysites were selected from Galle (two even-aged plantations from Pituwala andWattehena Beats) districts. The ages of these plantations were 19 and 16respectively. Ten 0.02 ha circular plots with slope correction were randomlylaid out for each plantation, in order to measure the necessary parametersfrom the individual trees. Diameter at breast height (dbh), total height andheight to the crown base of all the trees inside the plots were measured.Newton's formula was used in this research because it is the most accuratemethod. In order to calculate the volume using the Newton's formula, thestem of each tree was hypothetically divided into 4 -5 sections. Then thebottom, mid and top diameters and section lengths were measured usingSpeigal Relascope and Blume Leiss Altimeter respectively. The final sectionof the tree was assumed as a cone and only the bottom diameter and heightwere used in that particular section. The total volume of each section wasestimated by adding the section volumes calculated using Newton's formulato the volume of the final section.First a theoretical model structure was developed using the relationship ofform factor with volume, height and area at the base. Regression analysis wasused to fit the data into the model. Untransformed as well as transformedcombinations of all variables were tested. In this procedure the combinedvariable (basal area * tree height) was always kept as the first explanatoryvariable. After trying with many combinations of selected variables withvolume, final model was selected using its compatibility with the real world,R2 values, and residual distributions, model bias value and modelingefficiency. The selected models at the preliminary stage indicated very highperformance and insignificant bias. In order to select a final one, the abovemodels were validated with a new set of data. The final selected model in thisstudy to predict the individual stem volume with insignificant bias ofAlstonia macrophylla is; --.jv= 0.659 log BA *Ht + 0.00404 ...fer h

Impact assessment and adaptation to climate change of plantations in Sri Lanka

This report documents the work undertaken by the IRI, FECT, NRMS and University of Peradeniya as part of the overall project. Separate reports were prepared by the Tea Research Institute, Coconut Research Institute and the Department of Meteorology in Sri Lanka. The work at IRI, FECT and NRMS has proceeded satisfactorily. The work was in the domain of climate and climate change, crop-climate impact analysis and contributions to synthesis. We have contributed significantly in terms of research output and in capacity building, which were the goals of the AIACC project

Nuclear dependence of the transverse single-spin asymmetry in the production of charged hadrons at forward rapidity in polarized p+pp+p, p+p+Al, and p+p+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV

We report on the nuclear dependence of transverse single-spin asymmetries (TSSAs) in the production of positively-charged hadrons in polarized $p^{\uparrow}+p$, $p^{\uparrow}+$Al and $p^{\uparrow}+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. The measurements have been performed at forward rapidity ($1.4<\eta<2.4$) over the range of $1.8<p_{T}<7.0$ GeV$/c$ and $0.1<x_{F}<0.2$. We observed a positive asymmetry $A_{N}$ for positively-charged hadrons in \polpp collisions, and a significantly reduced asymmetry in $p^{\uparrow}$+$A$ collisions. These results reveal a nuclear dependence of charged hadron $A_N$ in a regime where perturbative techniques are relevant. These results provide new opportunities to use \polpA collisions as a tool to investigate the rich phenomena behind TSSAs in hadronic collisions and to use TSSA as a new handle in studying small-system collisions.Comment: 303 authors from 66 institutions, 9 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. v1 is version accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Nuclear dependence of the transverse-single-spin asymmetry for forward neutron production in polarized pp++AA collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200 GeV

During 2015 the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) provided collisions of transversely polarized protons with Au and Al nuclei for the first time, enabling the exploration of transverse-single-spin asymmetries with heavy nuclei. Large single-spin asymmetries in very forward neutron production have been previously observed in transversely polarized $p$$+$$p$ collisions at RHIC, and the existing theoretical framework that was successful in describing the single-spin asymmetry in $p$$+$$p$ collisions predicts only a moderate atomic-mass-number ($A$) dependence. In contrast, the asymmetries observed at RHIC in $p$$+$$A$ collisions showed a surprisingly strong $A$ dependence in inclusive forward neutron production. The observed asymmetry in $p$$+$Al collisions is much smaller, while the asymmetry in $p$$+$Au collisions is a factor of three larger in absolute value and of opposite sign. The interplay of different neutron production mechanisms is discussed as a possible explanation of the observed $A$ dependence.Comment: 315 authors, 8 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. v2 is version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm