Page 28 - Peoples_Journal_Sri_Lanka

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ISSN 3121-3049
People's Journal Sri Lanka Volume 01, Issue 01

Sri Lanka as an incident they had responded to through Facebook. This
incident has become a political as well as an ethnic issue in the contemporary
socio-political atmosphere.

The second highest mentioned event was the mini hydro power plant projects
implemented by private developers. Environmentalists and some scholars
criticize the process of establishing MHPPs in highly sensitive ecosystems.
They have proved the effects these projects have on biodiversity degradation.
Accusations are leveled at politicians, saying that they are favouring the
supporters for their political campaigns by authorizing these projects and
neglecting the importance of functioning of the environment.

‗Protecting Wildlife‘ was the next event, which had the support of most of
the respondents. Under this umbrella term, respondents have mentioned
various other related events. Protests on the poaching of birds and animals,
using the skins of snakes and crocodiles, issues regarding animal rights
violations, protecting flora and fauna, and protests over forest degradation
and deforestation can be highlighted among them. Other environmental
concerns that these participants have responded to were saving water,
information related to biofuel, and organic farming. Some respondents have
mentioned that they take part in discussions through Facebook on topics such
as ‗environmental issues and human contribution‘ and organic farming and
biofuel. 50% of the group of respondents thought that their responses were
effective, and another 44.6% thought their responses were effective only
sometimes. Both these segments of the group thought their responses were
effective because the effort was successful (70.8%) and they were able to
gather public opinion (70.8%). Another 56.3% of the respondents found their
ideas successfully integrated into society, and 22.9% found that their image
was improved. 2.1% had other unspecified reasons to believe that their
responses were effective. A respondent mentioned this as follows:

“Facebook has played a pivotal role in securing justice for past
environmental crimes by amplifying public pressure. Its influence was so
strong that even mainstream media couldn't ignore these issues. Yet, like
any powerful tool, Facebook can be a double-edged sword. While we use
it to fight for nature's rights, others exploit it to spread misinformation or