Sri Lanka’s solar projects threaten elephant habitat in Hambantota

On the dry plains around Hambantota, the vegetation can look unremarkable at first glance. Thorny scrub, patches of grass and scattered trees cover land that has already been reshaped by farms, roads and large infrastructure projects. Yet this rough-looking landscape is part of the everyday range of hundreds of Sri Lankan elephants. They feed here, move through it and use its remaining water sources as they cross a landscape increasingly shared with people.Now parts of that habitat are being cleared for a planned solar energy park. Seventeen separate projects are being developed in the same wider area, each assessed individually. That has raised a difficult question: what happens when a collection of small projects becomes one large development from the elephant’s point of view?Hambantota’s solar ambitions collide with the habitat needs of 400 elephantsHambantota sits in Sri Lanka’s relatively dry southern zone, where rainfall is lower and sunlight is plentiful. Those conditions make it an attractive location for solar generation. The district already hosts renewable energy facilities, and the government is looking to expand electricity production from sources that can reduce relia...