Push for solar park in Sri Lanka’s elephant terrain raises concern

Push for solar park in Sri Lanka’s elephant terrain raises concern

HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — As a new wave of large-scale solar energy projects take shape along the fringes of Sri Lanka’s Managed Elephant Range, or MER, in the southern district of Hambantota, activists, farmers and wildlife conservationists are opposing the move. Those opposing the solar push — in a district that has significant ‘elephant terrain’ — warn that clearing forests in one of the most critical elephant landscapes on the island would esc…