Minister Rishad launches 1 million tree campaign partnering Rotary

Rotary Governor and Counsellor to Austria Senaka Amerasighe handing over the first seedling to Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen at the Lanka Sathosa outlet whilst Lanka Sathosa Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala looks on

In a landmark project for Sri Lanka, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen together with new Governor of Rotary Senake Amerasinghe Rotary District 3220, launched a one million tree planting campaign at the Lanka Sathosa outlet, Pannipitiya, branded the one million tree story project.

The uniqueness of the campaign is that all trees are GPS tagged so that the sponsor of the trees can see the tree grow online. Each tree can be sponsored at a cost of Rs. 100 and paid at any HNB account which is the strategic partner to the project, said Lanka Sathosa Chairman Dr. Rohantha Athukorala. 

Amerasinghe said he has already secured a private sector organisation to sponsor 50,000 trees whilst the Minister said Lanka Sathosa must become the first carbon neutral supermarket in Sri Lanka. 

Lanka Sathosa with a store equity of 3.6 in the store equity brand survey done by AC Neilsen states that it is the most powerful brand to influence the households in the middle and lower middle income groups which makes the one million tree story a unique project. This project is a flagship project for Rotary, said Amerasinghe.