John Keells Foundation’s tree planting project adds and sustains 3,000 trees over 5 years

A tree planting project which was initiated by John Keells Foundation (JKF) in collaboration with Tea Smallholder Factories PLC (TSF) and Carbon Consulting Company Ltd. (CCC) in 2013 has succeeded in growing and sustaining 3,000 trees within a five-year period.

Under the project, 3,000 plants were distributed among 31 tea smallholder farmlands and tea factory premises in Halwitigala, Kurupanawa, Neluwa and Hingalgoda of the Galle District, covering an area of 15.3 acres. 

The objective of this project was to uplift the livelihood of the smallholders in the area while preserving their natural habitat and biodiversity by facilitating a wider vegetation coverage in the selected regions. Engaging smallholders in the project allowed them to benefit from payments for ecosystem services including plant maintenance for the duration of the project.

The project was funded by JKF as an initiative furthering both biodiversity conservation as well as livelihood development and was fully supported by TSF through the facilitation of tea smallholder engagement and general oversight. 

CCC has been monitoring the trees since 2014 while conducting casualty replanting to replace the dead plants. Following CCC’s eighth monitoring visit conducted in February 2018, an average survival rate of 98% was reported. It was also observed that the farmers were pleased that trees such as guava, cocoa, star fruit, orange and rambutan were bearing fruit while forest trees such as Keluna, Bulu, Hora, Halmilla, Yakahalu-Dun and Nedun provided under the project were also thriving.

Following the achievement of the project objective within the contract term, a closure forum was held on 28 September with the participation of representatives of JKF, TSF, CCC and the smallholder community.

Addressing the audience, JKF’s Head of Operations, CSR Carmeline Jayasuriya stated: “John Keells Foundation would like to thank each and every smallholder, and your family members, who participated in this pilot venture. The success of this initiative was in the efforts and enthusiasm of all of you and today you can be proud of your contribution to biodiversity conservation in this area, located between the great but threatened rain forests of Sinharaja and Kanneliya forests, while also reaping the benefits of cash crops. I kindly request you to continue your commitment in maintaining and supplementing the trees so that you and your children can enhance the environmental and economic benefits in the future.”

Several smallholder participants shared their appreciation and experiences on this initiative. B. Nandawathi, a participant from Neluwa, shared her joy at the variety of fruits now available in her garden supporting both domestic consumption as well as additional income through sale of excess harvest in the village ‘pola’.

Jayaratne Gamage, a participant from Neluwa, shared the importance of contributing to the conservation of the environment which has seen a lot of deforestation over time while also benefiting from fresh and nutritious crop and additional income.

The forum also included a presentation on project progress by CCC and project perspectives delivered by Sanjaya Dissanayake and Nilanga Rajapaksha, Superintendents of Neluwa Medagama and Halwitigala tea factories respectively, while Dulip Karunadasa. Superintendent of Hingalgoda, delivered the vote of thanks. TSF was represented at the event by TSF PLC Head of Operations Harish Wanasinghe.