Reviving Sri Lanka’s degraded forests through community and conservation

Conservator General of Forests Nishantha Edirisinghe (second from left) and IUCN Sri Lanka Country Representative Dr. Shamen Vidanage exchanging the agreement. Others from left: IUCN Sri Lanka Program Coordinator Prof. Sandun Perera, and HSBC Sri Lanka  CEO Mark Surgenor – Pic by Upul Abayasekara

• Siyabalagaswewa Forest is now being gazetted as a Reserved Forest, ensuring long-term protection 
• The area will soon be legally recognised as a protected forest under the 30×30 conservation target

By Divya Thotawatte 

Marking a significant step in Sri Lanka’s fight against deforestation and climate change, a public-private partnership has restored 35 hectares of the Siyabalagaswewa Forest, with ongoing efforts to rehabilitate 100+ hectares of adjoining farmland and secure permanent protected status. 

This initiative was launched as a pilot model focused on a collaboration to protect Sri Lanka’s forests and lands using Nature-based Solutions (NbS) under Project CORE: Climate-smart Opportunities through Restoration and Education. It was led by HSBC Sri Lanka in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Department of Forest Conservation. 

Since its launch in 2021, Project CORE has piloted NbS for Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) interventions across the Kimbulwewa Cascade landscape in Thuppitiyawa GN Division. These interventions target degraded lands and community areas, aiming to enhance biodiversity, improve community livelihoods, build climate resilience, and sequester carbon in one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in Sri Lanka’s dry zone.

Stressing the significance of this degraded land restoration initiative, Sri Lanka Forest Department Deputy Conservator Nishantha Edirisinghe said that Sri Lanka was now committed to protecting 30% of its land under the Global Biodiversity Framework. But it currently only protects around 25%. To meet this target, the Forest Department was actively working on gazetting more forests as protected areas. 

However, even once these areas are officially recognised as protected areas, the law still allowed for collaboration with communities, including benefit-sharing and involving them in conservation efforts.

Edirisinghe further added that Sri Lanka was in a difficult position where the degradation of its forests and environment caused many problems such as human-wildlife conflicts, climate change and water scarcity. Keeping the forests intact was essential for survival, and therefore, with every development project implemented, it was important to consider their impact on the forests. 

“This project addresses the forest sector/the environment while also considering human well-being and development. So it has addressed both sectors. That is the most important and significant part of this project,” he said. 

HSBC Sri Lanka CEO Mark Surgenor said that this initiative was much more than just planting trees or boosting yields. It was fundamentally about education, knowledge-sharing, and sustainable land management. He highlighted that improved yields in milk, poultry, and fruit production were being achieved without harming the environment through sustainable agricultural practices. 

“It’s a very detailed project involving many different dimensions… This is about getting that whole cycle working well together and that is how we create sustainability. Let’s focus on making sure the land we’ve got is looked after as well as possible to create a long term sustainable solution rather than trying to create new lands.” 

He noted that HSBC Sri Lanka was more than just a funding partner of the project, but the HSBC staff had also contributed over 2000 volunteer hours, actively participating in tree planting campaigns, school awareness programmes, and recognition events for community champions.

This pilot initiative focuses on restoration of the Siyabalagaswewa Forest and its surrounding landscape, located in the Thuppitiyawa Grama Niladhari (GN) Division of the Mahawilachchiya Divisional Secretariat, Anuradhapura District. 

One of the initiative’s most significant achievements is the instalment of boundary posts, a major step toward the legal declaration of the restored Siyabalagaswewa Forest as a Reserved Forest. This was done with technical support from the Forest Department who will initiate the gazetting process, which will officially establish it as a protected area, in the near future. This will be done to ensure long-term protection of the area while aligning with both national and global conservation targets.

In addition to restoring the 35 hectares of the Siyabalagaswewa Forest under the Forest Department, an additional 100 hectares of adjoining community land is being restored through regenerative agricultural practices such as food forest gardens, silvopastoral systems, live fencing, and avenue plantations. Moreover, the Mahawilachchiya Divisional Secretariat and the Department of Animal Production and Health have played pivotal roles in these community-based conservation efforts by collaborating closely with the project team. 

The initiative exemplifies an effective Public-Private-People partnership focused on advancing Sri Lanka’s national and global environmental commitments, particularly those under the 30x30 biodiversity targets, which aim to protect 30% of terrestrial and marine ecosystems by 2030. 

IUCN Sri Lanka Country Representative Dr. Shamen Vithanage said, “This was started in 2021 at a time when things were not in good shape for us. However, we managed to deliver it again as one of the best practices in the country, and the proof is that the Forest Department is ready to declare that particular area as a forest reserve.”

He highlighted that the Deputy Conservator General of Forests participation in the event, following an important meeting with the State Minister, was further reinforcement of this unique public-private-people partnership, with expectations of continued collaboration in the future. 

Project CORE has additionally established a community-based plant nursery, now managed by the Forest Department with continued community involvement. It has developed Food Forest Gardens, benefiting 26 families through diverse fruit tree cultivation and water and soil conservation practices. 

As part of its community-focused interventions, the project has also facilitated the implementation of live fencing models, aiding 73 households and contributing to human-elephant conflict mitigation. 

The project has also led to the creation of a community-based organisation named ‘Diriya Shakthi,’ which helped to engage the communities actively in restoration efforts and ensure sustainability beyond the project’s duration. It also focuses on the engagement of youth through research and awareness programs, including the creation of a butterfly garden at Ashoka Vidyalaya, Siyabalagaswewa. 

This is the first pilot NbS for FLR initiative in Sri Lanka’s dry zone aligned with the IUCN Global Standards for nature-based solutions to ensure scientific integrity and long-term community ownership. 

As Sri Lanka accelerates its efforts to meet the 30x30 conservation targets within the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), Project CORE provides a replicable and scalable model for integrating climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation while addressing societal challenges through collaborative, locally appropriate, innovative solutions.