PLANT is the pioneer and largest Private Land Conservation initiative in Sri Lanka, established in 2020 by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society to directly own, conserve, and preserve lands or help set aside privately owned lands through partners, in a manner that enhances all forms of wildlife and nature, as well as to hold land in trust, on behalf of future generations.
PLANT has established two projects at which they are developing a 9km forest corridor with Horana Plantations and a 13km corridor with Thalawakele Plantations, which will require over 100,000 montane endemic trees over a few years.
However, locating the right kind of montane plants has been a roadblock to further development of these projects. Existing nurseries are unable to cater, and the slow growth rate provided another challenge.
LEF has partnered with PLANT to support the establishment of 2 community driven endemic plant nurseries, focusing on providing alternative livelihoods for women. This is a multi-year project and will run for 3 years. During the course of the project, PLANT projects the sale of 12,000 plants a year at optimum yield. Alongside building infrastructure, centralised training will be provided on plant types, how to manage a nursery, watering techniques and planting techniques, as well as seedling storage. The main aims of this project include:
The success of this project will help sustain endemic species, while also seeking to integrate communities within their model of conservation to promote sustainable income generation that is designed to ultimately be self-sufficient.
