News
MONLAR: SL has lost million hectares of forest cover since 1960
Tea plantations biggest culprit
BY Rathindra Kuruwita
Sri Lanka has lost about 947,370 hectares of forest between 1960 and 2010, Sajeewa Chamikara of the Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) says.
The last survey on forests was carried out in 2010 by the Forest Conservation Department. By 2010 the forest cover had shrunk to 29.7 percent or 1, 951, 472 hectares.
Between 1992 and 2010, Sri Lanka lost 16, 922 hectares of forests in the wet-zone. Since then, the forests in the wet-zone had further dwindled due to the expansion of tea cultivation, Chamikara said yesterday.
“Tea plantations that lead to the destruction of rainforests can be considered green deserts. Biodiversity on these plantations is low. Tea planters use a lot of toxic agrochemicals. There are no plant layers. Thus, these lands lose most of their biodiversity and become deserts for all practical purposes, despite being green,” he said.
Chamikara said the British had cleared up vast extents of forest lands on mountains and rid those areas of elephants. By 1860, Sri Lanka was among the top producers of coffee. By 1870, coffee plantations covered 275,000 acres. However, soon afterwards, coffee plantations were devastated by a fungal disease, Hemileia vastatrix, also known as coffee leaf rust.
Chamikara said that while tea used to be a major foreign exchange earner, the situation had changed. The yield of most large-scale tea estates was dwindling rapidly due to soil degradation and unsustainable cultivation practices.
“We have several institutions that have been established to develop tea. However, they believe we are still living in the late 19th century, when we had plenty of virgin land, cheap labour and there was no stiff competition,” Chamikara said.
Meanwhile, Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Plantation Industries and Minister of Industries, said that there had been reports of illegal expansion of tea plantations into forests. However, it was not the policy of his Ministry to encourage such practices and the Forest Department must take immediate action against those who carried out such illegal activities.
Minister Pathirana added that the industry also needed to be more sustainable and tea smallholders were already interested in multi-cropping and that the Ministry had spoken to all stakeholders about improving sustainability.
“Now, we can’t push businesses to shift to agroforestry or multi-cropping. But environmentalists and environmental-minded planters can work together, create better systems and then everyone will follow,” he said.
In terms of the provisions of the Establishments Code on payment of festival advance to government officers, there’s a possibility of obtaining rupees 10,000/- as an advance for celebrating festivals of Theipongal, Ramazan, Sinhala and Hindu New Year, Wesak, Deepavali, and Christmas as well as for pilgrimages (Sri Paada pilgrimage and Hajj pilgrimage).
Provisions have been given to recover the said advance in 08 installments or if required earlier without interest. It has been proposed by the Budget 2026 to increase the said festival advance up to rupees 15,000/-.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local governments to revise the relevant provisions so that the festival advance can be increased up to rupees 15,000/- .
As per the approval given by the cabinet meeting held on 02-06-2025, action is being taken at present to offer the underutilized lands/properties of the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation, the Janatha Etate Development Board, and the Elkaduwa Plantation Company which are under the Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure which have been identified under stage one to suitable investors.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Plantations and Community Infrastructure to provide following lands/properties on a lease basis to the suitable investors for optimal utilization following the prescribed procurement procedure.
• underutilized lands/properties identified under stage two owned by the Sri Lanka State Plantation Corporation, the Janatha Estate Development Board, and the Elkaduwa Plantation
Company,
• The Mawarala watte land and the Tea factory 40.48 hectares in extent, located in Matara District belonging to the Tea Shakthi Fund.
• The underutilized land of 1,541 hectares in extent of Kondachchi Estate is enjoyed by the Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation.
The drafting of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy has commenced with the objective of equitable distribution of the benefits of the fisheries industry and the sustainable management of fisheries and aquaculture. This policy has been updated from time to time according to current requirements. However, steps have not been taken to obtain the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for that purpose.
According to the policy declaration of the present government, ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendor’ the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy has been redrafted, updating the aforementioned policy in line with the economic and development objectives of the government.
The recommendations of the Department of National Planning have been received for the drafted policy.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal presented by the Minister of Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Marine
Resources to implement the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy, integrating it with other relevant policies.
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Festival advance for government officers to be increased
Providing underutilized lands/properties to suitable investors for optimal utilization.
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