Ecosystem restoration to address forest loss in Batticaloa

Creating ecological balance in Batticaloa while addressing the economic needs of beneficiary communities in a project aimed at giving back – to the environment and the people.

Producing cashew for commercial purposes will help enhance the livelihoods and strengthen the socio-economic standing of the community in Batticaloa.

Commenced in 2011 as a project to rejuvenate the natural environment in Batticaloa in Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, the Greening Batticaloa initiative has now completed its third phase with the planting of an additional 50,000 cashew (Anacardium occidentale) trees in selected locations throughout the District.

Cashew is a tropical tree that produces the cashew nut and the cashew apple. The cashew nut, in its raw form, dried form or roasted form, has significant demand, especially during the festive seasons of the country. Therefore, in the long-term, suitable support will be given to the community to produce cashew for commercial purposes which will help enhance their livelihoods, and strengthen the socioeconomic standing of the community, in addition to improving the ecology of Batticaloa.

Batticaloa is a bustling coastal city that suffered dual natural disasters during a three decade period. This includes a powerful cyclone that devastated the area in 1978 and the Asian Tsunami that destroyed its coastline in 2004. These natural disasters, combined with population growth and its associated effects, including loss of forest cover, are identified as some of the factors contributing to the excessive heat experienced in the area. To date, the initiative has resulted in the planting of over 200,000 cashew plants. The trees will form a protective green canopy which will adjust the ecosystem through carbon absorption mechanisms.

Dilmah conducts many projects focussed on various aspects related to the environment in order to offset the carbon produced, either directly or indirectly, during the principal operations being carried out at the head office at Peliyagoda. The Greening Batticaloa initiative is part of Dilmah’s reforestation activities taking place in the Eastern Province. The cashew plant’s carbon sequestration potential extends to over 100 years with a rotation of 60 years on an average quality site with optimal climatic conditions is 37.4 tC/ha above an initial vegetation carbon baseline of 2.8 tC/ha (Sambane, 2005).

In the future, we will also be introducing a cashew processing industry to Batticaloa, so that it will create employment opportunities for the youth of this district.

- T.D. Nidharshan,

Greening Batticaloa Project Manager

This initiative, implemented in partnership with the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Cashew Corporation and the Vakarai Divisional Secretariat, will provide a stable and sustainable income generating opportunity for beneficiaries by facilitating links to local sales and exports. The potential for profit in planting cash crops will also ensure that future efforts for planting will be sustained by the community. Members of the Sri Lanka Army were also presented with an allocation of cashew seedlings as part of the project.