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Adopting proactive conservation practices within our estates
Creating biological corridors that serve as connecting forestation for the re-establishment of wildlife migration patterns are a step towards successful connectivity conservation in Sri Lanka.
Biological corridors connecting fragmented landscapes help protect and enrich the habitats of both flora and fauna by providing links for the movement of isolated species. Fostering narrow strips of forested land to serve as pathways between dispersed habitats offer safe passage for wildlife where migration patterns have been disrupted.
As semi-natural plantations, tea estates can be effectively adapted to better accommodate the wildlife found near and amidst natural vegetation or managed forests with a view of habitat and biodiversity conservation. The Dilmah Bioregional Initiative centred on this concept of connectivity conservation aims to support the formation of biological corridors and related landscape management practices within the estates from which Dilmah Tea is sourced. Given the unique and delicate ecosystems found in relation to changing elevations within tea estates, this scheme seeks to cultivate patchy secondary forest areas towards securing habitats and enhancing the biodiversity and conservation value of Dilmah’s land holdings and Sri Lanka at large.
A pilot scale biological corridor will be established at Dilmah’s Endena Estate in Ratnapura. This estate which is bordered by the Delwala and Walankanda Protected Areas managed by the Sri Lanka Department of Forest Conservation will be connected through Endena and the neighbouring villages by way of promoting restorative home gardening initiatives.
Human activities inevitably fragment natural habitats and ecosystems, restricting the movement of species and isolating them within gradually shrinking spaces with limited resources for survival. The establishment of biological corridors greatly enhances their continued preservation.
Achieving carbon neutrality while sustaining the environment
Dilmah pledges to become Carbon Neutral by the year 2017 and makes an annual commitment of 1 million USD for the conservation of nature and community empowerment. This pledge was made during ‘Who Cares about Nature’, a two day event organised by Dilmah Conservation, which focused on the role of business in serving the community and the environment.
Dilmah Conservation will continue to develop its efforts in mainstreaming sustainability, conserving Sri Lanka’s biological wealth, restoring ecosystems, gathering of data, information and facts for the advancement of knowledge, supporting environment and nature education, and empowering indigenous and traditional communities.
The Carbon Neutral plan for Dilmah, conducted by the University of Colombo and the National Cleaner Production Centre, consists of comprehensive recommendations for the optimisation of the production process and other utilities, including transportation, environment and energy management system implementation, conducting training and awareness programmes within the organisation, energy and resource efficiency improvement, augmentation of renewable energy sources and the implementation of other emission reduction options.
A 100kw solar array was installed at the Peliyagoda factory premises in February 2013 as part of an initiative to generate power using renewable energy sources. Dilmah is also working towards neutralising its carbon emissions through reforestation and afforestation projects, such as the Greening Batticaloa initiative. To support these endeavours further, Dilmah will develop a series of hydro power projects, the first being a mini hydro project generating a power output of 1.65 kW, in Dilmah’s Queensberry Estate in Nawalapitiya.
