9 minute read
Foreword Dilhan C. Fernando
Dilmah Conservation
Dilmah owes its success to the quality of Ceylon Tea. In recognizing the significant interconnection of its business with the natural environment, Dilmah embarked on a dedicated mission to conserve nature and to sustain the environment within which it operates. In 2007, Dilmah Conservation was established as a business objective with the aim of protecting the environment and encouraging a harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
The promise made by Dilmah Founder Merrill J. Fernando that business should be a matter of human service, where the profits accrued are used for the benefit of people and the environment that they depend on, are deeply ingrained in the work of Dilmah Conservation. Since then, Dilmah Conservation has engaged in promoting sustainable environmental and social development initiatives gearing towards mainstreaming sustainability, encouraging research, conserving and protecting Sri Lanka’s wealth of biodiversity, habitat and ecosystem restoration, empowering indigenous communities, endorsing sustainable livelihoods, and supporting environmental and nature education.
Dilmah has commissioned studies in all its tea estates to formulate biodiversity and habitat management plans, outlining strategies for the protection and conservation of biodiversity on each estate. Work on bioremediation programmes to evaluate the potential use of biochar as a multi-beneficial soil enrichment to address deteriorating soil conditions common to many Sri Lankan plantations. A Climate Change Field Research Station being constructed will constitute a solid base in climate related field research essential in agricultural systems. Sri Lanka’s first private sector led Urban Arboretum and Cultural Information Center in Moratuwa is expected to raise education and awareness on the benefits and significance of protecting forests and other natural systems.
Dilmah Conservation sees collaboration across various stakeholder groups as vital if global sustainability challenges in tea are to be addressed at the scale and speed that is required. It is thus committed to taking a leadership role in major cross industry initiatives. Collaboration is essential to achieve widespread, meaningful and lasting change. Dilmah Conservation takes pride in supporting Biodiversity Sri Lanka in making this publication a reality.
Worth Protecting
How Sri Lanka’s tea plantation companies are helping biodiversity thrive
Biodiversity Sri Lanka Teaming up for Conservation
Biodiversity Sri Lanka was created in response to a demand for the establishment of a facility where businesses can come together to share experiences and best practices, learn from their peers and voice their needs and concerns, aiming to strengthen the link between the business sector and the conservation community.
Being a solely private sector driven platform, the only one of its kind in the country, Biodiversity Sri Lanka promotes dialogue and exchanges knowledge, information and methods on biodiversity conservation amongst the corporate sector. It aims to help businesses find solutions to adjust their activities, ensuring fair income and sustainable growth, whilst providing benefits for biodiversity and ecosystems.
A member of the Global Partnership on Business and Biodiversity established under the Convention on Biological Diversity, Biodiversity Sri Lanka is linked to international centers of excellence and networking bodies such as the United Nations Global Compact and the Word Business Council for Sustainable Development, building and strengthening ties and sharing experiences with key global partners in a wide array of business sectors.
The backbone of Biodiversity Sri Lanka is its members. Membership is open to Sri Lanka-based businesses ranging from national to multinational companies and Small and Medium Enterprises. Leading corporates, all with high standards of environmental custodianship, have backed the Platform, by becoming its Patron and General Members.
Membership brings in a wide array of benefits, in the areas of biodiversity conservation and environmental protection. As a part of the services offered, Biodiversity Sri Lanka has developed a comprehensive technical database, carrying information on expertise available in diverse and relevant subject areas. Conservation related requirements of businesses are channeled to the intellectual mainstream and academia through this database. Knowledge of current best practices is widely disseminated, recognizing outstanding corporate contributions to biodiversity conservation.
The organization and hosting of networking and learning events is a medium by which Biodiversity Sri Lanka encourages dialogue and sharing of best practices whilst harnessing the potential for collaborative work. Events provide opportunities for Members to showcase their activities connecting them to wider local and international networks and fora.
Projects remain the cornerstone of Biodiversity Sri Lanka. While some of the projects are being implemented with member support and involvement, several internal projects are being carried out catering to national priorities, using the best technical expertise in the land. The creation of a biodiversity credits accrual mechanism for Sri Lanka which addresses the non-carbon benefits associated with reforestation and restoration activities, the formulation of a biodiversity-related project ranking scheme and an online project bank based on national priorities for the benefit of Members are some of these.
Biodiversity Sri Lanka connects with its membership and the wider public through its website, www.biodiversitysrilanka.org, constantly featuring up to date news, events and notifications, elaborating on different aspects of global and national conservation significance. Social media channels - Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube, are all linked up to its website ensuring easy access to those preferring such modes of communication. BSL also produces a bimonthly newsletter, dedicating them to preselected themes of critical biodiversity importance.
Sector-based standing committees catering to the specific biodiversity needs of the Banking and Finance, Engineering and Construction, Plantations and Agribusiness, and Tourism and Hospitality sectors have been established. In order to display the biodiversity commitment of the Plantations sector, this compendium of best biodiversity stories has been created. Its intent is to serve as an inspiration to others striving to implement and disseminate best biodiversity practices within all sectors, ensuring the longer term conservation and management of Sri Lanka’s unique biodiversity heritage.
In Sri Lanka, tea is much more than just a beverage; it is indeed a way of life. It is so deeply embedded in our psyche, in our roots, that life cannot be imagined without a cup of hot tea. For generations, this has motivated people to internalize the tea experience and externalize their social awakening. As a leader in exporting renowned Ceylon Tea to the world, it is hoped that this Compendium of best biodiversity stories will serve to raise awareness amongst all stakeholders on the leadership and formidable role taken by the Sri Lankan plantation sector in conserving our unique biodiversity whilst engaging in its core business of growing, processing and packaging world class teas.
Biodiversity Sri Lanka takes pride in presenting this to you!
Rath Mihiriya - Gordonia speciosa
KELANI VALLEY PLANTATIONS PLC Halgolle estate, Kegalle district
PROTECTING A RARE AND EXOTIC CRIMSON FLOWER
Atop a 4,000-foot mountain on Halgolle Estate in the Kegalle District, Kelani Valley Plantations is fiercely guarding a rare tree species - Gordonia speciosa, with its brilliantly beautiful and exotically fragrant crimson flower - a symbol of the success of the company’s biodiversity conservation efforts.
Atop the Wewelthalawa Forest Reserve on Halgolle Estate blooms a brilliant crimson flower, the size of a man’s hand. It is as rare as it is beautiful. Endemic to Sri Lanka, it is found only at certain higher elevations, in forested areas of the country’s wet zone. Protecting this species has become of paramount importance to officials of Kelani Valley Plantations PLC.
“A very rare species that is endemic to Sri Lanka, Gordonia speciosa is almost extinct. We believe that the largest number of specimens are found on Halgolle Estate, and we consider it our duty to protect them,” said the General Manager - Marketing and Corporate Affairs of Kelani Valley Plantations PLC.
Gordonia speciosa has become a symbol of success of the conservation efforts of Kelani Valley Plantations PLC, which in a pioneering venture has established a large private forest reserve at the top of a 4,000-foot mountain - the Wewelthalawa Forest Reserve. Especially nurtured by Kelani Valley Plantations PLC, including forested areas totaling 634.41 hectares, the reserve is home to many unique species.
Ironically, Halgolle Estate is just 2½ hours’ drive from Colombo via the A4 ColomboRatnapura highway, turning off at Yatiyantota up the B482 Yatiyantota-Nawalapitiya Road, a distance of only about 60 kilometres directly east of the capital as the crow flies. Colombo is in fact quite visible from the top of Halgolle, and one can even discern individual buildings in the city’s skyline.
Teeming with rare species
Kelani Valley Plantations PLC has been actively working to protect the fauna and flora on its landholdings over the last decade, with detailed biodiversity surveys of all its estates being carried out by scientists from as far back as 2008. On Halgolle Estate itself, researchers have even gone to the extent of placing camera traps to record nocturnal species. The company has a total of 26 estates - 12 low country estates in the Kelani River basin mainly in the Kegalle district of the Sabaragamuwa province and 14 upcountry estates in the Nuwara Eliya district of the central province.
Kelani Valley Plantations owns a total land area of 3,000 hectares on all its estates, of which Halgolle Estate is one of the largest, containing 1,196.21 hectares. Halgolle is indeed a remarkable haven for biodiversity. The estate has diversity in its elevation, with the lower reaches at 90 feet above mean sea level, rising to the upper divisions at 4,000 feet. Thus, the consequent range of biodiversity - both fauna and flora - is impressive.
Hallgolle estate is comprised of 4 divisions – Wewelthalawa, Halgolle, Punugala and Ullswater. Its main crop is tea, with significant fields of rubber trees in the lower areas, plus small amounts of other crops such as coconut. Originally a coffee estate, it had also cultivated cardamom.
Known in Sinhala as “Rathu Mihiriya” or “Rath Mihiriya”, Gordonia speciosa is 1 of 4 Gordonia species in Sri Lanka, all of which are endemic to the country, the others being G. ceylanica, G. dassanayakei and G. elliptica. All 4 are rare, found only in the montane forests of the highlands, with G. speciosa being the most difficult to find. Interestingly, there is some discussion among scientists on whether the other 3 species can be classified as an individual species, since they appear to share many overlapping characteristics. However, there is no argument of the uniqueness of Gordonia speciosa as a different species.
