Environment Ministry to cultivate 500 hectares of rubber

By Ifham Nizam

Environment Ministry would shortly launch a programme to cultivate 500 hectares of rubber for the first time to increase the forest cover here, Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe said. He said that he had had discussions with officials of the Ministry of Environment in that regard. Along with this initiative, plans were underway to develop five nature related tourist attractions here, he said.”In 2022 we have to work with a new vision. We must pay special attention to the conservation of the environment as well as the development of the livelihoods of the people,” he said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera also emphasized the above requirement from time to time, he said. Dr. Jasinghe said that for the current year the government had allocated Rs. 2000 million to the Ministry. “So we have to work very efficiently,” he stressed.Cultivation would be done to cater two purposes. The first objective is to increase the forest cover. The second objective is to improve the livelihood of the people.”Although rubber cultivation is not a function of our Ministry, we had a fruitful discussion with the State Ministry of Wildlife Conservation in this regard,” he noted.Accordingly, the Environment Ministry is implementing a rubber cultivation programme in collaboration with the Plantation Ministry. At present the natural forest cover in Sri Lanka is around 29.2 percent. “Our goal is to expand forest cover to 30 percent by 2025, he said , adding that “if rubber cultivation is included in the forest cover, that amount will increase even more. Other countries in the world have included rubber plantations in their forest cover”.