The Sri Lankan government has launched a programme to conserve 30% of the country’s land and ocean by 2030 while aiming to attract $1.5 billion in green investments between 2025 and 2030, the president’s office announced Monday.
The “Sri Lanka 30×30 – Conservation and Prosperity: for Nature and People” initiative launched in Colombo – initially involving a set of nine projects – is aimed at conserving the nation’s biodiversity and promoting sustainable economic prosperity, a press release by the president’s office stated.
“Sri Lanka’s dedication to nature conservation and sustainable development is unwavering,” Chief of Presidential Staff and Senior Advisor on National Security Sagala Ratnayaka said.
“We have embraced the 30×30 programme … some of these initiatives are already underway, with the mangrove development programme receiving international recognition as a very successful effort.”
Overall the scheme will seek to attract a hefty $1.5 bln in funding, though it was not immediately clear from the government’s statement how this would be achieved.
“The launch event witnessed the participation of over 95 government entities, local and international non-governmental organisations, and corporates, all unified in their support for this ambitious initiative,” the announcement said.
Under the 30×30 programme, the government has identified nine priority conservation programmes, including:
- Improving the protection and connectivity of wet zone ecosystems
- Halting forest loss in the dry zone by increasing protection
- Restoring degraded forest and mangrove habitats
- Sustainably developing and enhancing protected area tourism to fund conservation
- Improving human-elephant coexistence
- Enhancing the health and productivity of river systems, starting with the Kelani River Basin
- Enhancing conservation of marine ecosystems
- Strengthening sustainable fishery management practices and reversing the decline of key commercial species
- Protecting marine megafauna by reducing disturbances to whales
These initiatives will be coordinated by the Presidential Secretariat Climate Change Office along with the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Forest Department, and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the press statement said.
“This project approach is ambitious, but with careful planning and a clear timeline, it could pave the way to reach our broader goal to integrate biodiversity conservation into our green economy efforts, whether in agriculture, energy, waste, or water management,” Ratnayaka said.
Ratnayaka added that the government has started adopting natural capital accounting and designing of information systems to enhance project management effectiveness tracking that will help in measuring conservation impacts of these projects on air, soil, water, and biodiversity.
The first set of projects in the programme is also expected to create green jobs and help the country transform its tourism industry, while also enhancing environmental conservation.
Meanwhile, through the initiative, the government intends to clean the Kelani River Basin, which supplies approximately 80% of the water used in Colombo and where three of the country’s export zones are located.
“We observed that various financial institutions … are focusing on green bonds with a strong corporate interest,” Ananda Mallawatantri, advisor to the president on environment, climate change, and green finance, said.
“In response to that demand, we’ve initiated development of several projects that will be suitable to attract investments though green financing.”
Sri Lanka’s 30×30 programme will complement the Marine Investment Planning and projects being developed for the Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund, among others, Mallawatantri added.
It also aligns with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), adopted by Sri Lanka with 195 other countries in 2022, the official statement added.
Meanwhile, Ratnayaka said that initiatives under the 30×30 programme were to demonstrate the government’s resolve to protect country’s unique ecosystems, support local communities, and contribute to global conservation efforts.
“However, we cannot achieve these goals alone. Collaboration and partnership are crucial.”
By Nikita Pandey – nikita@carbon-pulse.com
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