The project will support alternative livelihoods and the development of joint forest management plans in order to increase forest cover and enhance incomes in rural communities.
It aims to regenerate 23,000 hectares of forest and improve the livelihoods and income of about 90,000 people living in rural dry areas.
12 October 2012: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Australia announced a partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka to support community forestry in Sri Lanka’s dry areas. The investment, totaling AUD5 million, supports Sri Lanka’s development vision target of doubling the country’s forest cover over 10 years.
The community forestry project aims to regenerate 23,000 hectares of forest and improve the livelihoods and income of about 90,000 people living in rural dry areas. The project will build on a pilot phase which was implemented in 79 communities and regenerated 11,000 hectares of forest.
The project is intended to address threats to dry forests in 167 rural communities, including from slash-and-burn cultivation and other drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. Specific actions to this end will include the development of joint forest management plans between the Forest Department and local communities. Additional activities include micro-finance and support for micro-enterprise, livestock development and improved farming systems. [UNDP Press Release]