Adding Value to the Forest Department Field Officers’ Training Programme on Natural Forest Restoration

The SLFI recently commenced a series of training programmes on natural forest restoration in line with their objective of increasing the forest cover, which would in turn facilitate the provisioning and regulating of ecosystem goods and services in restored landscapes.

The workshop, attended by 30 participants, primarily consisted of Field Officers of the Forest Department who are currently serving in the Eastern and Northern regions.  The participants had the opportunity to learn, exchange experiences, concepts and practical tools with the facilitators from the collaborating local Universities, Research Institutions and INGOs (e.g. IUCN)..  One of the main objectives of the course was to introduce the ecology of the dry zone forests of Sri Lanka and the services offered by these forest ecosystems. The programme was designed to provide a broad understanding of the ecological services rendered by forests and about natural forest restoration, which plays a pivotal role in sustaining livelihoods. The programme also consisted of a component that conveyed to the participants, the principles and practices involved in natural forest restoration through introductory lectures based on case studies followed by visits to several selected field demonstration sites, five in total, at different stages of forest restoration for field-based observations and exercises. These sites were selected to express first-hand knowledge on successes and failures of restoration efforts of various agencies.

Two of the demonstration sites included ones that were implemented  by IUCN Sri Lanka; namely the restored Cascade Systems  in Kapiriggama and the Restoration of the Cement Clinker Extraction Sites in  Aruwakkalu. These projects were considered to be good  examples of restoration efforts undertaken in Sri Lanka and they have been implemented with the financial assistance of the HSBC Water Programme and INSEE (former HOLCIM) respectively. The other three restored sites selected for the field visits were ones restored by the Forest Department in Horowpathana, Kabithigollawa and Puttalam division. 

Topics covered in the lecture series included Biodiversity and Ecological Basis for Forest Restoration in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka, Field Officers Toolkit: From Smartphone Apps to Handheld Devices and   Restoration of Environmentally Sensitive Areas in Kala-Oya Basin. Two case studies, one showcasing the forest restoration efforts in a dry zone inland habitat and another on a coastal area in the dry zone, were also presented during the workshop. The resource personnel involved in the workshop who imparted all this valuable knowledge included, senior academics, Forest Department and IUCN staff.

Restoration of biodiversity and ecosystem services in cascade agro-ecosystems was the possibility of using cascade associated degraded land for restoration, in order to meet the Government’s international reforestation pledges such as Bonn Challenge. The participants expressed the interest about the idea and were keen to look into the land use patterns of the areas under cascades.

 SLFI has conducted several workshops during the past months for the lowland wet zone (in Sinharaja), montane zone (at the SLFI in Nuwara Eliya) and intermediate and dry zone - in part (at Patapilikanda, Minneriya).