Save 10 acres of biodiverse forest in Sri Lanka

The last quarter has flown by already and we are pleased to send you our second update report.

Thank you again for your kind donation and ongoing support. Over the past few months we have seen all too clearly how pressure on economies can translate into pressure on forests, especially in lower income countries, and so your donation means more than ever to our Foundation and our community. Thank you.

Some of our highlights since our last report include:

-        Launching a partnership with eco-travel company, Feel The World, to protect a further 500m² of the forest and to fund fruit and spice tree planting with local farmers;

-        Leading a campaign to maintain a piece of legislation that protects over half a million hectares of Sri Lanka’s forests, which the Government had proposed removing and has stepped back to reassess after public outcry;

-        Some spectacular wildlife sightings in the forest, including the latest arrival of wild boar piglets two nights ago!

-        Helping to launch a community forest produce business, which provides financial incentives for landowners to conserve their trees by paying them a fair price for the fruits and spices produced.

However, it has not all been smooth sailing. Whilst Sri Lanka managed to contain COVID-19 impressively well, the economic impacts are unfortunately now starting to bite. We have seen escalating deforestation rates in our local area and several protected areas across Sri Lanka have also come under threat as people seek short-term income generation opportunities.

This all emphasizes the urgency of our project to protect the forest here. We named the project area Mudalali Land after the Sinhala word for businessman, in honour of its current owner, and he is indeed being a true mudalali! Whilst we have raised enough money to purchase one of the three portions of land making up the plot for protection, he is refusing to sell them individually.. But we will not let this faze us! We battle on to save the forest.

Be sure to look out for a new campaign starting at 9am ET on Monday 14 September across our social media channels. Over the course of 5 days, GlobalGiving will be matching all small donations (up to $50) at 50%, which means that you can protect an extra 5m² of forest for every 10m² you sponsor. We are targeting protecting another 200m² of forest and would hugely appreciate your help, either through any sponsorship you can offer or simply by sharing our posts.

Thank you again for your ongoing support and we wish all the best to your community from ours.

Nihal, Henk, Remon, Emma and the FHF Team

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