Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-08-16

The Project on conservation of degraded agricultural lands in the Districts of Kandy, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya

- The damages caused to land or 'Land Degradation', is caused due to diverse factors including soil erosion, and it has become a serious environmental issue prevailing in Sri Lanka. More than 50% of the agricultural lands in the Central Highlands have been subject to degradation and the highest rates of degradation could be seen in the districts of Kandy, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya. Due to this reason, having taken into consideration the adverse effects caused to the ecosystem and especially, to the farming community whose livelihood has been agriculture, the attention of the Government has been focused towards preventing this situation through sustainable land management. Accordingly, the proposal made by H. E. the President Maithripala Sirisena, in his capacity as the Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment, to implement a project for the prevention of land degradation of the agricultural lands in the districts of Kandy, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya, during the period of 2016-2020, utilizing the funds of US$ 9,740,000 provided by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Grant of US$ 1,344,657 provided to Sri Lanka through the Food and Agriculture Organization, by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), was approved by the Cabinet.