SLAF conducts Second Aerial Seed Bombing Operation

The Sri Lanka Air Force under the guidance of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sumangala Dias along with MAS Holdings, the Sri Lanka Forest Department and the University of Peradeniya launched the second wave of seed bombing inside the forests of Lahugala in Ampara Area yesterday and today (29 October 2019).

The Command Agro Unit and MAS together with the Sri Lanka Forest Department organized this mission to achieve the aim of increasing Sri Lanka’s forest cover

The objective of this mision is to achieve the sustainable development goals of the country by increasing the green cover from the present 27% to 32% by the year 2030.

The first operation of dropping seed bombs was conducted at Ranorawa government forest in a five acre land area and approximately 5,000 seed bombs made out of three seed varieties Karanda, Mee and Kumbuk were dropped from a specially modified SLAF MI-17 Helicopter. however `only a 15% germination rate was observed this was attributed to poor rainfall and some damage from elephants and wildlife in the area.

The first mission of the second wave launched yesterday evening and dropped 30,000 seed bombs over a 60 acre area inside the forests of Lahugala, in Ampara. The second mission was carried out today where another 37,000 seed bombs were dropped. The seeds were dropped from an SLAF MI-17 Helicopters which departed from SLAF Station Ampara.

Choosing of the location which is only accessible by air and the sourcing of seeds was done by the Sri Lanka Forest Department. The bombs comprised 100,000 seeds from 5 types of native trees, Aralu (Terminalia chebula), Kon (Schleichera oleosa), Gal Siyambala (Dialium ovoideum), Siyambala (Tamarindus indica), Goda Kirilla (Holoptelea integrifolia), and Maila (Bauhinia racemosa) suited to the dry zone.