PLANT website takes root

The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) together with senior consultants from Wharton Business School, through the Penn International Impact Consulting (PIIL) launched www. plantsl.org (Preserving Land and Nature (Guarantee) Ltd), that aims to bring private conservation to the fore in Sri Lanka.

Emerald Trails is the main PLANT initiative, which seeks to build foliage corridors to connect key protected forested areas in the southwestern part of Sri Lanka, where the highest biodiversity exists. The launch process was begun during the WNPS February monthly lectures. WNPS President Jehan CanagaRetna said that so far, PLANT has acquired lands and also created land partnerships to cover over 2500 acres under a conservation footprint.

PLANT is directly able to own some lands thanks largely to support from international donors and some of these locations are home to as many as 150 endemic species. CanagaRetna thanked their list of partners while also appreciating PLANT chairman Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne’s commitment towards spearheading the initiative, along with the PLANT and WNPS teams. Thanking the PIIC team for the exciting strategic WNPS partnership, he welcomed them to the event.

The PLANT website was developed in partnership with PIIC (Penn International Impact Consulting), a student-led consultancy group at the University of Pennsylvania in the US. Suhitha Kotala, who led the project from PIIC, along with her colleague Aarthi Katakam, joined the launch through Zoom.

Speaking at the launch Aarthi walked people through the website which provides an overview of the mission of PLANT and showcases some of their properties with rich biodiversity, directing the audience to the interactive map which features the locations that PLANT operates in. The website is easily navigable with striking images and videos, full of stories of each place and of the many species present.