Fifty five forests gazetted

Disna Mudalige

The Forest Conservation Department (FCD) gazetted 256,689 hectares covering 55 forests, as either 'conservation forests' or 'reserve forests' within this year, Acting Conservator General K P Ariyadasa said.

Addressing a press conference at the Environment Ministry Auditorium yesterday, he said most of these forest areas are in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

Ariyadasa said the conclusion of the three decade war enabled the department to have direct access to forest lands in the North and East, and prompt measures have been taken to draw the boundaries and protect untouched forest patches in these areas.

According to the FCD, eight forests covering 67,806 hectares in Mullaithivu, six forests covering 76,367 hectares in Mannar, four forests (33,486 hectares) in Trincomalee, six forests (30,832 hectares) in Vavuniya and four forests (12,329 hectares) in Killinochchi have been declared reserves through gazette this year.

The gazetted forests also include 25,785 hectares in Polonnaruwa, 3,573 hectares in Moneragala, 2,391 hectares in Badulla and 1,323 hectares in Puttalam.

Ariyadasa said the gazetting of reserve forests would help control illegal activities, such as felling of trees.

He said another 200 forests have been identified to be gazetted in the near future.

Ariyadasa said these forest lands come under the segment of forests numbering about 1.5 million hectares managed by the FCD, adding that certain forest lands come under the purview of the Wildlife Conservation Department.