Planting trees:

More than 80% of Sri Lankan land belongs to households and farmers, leaving the rest for breathing spaces. Ideally, it should be the other way around, but we can't change this as these lands are already occupied. Evacuating them would cause social upheaval. Instead, we can all sacrifice a little space from each household's land. Accumulating every bit of space can create a large forest. It's as simple as that.

How we can do it ?

Planting trees around fences at the domestic level is a brilliant way to create a man-made green belt. It will help to stablish small scale amenity as well as day-to-day needs, such as food, energy and medicine.

Traditional Sri Lankan home gardens (“වත්ත”) are the best model for having multi‑purpose food trees that support a family’s daily needs. These trees provide fruits, vegetables, medicine, spices, shade, and even timber. This way, we can create a holistic approach to sustainable agriculture and self-sufficiency.

Trees are like 

 Coconut (පොල්)   Jackfruit (kos – කොස්)  Mango (අඹ)  Orange / Lime / Lemon (දොඩම් / දෙහි / ලුණු දෙහි)Woodapple (දිවුල්) Guava (පේර) Papaya (පැපොල්) Drumstick Tree (Murunga – මුරුංගා) Bilimbi / Ceylon Olive (ඇඹරැල්ල / වෙරලු) Nelli / Indian Gooseberry (නෙල්ලි) Areca Nut (පුහුල් දොඩම් / පුවක්) Avocado (අලිගැට පේර) Soursop (කතල් අඹ) Rambutan (රඹුටන්) Sapodilla (සෙපෙටියා) Starfruit (කැරඹොල) Jambu (ජාම්බු) Tamarind (සියඹලා) Cashew (කජු) also Hora හෝර , Na Tree නා ගස, Mee මී ගස, Kumbuk කුඹුක් , Weniwel වෙණිවැල්, Beraliya බෙරලිය, Atamba , ආටඹ and others

This initiative will not only provide biomass for energy generation but also contribute to food security and minimise the need for commercial deforestation.

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