The Ministry of Environment has decided to designate several forests located on state owned lands as official forest reserves.
Deputy Minister – Anton Jayakody has stated that such forests, each spanning 05 hectares or more, have been identified in every district.
Special priority will be given to designating forest reserves on mountain peaks.
In the first phase, 20 forests in districts including Monaragala and Ampara have been selected under the new program named ‘Vanaspathi’, he said.
He further said the initiative aims to protect these forest areas and expand the country’s forest cover.
