Endana Nature Corridor’s second phase takes root
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Merrill J Fernando and Dilhan Fernando planting a sapling
In 2018, Dilmah Tea founder, Merrill J Fernando uprooted the tea bushes at Dilmah’s tea garden at Endana to create a nature corridor across the estate, reconnecting Sri Lanka’s fragmented forest ecosystems in the region. The initiative looks towards enhancing the genetic diversity around the Sinharaja Rainforest, a UNESCO designated World Heritage site and Biosphere Reserve, by linking the nearby Walankanda and Iharakanda Forest Reserves.
The second phase of this initiative, Endana Nature Corridor, started with the planting of 70 different plant species with support of both scientists and the plantation community in May.
Owing to its unique topography, the Endana tea estate depicts a high level of faunal diversity which includes 34 endemic and 20 threatened species. The estate itself is used as route by some birds and mammals to migrate between the forest reserves. The creation of a biological corridor across this landscape thus offers a promise of increasing the survivability of existing species by strengthening their genetic admixtures.
The initiative looks at restoring the region to a luxuriant rainforest like the Walankanda Forest Reserve where 181 tree species were recorded of which nearly 60% was found to be endemic.
The Endana nature corridor, which will thus be established on the principles of scientific conservation looks towards setting an example for the corporate sectors, by adopting integrated approaches that consider the role and livelihood of rural communities in biodiversity conservation. Dilhan C Fernando, CEO Dilmah Tea said, ‘As a business with an enduring connection with nature, we wanted to correct the historic imbalance. Together with the local communities, Dilmah is uprooting our precious tea and rewilding part of the Endana Estate to reconnect forest patches. This will enrich the genetic diversity of species and restore this sensitive rainforest ecosystem. Conservation is no longer an option, it is as essential as the air we breathe.’