SLT launches wild fruits of Sri Lanka calendar

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), launched its calendar for the year 2016 under the theme “Wild Fruits of Sri Lanka”. The calendar was launched during a special event held on Wednesday, December 16 at the SLT premises in Fort Colombo.

Prof. Devaka Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer of the Zoology Department at the University of Colombo, Samantha Gunasekara, former Deputy Director of Customs – Biodiversity, Cultural and National Heritage Protection Division and environmental lawyer Jagath Gunawardana were also present and stressed on the importance of environmental conservation, and preserving wild fruits in particular.

SLT produces these calendars under the main theme “preserving heritage for tomorrow”, with sub-themes that alternate its focus between the arts, culture and biodiversity of Sri Lanka.

The company believes that educating and encouraging the public is key in preserving the rich heritage that Sri Lanka has been endowed with –this calendar focuses on the importance of wild fruit as well as the important role they play in our ecosystem, our health as well as our economy.

Around 120 species of wild fruit types have been recorded in Sri Lanka. Wild fruits have various benefits: from a health aspect, they are much more nutritious than cultivars; from an environmental point of view, they contribute significantly to biodiversity and keeping our ecosystem in balance; economically, they have the potential to be developed into new varieties of delicious fruit, hence such wild species are an invaluable resource to a country.

Sadly today however, knowledge about wild fruits and their uses have declined and they are becoming increasingly rare, with cultivated fruits taking centrestage.

Speaking at the launch, SLT Chairman Mr. P.G. Kumarasinghe Sirisena said, “It is a growing concern that the value of wild fruits has not been clearly understood or has been forgotten over the years.

Wild fruits are becoming increasingly rare mainly due to destruction of their natural habitats and also due to the degeneration of indigenous knowledge concerning wild fruits, their harvesting techniques and preparation.

So this is why we decided to base our 2016 Calendar on the theme ‘Wild Fruits of Sri Lanka’ because the first step to conservation is educating the public.

Through these calendars and other programmes that we have lined up for the coming year, we hope to raise awareness amongst the general public about the importance of wild fruits so that we can come together and help to preserve them for the future generations.”

Dr. Samantha Suranjan Fernando, Field Ecologist, Centre for Applied Biodiversity Research and Education was the resource person for the SLT Calendar 2016.