More than 400 field forest officers across Sri Lanka’s 23 forest divisions participated in a locally adapted forest landscape restoration (FLR) training program facilitated by 30 national-level experts and supported by 12 restoration professionals from across the country.The project supported capacity building linking theory with practice in actual field implementation of restoration through local multi-stakeholder consultations and decision making.

Two main field implementation sites were selected for the training covering the main landscape types in Sri Lanka: Hurulu Forest Landscape in the dry zone with focus on forest restoration within and around a reserve; and Opatha - Kanneliya landscapes in the wet zone for demonstrating native species rehabilitation in the forest reserve and developing livelihood opportunities in the surrounding rural communities.

In three districts, namely, Gal Oya, Polonnaruwa; Attanagalu Oya River Basin, Gampaha; and Kanneliya, Galle Field; officers were also trained in participatory FLR planning and field implementation in close collaboration with governmental departments and local communities.

Likewise, three forest conservation management plans with focus on forest conservation and restoration were prepared for the Knuckles Conservation Forest, Matale; and Sinharaja Conservation Area, Matara and Rathnapura Districts. The objective of preparing these plans was to revisit and revise existing forest management plans to improve forest conservation and restoration impact in these areas.  Plans were prepared for a further 12 districts during the project. There is interest to continue in the remaining 8 districts in future.