IUCN Sri Lanka and INSEE (Lanka) Ltd Partnership for Environmental initiatives
Project title: IUCN Sri Lanka and INSEE (Lanka) Ltd Partnership for Environmental initiatives
Location: Aruwakalu, Limestone Quarry Site, Puttalam
Duration: 2016-2018
Project Background:
IUCN Sri Lanka and Holcim (Lanka) Ltd have worked together between2007 to 2015 on environmental activities that focused on minimising the impacts of the Aruwakalu Quarry Site in Puttalam. IUCN suported the cement quarry operations by rescuing and re-locating selected plants and less mobile fauna from areas ear-marked for mining to safe areas, and also provided guidance to restore mined sites. During this process, IUCN also identified the area’s most critical habitats, and declared them as ‘no-mine’ areas.
A total of 696,920 m² of land area has been rehabilitated over the past nine years. Monitoring studies undertaken by IUCN has demonstrated that 6-10 year old restored habitats have a higher forest species diversity than unrestored 30-year old quarry sites, which have gone through natural regeneration.
The ownership of Holcim operations in Sri Lanka changed to Siam City Cement Public Company Limited ‘INSEE Cement’ in 2016. Considering the success of its previous partnership,, INSEE and IUCN will continue to collaborate as partners.
Objectives of the project
Provide technical support to activities related to restoration, monitoring, animal and plant rescue and biodiversity surveys at the Aruwakalu Quarry Site
Outputs
- Biodiversity assessments and rescue-release activities
- Monitoring of restored areas
- Presentation of findings and recommendations to the Quarry Management and the Plant Manager
Donor/s: Siam City Cement Public Company Limited ‘INSEE’ Cement
Partner/s: N/A
