Habitat Restoration 1:100

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In 2016 MAS set out an ambitious goal to restore and rehabilitate 100 times the habitat lost through its physical operational footprint as measured by the total area of occupied space – a total of 25,000 acres to grow, conserve and reforest. The 2017 objective was to diagnose, map out and deploy an action plan to restore habitats across 250 acres that is the space the group currently occupies in Sri Lanka. MAS understood its own impact and the current rapid deforestation rate in Sri Lanka which is losing over 8,000 hectares of forest cover each year – all of which directly leads to soil erosion and water scarcity. There was knowledge that growing trees alone would not help the problem of biodiversity loss – that a multi-pronged approach to engage and deploy habitat creation from all fronts was critical. Learning from previous experiences in biodiversity and community engagement MAS designed 6 models of how it would approach the creation of forests with maximum impact.

  • Afforestation: Establish forests in an area where there was no previous tree cover.
  • Analog Forestry: Agroforestry technique that has both ecosystem & human uses
  • Restoration: Restore degraded land to forest level & restore biodiversity in other areas
  • Invasive Removal & Enrichment: Remove exotic species that hinder natural forest succession
  • Forest Gardens: Create forest habitat inside/near facilities to promote biodiversity-Butterfly, Herbal, Organic etc.
  • Conservation: Protect existing climax forests from destruction

27 sites were chosen for their unique biodiversity challenges across Sri Lanka and in one of the most passionately followed goals across the group in 2017 the teams have made an impact across a massive 600 acres with a 5-7 year commitment to maintain and ensure the projects keep growing.