The Gazette Notification increasing the size of the protected Sinharaja rainforest area to 36,474.93 hectares, signed by former President Maithripala Sirisena on the 11th of November 2019, has been issued, after a lapse of more than one year.
The Gazette declaration has been backdated to 20th of November 2019.
Following reports of development activities in recent weeks in the vicinity of the Sinharaja forest reserve, environmentalists and civil society groups had raised concerns about the delay to issue the Gazette to expand the protected zone of the rainforest.
(newsradio.lk)
