The Sri Lanka Air Force under the guidance of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana together with the Forest Conservation Department, Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya, Central Environment Authority and MAS Capital (Pvt) Ltd instigated the sixth wave of seed bombing at Wattegama Kebilitta Government Forest Reserve in the Siyamblanduwa Divisional Secretariat yesterday (23 November 2021).
The Command Agro Unit at SLAF Base Katunayake under the leadership of Group Captain Rajeev Kodippili and the Department of Forest Conservation organized this mission to achieve the aim of improving the forest density of Sri Lanka in order to reach the sustainable development goals of the country by increasing the forest cover from 27% to 32% by the year 2030.
Thefirstwaveof the mission was executed at Ranorawa government forest in a five acres land area and approximately 5,000 seed bombs were released.
During thesecond wave67,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60 acres area inside the forest of Lahugala in Ampara.The third wave which was conducted in December 2020 saw the dropping of approximately 30,000 seed bombs over a 25 acres land area within the Lahugala National Park.Thefourthwavewas also carried out in the Lahugala National Park where 70,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60 acre area.The fifth wave was also carried out in the Kebilitta Government Forest Reserve where 80,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 75 acres area.
The seed bombs comprised native trees such as Kon (Schleicheraoleosa), Kohomba (Azadirachta indica), Maila (Bauhinia racemose), Ma Dan (Syzygiumcumini), Siyambala (Tamarindus indica), Mee (Madhuca longifolia), Palu (Manilkara hexandra), Kumbuk (Terminalia arjuna), Weera (Drypetessepiaria), Bulu (Terminalia belerica), Kithul (Caryotaurens), Munamal (Mimusopselengi), Aralu (Oroxylum indicum), Domba (Calophylluminophyllum) and Ketakala (Bridilia retusa).
The total land area cover by this mission was approximately 70 acres with 65,000 seed bombs being dropped and this mission was planned to coincide with the monsoon rain season as well in order to maximize its effectiveness.
SLAF Station Weerawila was utilized as the staging base for this mission as it was 29.3 Nautical Miles from the selected area. The MI-17 helicopter which was utilized for this mission was captained by Wing Commander SenakaKooragamuwa while the Co-Pilot was Flight LieutenantSudaraAmaradewa.