Joins an initiative to create over 50 Ha of forest
The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has expanded its wide-ranging commitment to sustainability with a pledge of support to a project to reforest a part of a nine-kilometer stretch of the banks of the Maskeli Oya, a major upstream tributary of the Kelani river.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the Bank with Preserving Land and Nature (Guarantee) Ltd, or PLANT, an initiative of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), envisages that Commercial Bank will fund the planting of 3,650 plants on land strips parallel to the Maskeli Oya waterway, contributing to environmental conservation, including carbon sequestration, forest corridor creation, soil erosion prevention, and the creation of a sustainable habitat for local fauna.
The forest corridor that is to be created will comprise of several native tree species including Tel-keena (Calophyllum walker) Kudu dawula (Neolitsea cassia), Gal-Weralu (Elaeocarpus subvillosus) and Kenda (Macaranga sp.), and also help enhance the biodiversity of the location.
The Bank said the project addresses both environmental and community impacts, making it a holistic approach to sustainability, considering not only the preservation of the environment but also the positive effects on local communities.
The Maskeli Oya reforestation project shares synergies with Commercial Bank’s on-going ‘Trees for Tomorrow’ initiative to plant 100,000 trees around the country, and a project to reforest a 100-hectare swath of degraded habitat belonging to the Kandegama forest in the Dimbulagala range of the Polonnaruwa District.
Other Commercial Bank supported community projects that promote sustainability include the ‘Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL) – ‘Life to Our Beaches’ initiative, under which the Bank has undertaken to fund the clean-up and continuing upkeep by a beach caretaker family, of a coastal stretch within the Kalutara Beach Park area.
Sri Lanka’s first 100% carbon neutral bank, Commercial Bank is the largest private sector bank in Sri Lanka and the first Sri Lankan bank to be listed among the Top 1000 Banks of the World. The Bank is the largest lender to Sri Lanka’s SME sector, and is a leader in digital innovation in the country’s Banking sector. Commercial Bank operates a strategically-located network of branches and 974 automated machines island-wide, and has the widest international footprint among Sri Lankan Banks, with 20 outlets in Bangladesh, a Microfinance company in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, and a fully-fledged Tier I Bank with a majority stake in the Maldives.
WNPS PLANT is driving the notion of Private Conservation in Sri Lanka and hopes to protect lands in their existing natural states and extend protected areas by converting more private land to conservation areas (www.plantsl.org). PLANT, along with their Partners, already have a footprint of over 2,500 acres across over 20 locations including some extremely sensitive lands which house several threatened species and incredible biodiversity. Both the Commercial Bank and PLANT teams have developed a strong execution plan to ensure the follow up and smooth execution of this key initiative.