Actions in this pledge

• Conserving trees and forest landscapes

  Supporting actions

  Permanent conservation

  Secure a forest through acquisition or legal agreement to avoid planned or unplanned deforestation or degradation, and/or ensure permanent conservation of land

  Conservation support activities

  Support the operating costs and activities of existing conservation areas, including advocacy for conservation policy

  Additional details

  The Cinnamon Rainforest Restoration Project:
  Annual process:
  1. Surveyors conduct an ecological survey to assess the ecological rate of success.
  2. Undertaking of bush regeneration activities such as weed removal, soil preparation to prepare the site to accommodate plants.
  3. Planting process.

  This project currently consists of 21,000 trees in 59 acres, with an additional 9,000 trees planned by 2030.

  As our long-term goal, we hope that by 2045 it can absorb approximately 600 000 KG of carbon annually and generate 12 Million Liters of O2 per hour. Please note that these figures are internally calculated for reference purposes.

  The Cinnamon Habarana complex:
  This area is responsible for successfully planting 4,006 trees in 40 acres in 1982, which are being conserved currently. This area is an identified brownfield site, acquired in the 1970s. Every 3 years an ecological assessment is done to monitor the number of native species present and are identified using the IUCN red list whether they are at risk of being endangered or not.

  The tea factories in Kurupanawa, Panawenna and Broadlands planted 1,300 trees in 2023 and are currently conserving them.

  

  Conserving

  Land area

  101.5 acres

• Restoring and growing trees and forest landscapes

  Supporting actions

  Reforestation

  Re-establishment of forest through planting and/or deliberate seeding on land classified as forest, that has been degraded or where trees are unlikely to regenerate naturally

  Mangrove restoration

  Establishment or enhancement of mangroves along coastal areas and in estuaries

  Watershed protection and erosion control

  Establishment and enhancement of forests on very steep sloping land, along water courses, in areas that naturally flood and around critical water bodies

  Additional details

  For the 100,000 trees we intend to propagate in the future, the John Keells Group will work with third-party partners to acquire degraded/protected land to regrow native trees in those areas.

  Additionally, the John Keells Group together with Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts and other participating companies within the Group will collaborate with third parties to explore the possibility of restoring mangroves as a part of the pledge towards regrowing 130k trees by 2030.

  We will implement a mechanism driven through the Group Sustainability function to periodically monitor the success of these programs and address any challenges. Additionally, periodic species assessments are conducted to determine the expansion of the biodiversity as against the baseline species study.

  

  Restoring & Growing

  Land area

  207 acres

• Enabling activities for trees and forest landscapes

  Supporting actions

  Nursery and seedling development

  Establish tree nurseries, including actions such as identification and collection of seeds and/or growing seedlings

  Education and capacity building

  Forest / tree species conservation and restoration education programmes, targeted educational and behaviour change campaigns, training and capacity building, including promotion of local and traditional knowledge and practices

  Community mobilisation

  Community mobilisation and engagement activities for conservation, restoration and reforestation, including enabling systems of community governance, etc.

  Youth engagement

  Engagement of young people and/or youth networks to catalyse a restoration generation

  Data collection, management and technological tools

  Activities that provide data and/or technological tools to support conservation and restoration (e.g. monitoring etc.)

  Additional details

  The seedlings for the Cinnamon Rainforest Restoration Project were sourced locally from small businesses, allowing them to generate an income which benefitted the local community during periods of financial hardship such as COVID-19-related economic fallout, etc. This would be an ongoing source of financial support for these communities.

  The Cinnamon Habarana complex conducts biodiversity surveys to keep track of the plants they have propagated to be on top of their conservation efforts.

  Employees from both the plantation and the hospitality sector have engaged enthusiastically in our propagation efforts.

  Students from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka volunteered to aid in the Cinnamon Rainforest Restoration Project.

  Ecological surveys conducted by Cinnamon Habarana complex and the Cinnamon Rainforest Restoration Project supplicate necessary tools and technologies to improve conservation efforts by providing accurate and reliable assessments.

  

  Enabling