Last updated: May 2025
The financial capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, is the fastest-growing city in Sri Lanka, and as such, it is constantly changing. Most expansions in urban areas are taking place without proper planning, which can cause damage to existing pockets of forests, landscapes and green areas in and around the city (1). The environmental impacts of this rapid urbanisation include increased pollution, increased heat due to the expansion of roads/pavements, tall structures that block out light and wind and reduced biodiversity in fauna and flora (1). To face these challenges, the Federation of Environmental Organisations (FEO) proposed a city-wide Tree Planting Campaign to create an Urban Forest Strategy in public and private lands in the greater Colombo area (1). The plan is to kick-start the program at the Borella Cemetery as it has a large land area available for planting, specifically 178062 sq meters (3). The project started to be implemented in July 2020 with the seasonal rains (1). This project aims to grow urban trees to help mitigate some of the negative impacts of unplanned and rapid urbanisation, thus making the city more resilient to these changes (1). The trees that will be planted will be mostly native species and also exotic plants will be selected based on specific requirements (1, 3). It is also planned to have flowering plants and shrubs to encourage butterflies, bees and birds to interspace the trees (1). The new parking space near the Borella Cemetery will also be planted with deep root shading trees interspaced with flowering plants (1). The project aimed to include a large number of stakeholders including the government, the private sector and the residents of Colombo (1). And they have also reached schools in Colombo and hope to involve environmental associations to further the cause (3).
Tree planting activity at the Borella Cemetery
Federation of Environmental Organizations - Sri Lanka - Facebook
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Green parking lots
- Parks and urban forests
- Large urban parks or forests
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change adaptation
- Environmental quality
- Air quality improvement
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Habitat and biodiversity restoration
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Climate-Related Hazards
- Heat stress & Extreme temperatures
- Environmental Degradation
- Biodiversity loss
- Air pollution
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Rapid urbanization
- Unequal availability and access to public green spaces
- Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
- Physical health harm (from pollution, wildfire, extreme temperature)
- Mental health issues (stress, anxiety)
Key priorities
Climate action (adaptation and/or mitigation), Biodiversity (conservation and/or restoration)
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of large parks and urban and peri-urban forests, Maintenance and management of urban nature, Urban reforestation, restoration of street trees, Strategy, plan or policy development, Creation of city-wide or neighborhood climate adaptation or mitigation strategies/programs
Project objectives
To make the City of Colombo the greenest city in South Asia (1)
To contribute to the health and well-being of the community while increasing the urban green space in the city (1)
To increase canopy cover to provide shade, thereby reducing the temperature in certain parts of the city (1, 3)
To increase urban ecology and biodiversity, by increasing tree diversity and providing a habitat for small mammals, birds and insects (1, 3)
To improve vegetation health as replacements for ageing trees in the city (1, 3)
To mitigate the urban heat island effect by bringing our inner-city temperatures down (1, 3)
To reduce air pollution (1)
Implementation activities
The approval to plant at the Borella and Jawatte cemeteries is in the process of being acquired through the office of the Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipal Council. Plant species and sizes will be decided based on the specific requirements at each of these sites. Attention will be given to planting a diverse range of species of plants for birds and butterflies in addition to providing shade. FEO would source suitable plants/saplings, provide the compost as required, carry out the planting and secure the plants with a protective cage around the plant if required. FEO will also oversee the watering and maintenance of the plants which will be carried out by the gardening staff at the cemetery (1)
Plants will be selected based on the following categories: Trees that provide shade – for roadsides and other areas, Trees that attract birds, butterflies and other beneficial pollinator species, Flowering and fruit trees, and specific native trees to increase biodiversity (1)
Butterfly gardens are being created, that consist of butterfly host and nectar plants (7)
Climate-focused activities
Climate change adaptation:
- Increase urban vegetation cover to reduce urban heat island effect
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity restoration:
- Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
- Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
Main beneficiaries
- Private sector/Corporate/Company
- Citizens or community groups
- Young people and children
Governance
Management set-up
- Led by non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Non-government organisation/civil society
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Taskforce groups
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
Federation of Environmental Organizations (FEO): NGO project initiator and implementer (1). It brings the technical expertise and is responsible for the maintenance of the plants (1)
Chief Medical Officer of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and both the Catholic and Anglican Church authorities: Project approvers (1), as they are the authorities that oversee the spaces (3)
Private sector, such as the Rotary Club of Colombo West, and citizens: Tree planting project collaborators (2)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Type of enablers
NGOs/Community groups driving the implementation
Financing
Total cost
Less than €10,000
Source(s) of funding
- Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)
- Private funding by citizens
Type of funding
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
- Donations
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of goods
- Provision of labour
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
- Private sector (businesses, financial institution)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Expected lowered local temperature
- Enhanced carbon sequestration
- Expected enhanced carbon sequestration
- Water management and blue areas
- Increased protection against flooding
- Expected increased protection against flooding
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
- Expected increased number of species present
- Increased presence and recovery of wild species
- Expected increased presence and recovery of wild species
- Enhanced support of pollination
- Achieved enhanced support of pollination
Economic impacts
- Generation of other type of work opportunities (e.g. voluntary, work for rehabilitation)
- Expected generation of other type of work opportunities (e.g. voluntary, work for rehabilitation)
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved access to urban green space
- Expected improved access to urban green space
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Expected increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Expected gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Improved mental health
- Expected improved mental health
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
Federation of Environmental Organisations Sri Lanka (n.d.). Project ‘Greening Colombo’. Accessed on October 18, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Mihidora. The Environmental Portal (n.d.). Tree Planting at Borella Cemetery with Rotary Club of Colombo West. Accessed on October 18, 2024, [Source link];
3.
The Morning Newspaper (2020). Greening the City of Colombo. Accessed on October 18, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Federation of Environmental Organizations (2020). Federation of Environmental Organizations - Sri Lanka - Facebook . Accessed on October 18, 2024, [Source link];
5.
World Population Review (2024). Colombo, Sri Lanka Population 2024. Accessed on October 18, 2024, [Source link];
6.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2018). Assessing and Planning City Region Food System. Accessed on December 18, 2024, [Source link];
Trees to be planted in the Borella Cemetery
Federation of Environmental Organizations - Sri Lanka - Facebook
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.