SL among the first countries to advance large-scale biodiversity management

FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Vimlendra Sharan (left), Secretary to the Ministry of Environment K.R. Uduwawala at the signing ceremony along with representatives of the FAO and officials of the Ministry of Environment  

Key interventions include updating the national priority invasive species list for the first time since 2015, establishing a national digital monitoring system, and enhancing border controls through improved tools and enforcement capacity

Positioning the country among the first globally to move into large-scale implementation of bio diversity conservation, Sri Lanka has been endorsed for a project under the Kunming Biodiversity Fund (KBF) of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. 

The KBF project proposal was formally signed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Environment K.R. Uduwawala, and FAO Representative for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Vimlendra Sharan, at the Ministry of Environment recently. 

The Fund provides catalytic international financing that enables Sri Lanka to scale up biodiversity action, address long-standing investment gaps in invasive species management, and leverage FAO’s technical support. Community-based ecosystem restoration and inclusive livelihoods are central to the project’s approach. Activities will include site-specific eradication efforts, post-eradication monitoring, and innovative ‘eradication-through-utilisation’ models that generate economic opportunities for women, youth and vulnerable groups while restoring ecosystems.

Through the project Sri Lanka will strengthen policies, legislation and institutional coordination related to invasive species management. Key interventions include updating the national priority invasive species list for the first time since 2015, establishing a national digital monitoring system, and enhancing border controls through improved tools and enforcement capacity.

The KBF-supported project responds directly as an urgent, coordinated and system-wide national action in managing the invasive alien species that represent a critical and growing threat to Sri Lanka’s biodiversity, ecosystems, agriculture and livelihoods. The proposal is entirely homegrown, developed through close collaboration between the Ministry of Environment and national experts, ensuring that global commitments are firmly grounded in Sri Lanka’s national priorities and realities.

This marks a transformative shift from fragmented, project-based interventions to a unified national bio-security system. The initiative will institutionalise prevention, early detection, rapid response and long-term management of invasive species across the country.