Conservation valuation of Sri Lanka's landscapes in relation to major taxonomic groups

General

Sri Lanka has been identified as one of the 36 global biodiversity hotspots, with ad-hoc decisions in land use planning increasingly threatening the country’s biological diversity and aggravating the severe impacts of natural disasters, such as floods and landslides. The IKI Small Grants project aims to protect Sri Lanka’s important habitats and ecosystems by enabling informed, science-based decision making in land use planning. In cooperation with national experts and government agencies, the project creates an index to identify critical habitats across the country and integrates it into land use planning databases at all scales. To further improve decision-making processes, the project provides policymakers with guidelines and decision trees. It promotes the integration of conservation areas into development plans. Therefore, it contributes to minimising the detrimental impacts on the environment and to enhancing the societal benefits provided by ecosystems for human well-being.