The Department of Forest Conservation has reportedly rejected a request by Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security, and Cooperative Development, Wasantha Samarasinghe, to release 166 acres of reserved forest land in Anuradhapura District to 71 local farmers.
The appeal, made in a letter dated September 25 to the Divisional Forest Officer, Anuradhapura, was based on requests from farmers in the Mee Kumbukwewa GN Division under the Kahatagasdigiliya Divisional Secretariat, as well as from Weerasole, Kalpe, Pattewa, Kanadarawa, Rathmale, and Dutuwewa GN Divisions under the Horowpothana Divisional Secretariat.
Minister Samarasinghe highlighted that the farmers had long relied on chena cultivation during both the Yala and Maha seasons but were prevented from continuing due to the lands falling within a forest reserve where electric fencing had been installed to protect against elephants.
He requested that the lands be temporarily released to allow the farmers to sustain their livelihoods during the current cultivation season.
Following a review, the Department of Forest Conservation had instructed the Divisional Forest Officer not to release the reserved forest lands for cultivation under any circumstances.
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