From its misty highlands to the tropical coasts, Sri Lanka’s rich natural resources have sustained its people and wildlife for centuries. The island nation, blessed with diverse ecosystems, owes its abundant biodiversity to a blend of rugged terrain, climatic heterogeneity, copious rain and coastal influence.
Yet, the challenges of a changing climate have never been more urgent. And, over the years, Sri Lanka has made various commitments to soil health, including being a signatory of the three Rio Conventions addressing climate change, desertification and biodiversity loss.
Through the six-year “Knuckles Project“, funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Sri Lanka is progressing to strengthen the resilience of its ecosystems. The project is carried out in partnership with the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) and the Sri Lankan government.
Soil as the foundation: A closer look at the Knuckles region
Map of the five LDSF sites sampled. Tor Vagen/CIFOR-ICRAF
Central to this initiative is the assessment of soil and land health at a landscape scale—understanding the very ground beneath our feet. The Knuckles region plays a crucial role with its mist-cloaked peaks and fertile valleys. Its rich biodiversity supports countless communities that rely on the land for their livelihoods. Soil is the foundation for this rich tapestry of life, supporting all these valuable services.
“The Knuckles region is of great significance to the entire country,” says Rupesh Bhomia, a scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF and a leader in soil sampling in Sri Lanka. “It is vital not only for its unique ecological features but also because it sustains numerous communities that rely heavily on its natural resources. This makes assessing land health and reversing degradation in these areas essential for both environmental and human resilience.”
As part of the project, soil sampling across the Knuckles region is being conducted using the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF). Developed by CIFOR-ICRAF scientists, LDSF offers a rigorous, science-based field protocol for assessing land and soil characteristics, as well as vegetation composition and land degradation over time. It is designed to establish a biophysical baseline at the landscape level, serving as a monitoring and evaluation tool to track land degradation processes and the effectiveness of rehabilitation efforts.
The framework uses a hierarchical field survey and sampling protocol, focusing on sites that are 100 km2 each. These sites are selected randomly across a region or watershed or within areas of planned interventions. Within each site, 16 subdivisions are defined and random central locations for clusters within each tile are generated. Each cluster includes ten plots with randomized centre-point locations, which helps to minimise biases that can occur with convenience sampling.
The Knuckles Project has completed soil and data collection at five sites: Matale, Kandy, Bakamuna, Pelwehera and Laggala.
“The LDSF sites in the Knuckles region span different climates and topographic gradients, exhibiting a diverse landscape within the country, comprising a variety of natural and man-made ecosystems. Thus, the assessment findings will be highly instrumental in developing sustainable land management protocols for different landscapes”, said Tharanga Wijewickrama, CIFOR-ICRAF ecologist and lead for the Sri-Lanka LDSF sampling work.
Field technicians sampling soil using the LDSF. Photo by Rupesh Bhomia/CIFOR-ICRAF
A nation’s commitment to its land
Sri Lanka’s dedication to restoring its landscapes extends beyond the project. As a signatory to the Paris Agreement, the country updated its Nationally Determined Contributions in 2021, pledging to expand forest cover to 32% and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14.5% by 2030, as well as 70% renewable energy in electricity generation.
In its 2022 Climate Prosperity Plan, the country aims to boost land management and resilience, setting its sights on achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15 and improving up to 5.77% of its land management and climate resilience by the decade’s end.
This project is central to the country’s pursuit of Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030. The LDSF sampling provides geo-referenced data at a landscape level, offering reliable geospatial information vital for monitoring progress, guiding actions and reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Additionally, the project boosts resilience for local communities by enhancing soil health, supporting climate-resilient crops, improving water security and mitigating climate risks for vulnerable populations. Through ecosystem conservation and ecotourism opportunities, the project fosters a healthy environment and supports generating income for local communities while safeguarding biodiversity.
The LDSF, implemented with partners in over 40 countries, provides a consistent set of indicators to assess the health of an ecosystem. Applied systematically across diverse ecosystems and land uses across the global tropics, the LDSF has grown into one of the largest geo-referenced soil and land health indicators database.
Water infiltration measurement during LDSF sampling. Photo by Rupesh Bhomia/CIFOR-ICRAF
Using a multi-scale approach, the LDSF framework enables robust statistical analysis and inference, including precise spatial assessments and predictive mapping when combined with remote sending and satellite data. These insights can be used to refine the targeting and design of land management and restoration efforts, as well as to monitor the effectiveness of various practices in achieving restoration targets and ensuring long-term sustainability.
By the end of the Knuckles Project, 1.3 million people— 51.4 % of them women— will have benefited from adopting diversified, climate-resilient livelihood options. Additionally, 346,000 hectares of upland and lowland agroecosystems and natural ecosystems will have been protected and strengthened to withstand climate variability and change.
Acknowledgements
The project, Strengthening Climate Resilience of Subsistence Farmers and Agricultural Plantation Communities residing in the vulnerable river basins, watershed areas and downstream of the Knuckles Mountain Range Catchment of Sri Lanka (Knuckles Project), is designed to enhance the ability of populations, especially that of the smallholder subsistence farmers to address climate-induced shortages of irrigation and drinking water by improving the resilience of farm and land management practices and climate proofing the underlying ecosystems in the Knuckles and Amban Ganga highlands and lowlands.
As part of the project, CIFOR-ICRAF partners with the Ministry of Irrigation, the Forest Department, the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the local administration (Divisional Secretary and Gram Niladharis) and local team members.
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