Book Description

The Central Highlands are an important area in Sri Lanka that generates important ecosystem services for the country. However, the area suffers from land degradation and related issues. The project “Rehabilitation of Degraded Agricultural Lands in Kandy, Badulla and Nuwara Eliya Districts in the Central Highlands” (GCP/SRL/063/GFF) was designed to tackle the above-mentioned challenges. The terminal evaluation found that the project generated relevant planned and unplanned outcomes including spontaneous dissemination of project models (e.g. tea smallholding productivity improvement) and demand for replication and use of Participatory Land Use Development Plans (PLUDP) as national model for village level resource planning. Positive gender results and lateral dissemination of technology and strengthened peer-to-peer learning were evaluation findings. The recommendations include: i) the project should catalyse and showcase their knowledge management, training and outreach related innovations post COVID-19; ii) future projects trying to innovate conservation approaches beyond the traditional ones should receive dedicated, embedded technical advisory support; iii) long-term and innovative financing should be embedded into sustainable land use models in project and pilot design; and iv) land use planning and development planning should be connected.