Nature, Art & Culture

Every living being receives a rich bounty of sustenance from the environment. There would be no enterprise, no life whether corporate or private without the bounties of nature.

It is therefore a rude shock to the system to observe how blatantly we take nature and the environment for granted. Over the centuries, man has misused what nature freely bestowed - clean air, clear water, warm sunshine and the bounties of land and sea.

The preservation of our natural resources for generations to come, has become a top priority for all.

SLT offers several programmes in the cause of preserving the environment.

Earth is Calling - Are you Listening?
The Company joined forces with the Young Zoologists' Association to present a series of public lectures on topics of high interest in this field.

Six lectures were held between July and December 2004, which covered the topics - "Land Mammals of Sri Lanka", "Fresh Water Fish of Sri Lanka", "Biodiversity and Conservation", "Environmental Law", "Custom's Role in Biodiversity Conservation" and "Marine Mammals".

The lectures were conducted by some of the most eminent and erudite persons in their respective fields of expertise.

The Company Calendar for 2005 was themed upon this project.

Other Initiatives
The Company has undertaken to keep the precincts of Sri Pada clean. As the Sri Pada season gets under way, sizeable quantities of garbage tend to build up, which if left untended, leads to adverse effects to the area. Indeed, when garbage was collected in a timely manner, changes in the species diversity were observed, especially in the bird population in the area.

Thus our cleaning programme has the dual effect of maintaining a conducive environment for pilgrims as well as enabling a study of the seasonal changes in the diversity of fauna in the Sri Pada region.

We have also commenced a project to rid the Horton Plains of the invasive Eulex plant. This rapidly growing plant has proved a menace to the beautiful Plains and SLT has an active campaign going to manually remove the plant and prevent its spread.

The Company also conducts a number of Public Awareness lectures throughout the year on different aspects of the environment and the conservation process.