The Sri Lanka Air Force under the guidance of the Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana together with the Forest Conservation Department and the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya instigated the fifth wave of seed bombing at Wattegama Kebilitta Government Forest Reserve in the Siyamblanduwa Divisional Secretariate yesterday and the day before (05 and 06 October 2021). The Command Agro Unit at SLAF Base Katunayake under the leadership of Group Captain Rajeev Kodippili and the Forest Conservation Department organized this mission to achieve the aim of improving the forest density of Sri Lanka in order to reach the sustainable development goals of the country by increasing the forest cover from 27% to 32% by the year 2030.
The first wave of the mission was executed at Ranorawa government forest in a five acres land area and approximately 5,000 seed bombs were released. During the second wave 67,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60 acres area inside the forest of Lahugala in Ampara. The third wave which was conducted in December 2020 saw the dropping of approximately 30,000 seed bombs over a 25 acres land area within the Lahugala National Park. The fourth wave was also carried out in the Lahugala National Park where 70,000 seed bombs were dropped over a 60 acre area.
The bombs comprised native trees such as Kon (Schleichera oleosa), Kohomba (Azadirachta indica), Maila (Bauhinia racemose), Ma Dan (Syzygium cumini), Siyambala (Tamarindus indica), Mee (Madhuca longifolia), Palu (Manilkara hexandra), Kumbuk (Terminalia arjuna), Weera (Drypetes sepiaria), Bulu (Terminalia belerica), Kithul (Caryota urens), Munamal (Mimusops elengi), Aralu (Oroxylum indicum), Domba (Calophyllum inophyllum) and Ketakala (Bridilia retusa). The total land area cover by this mission was approximately 495 acres with 75,000 seed bombs being dropped and this mission was planned to coincide with the monsoon rain season as well in order to maximize its effectiveness.
SLAF Station Weerawila was utilized as the staging base for this mission as it was 29.3 Nautical Miles from the selected area. The MI-17 helicopter which was utilized for this mission was captained by Wing Commander Jagath Gunatilleke while the Co-Pilot was Flying Officer Dinuka Gunasinghe.
