Rukshan Amal Jayawardene and Environmental Foundation (Guarantee) Limited v. Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation and 35 others

The Environmental Foundation (Guarantee) Limited (EFL) together with Mr. Rukshan Jayawardene who is an environmentalist and a former Director of EFL filed a Fundamental Rights Application bearing No: SC/FR/01/21 on behalf of the citizens of Sri Lanka in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. The application sought to quash the Circular No. MWFC/1/2020 dated 04/11/2020 and relevant Cabinet decisions and memorandums which handed over Other State Forests to the District and Divisional Secretaries. The controversial Circular No. MWFC/1/2020 had revoked Circular No. 05/2001 (amended by Circular No. 02/2006), which had previously vested the management, development and protection of all the Other State Forests with the Department of Forests. According to the mechanism provided in the Circular No. 05/2001, Other State Forests can be released for development purposes only upon such proposal being examined by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and after carrying out an Environment Assessment in terms of the National Environmental Act No.47 of 1980 as amended. In contrast, the Circular No. MWFC/1/2020 empowers the District and Divisional Secretaries to alienate Other State Forests by simply following the general procedure on alienating state lands and does not provide for an effective and adequate mechanism to review the environmental impacts. Such alienations of lands decrease the forest cover and cause irreparable damage to the environment and biodiversity of Sri Lanka. EFL's legal action highlighted the need for stronger safeguards for these forests, which, though not formally protected, play a crucial role in the country’s ecosystem. The proceedings of the case were terminated on 04.09.2024 since the reliefs sought by EFL were granted by way of Cabinet memorandum No. MWRFC/2023/06 and Cabinet decision dated 05.07.2023. It reinstated Circular No. 05/2001 and 02/2006 and terminated the impugned circular No. MWFC/1/2020.