A significant focus is placed on restoring degraded forest areas within the corridor to enhance habitat quality for leopards and other species. This involves establishing plant nurseries, propagating native species, and implementing replanting initiatives. Reforestation efforts have faced obstacles, including sapling mortality and wildlife browsing, necessitating adaptive management strategies.

Addressing threats to wildlife is a crucial aspect of the project, with a focus on reducing snaring, a significant danger to leopards. This involves snare patrolling, community awareness programs, and collaboration with authorities Q3 During this reporting period, we have made significant progress in several areas. We have invested in essential equipment to support our field work, including the purchase of 15 remote cameras with security lock boxes, batteries, and memory cards, with an additional 20 solar-powered cameras on order. We have also acquired 2TB hard drives for data storage and new tires for our field truck to ensure the safety of our team. Our initial reconnaissance work has led us to prioritize the North/South Peredeniya-Hantana-Galaha-Pedro corridor, and we are excited to announce a new collaboration with the University of Peredeniya, which has granted us access to their 700-hectare campus for assessment.

Our field work within the University of Peredeniya lands has yielded promising initial results. We have successfully identified two leopards, a male and a female, within the first round of remote camera trapping. Continued monitoring and expansion of our camera placements will provide us with more detailed insights into the leopard population and their land use in this area. Alongside this new focus, we are continuing our long-term monitoring efforts in the established Peak Ridge Forest Corridor (PRFC) and Elbedda-Ramboda Corridor (ERC). Sadly, we report the loss of a young resident male leopard to a snare, which has intensified our efforts to combat this threat.

Habitat restoration is a crucial component of our work. We are actively sourcing and purchasing native forest plant species, with over 1000 plants currently housed in our nurseries and another 3000 plants scheduled for delivery this month. We have also planted 550 plants in the PRFC restoration plot and secured a partnership to provide 100,000 plants over the next 36 months, ensuring a steady supply for our restoration efforts.

In addition to habitat restoration, we are actively engaged in snare patrolling and awareness programs.

Our team, in collaboration with estate field staff, conducts monthly patrols to remove snares and educate estate workers about the dangers they pose to wildlife. We are also implementing our Forest Guardian initiative, establishing resource rooms and conducting school programs to raise awareness about wildlife conservation. We are combatting the threat of snares through newspaper alerts and working with the Department of Wildlife Conservation.