The Island

The recently-reopened Udawalawe Information Centre, now known as the Elephant Knowledge Walk at the Elephant Transit Home (ETH) in UdaWalawe, stands as a treasure trove for enthusiasts keen on studying paleontology and all things related to elephants.

There’s always a lingering fragrance around the Dilmah complex in Colombo. It is generally woody, sometimes tinged with citrus, occasionally fruity, and always pleasant. That’s the aroma of tea, varying only as the seasons influence the teas. We taste over 10,000 teas each week in selecting only the finest teas for Ceylon’s Finest so that lively aroma has always surrounded us, spurring us on in our mission to make the world a better tea since the time my father first started his journey in tea in the 1950s.

Together with the Board and Team at Global Compact Network Sri Lanka it was an honour to present plans for more sustainable business at Network Sri Lanka’s ‘Compass 2024’ last week. Amidst unprecedented social, economic, health and environmental crises, further complicated by geopolitical tension and conflict, growing inequality and financial stress, there has never been greater urgency to sincerely embrace responsibility in business.

Working to Understand the Impact of Nitrogen Pollution from Ammonia on South Asian Forest Ecosystems

The idea of exploration for its own sake is associated very much with Western culture. The Sinhala word for this pursuit—gaveshanaya, literally 'to search for cattle' - is evidence of this. While ancient Sri Lankans had names for every useful plant and animal, there was little thirst to discover every single species there is, to describe it, and to give it a name.

A rare orchid was discovered at Walankanda Forest Reserve in Ratnapura District where Dilmah is conducting research studies while building a Nature Corridor in an abandoned tea land that will connect said Walankanda Forest Reserve with Iharakanda Forest Reserve. This finding is testament to the biodiversity that exists in the area that is worth preserving. In fact, according to the Principal scientist, Dr. Nalaka Geekiyanage, the Corridor generates an annual ecological wealth of US$ 382,362.

Merrill J Fernando, the patriarch of Dilmah and of Ceylon tea, has firmly embedded human service as the cornerstone of his multi-faceted enterprise, which has its roots in Pure Ceylon Tea.