Deutsche Bank Funds Restoration of Sri Lanka’s Budunwela Forest Corridor to Protect Wildlife and Support Communities

DEUTSCHE BANK

(IN BRIEF) Deutsche Bank is partnering with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society’s PLANT initiative to restore the 24-acre Budunwela forest corridor in Sri Lanka, a vital route for elephants and other wildlife. Running from September 2024 to August 2025, the project will plant over 2,250 native trees across 19 species, protect young saplings, and monitor biodiversity through camera traps to track the return of threatened species such as leopards, pangolins, and golden palm civets. Local communities are leading the reforestation efforts, supported by a new native plant nursery that creates jobs and strengthens ties to conservation. The project forms part of Deutsche Bank’s CSR environmental programme, aiming to reduce habitat fragmentation, restore migration routes, and promote sustainable, community-driven land stewardship.

(PRESS RELEASE) FRANKFURT, 15-Aog-2025 — /EuropaWire/ — Deutsche Bank is strengthening its environmental commitment in Sri Lanka through a CSR-backed partnership with the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society’s PLANT (Preserving Land And Nature) initiative. The bank is funding a year-long project to protect and restore the Budunwela forest corridor—a critical habitat for wildlife migration—and to engage local communities in sustainable conservation practices.

Forest corridors are essential to the survival of Sri Lanka’s wildlife, providing safe passage for elephants and other species to move between forest patches in search of food, water, and breeding grounds. Increasingly, however, these ancient migration routes are being lost to urbanisation, agriculture, encroachment, and unregulated deforestation, leading to fragmented habitats, rising human-wildlife conflict, and the decline of endemic species.

Launched in 2020, PLANT acquires privately-owned land for permanent conservation and corridor development. The Budunwela forest corridor—spanning 24 acres—is one such site now undergoing restoration. From September 2024 to August 2025, Deutsche Bank’s funding will support the planting of over 2,250 native trees from 19 species, chosen for their resilience and suitability to the local ecosystem. The reforestation strategy prioritises survival over scale, with planting schedules adapted to seasonal conditions and measures in place to protect young saplings from wildlife browsing.

The project also includes the installation of camera traps and biodiversity monitoring to track the return of wildlife and guard against poaching. Early results are promising, with sightings of leopards, elephants, pangolins, chevrotains, golden palm civets, and sambars returning to the restored landscape. “When you see life returning to the land, it is a clear reminder that nature does not give up. It is resilient, if we give it a chance,” said Professor Enoka Kudavidanage of PLANT.

Local communities play a central role in the Budunwela project, leading planting efforts and benefiting from employment opportunities through a newly established native plant nursery. “By supporting community-led reforestation, we are helping build long-term ecological and economic resilience,” said Niranjan C. Figurado, Chief Country Officer for Deutsche Bank Sri Lanka.

The next planting phase will coincide with the rainy season, alongside the expansion of permanent monitoring plots and camera traps to assess forest growth and wildlife activity over time. Through this initiative, Deutsche Bank is helping to secure a vital link in Sri Lanka’s natural heritage while fostering a model of conservation rooted in community participation and biodiversity protection.

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SOURCE: Deutsche Bank