South Asia Gateway Terminals (SAGT), the first Public-Private Partnership Container Terminal in Sri Lanka, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a three-year partnership with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura’s Center for Sustainability to focus on the reforestation of the Yagirala Forest Reserve.
Impacted by logging and the encroachment of other human activities, the tropical forest was assigned to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Science in 1984 for research and protection by the Forest Department.
SAGT has been collaborating with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura’s Center for Sustainability since 2019 when the terminal’s volunteers helped in the planting of 700 trees in an area of 4,046.86 m² at the Yagirala Forest Reserve, as part of a broader reforestation project.
The partnership MoU is a commitment to restore a further 16,187.4 m² of land by the end of 2021 and to provide the ongoing maintenance of the 20,234.3 m² area until 2024, according to a statement. The project aims to plant more than 2,800 plants over a three-year period.
“Partnerships like this together with investments in operational equipment and innovations to drive decarbonisation in our operations, support our aspiration to neutralise our carbon footprint,” said SAGT’s Chief Commercial Officer Ted Muttiah.
Through the launch of the company’s first sustainability report “Going beyond” in 2020, SAGT, which is a joint venture of APM Terminals with a stake of 32% and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority with approximately 60%, continues to drive its operations in alignment with the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).
