Sri Lanka’s past Olympians recently took part in a project called Wanaropa intended to increase the forest cover in the country by 32 per cent as they participated in a tree planting program which was held at the Welagedera Central College in Kurunegala.
The president of the Olympians Sriyani Kulawansa said their main aim was to create awareness on the importance of planting trees and pointed out that the best way to spread the message was to engage school children, their staff and officials of the forest department.
A total of 67 saplings were planted around the school ground with the names of the 67 Olympians who have represented the nation.
“We educated the students on the value of the Olympic Games. We brought fame to the country and now it is time to give more to the country apart from engaging in sports,” said former hurdler Kulawansa.
Kulawansa who hails from Ibbagamuwa, a rural town close to Kurunegala said that almost all training grounds in the world are surrounded by trees.
“Even the Olympic Villages are surrounded by trees and that was the reason why they wanted to make the children aware of the importance of the project,” said Kulawansa.
Kulawansa said that they intend to conduct three more programs in other provinces too. Among the other Olympians who participated were Damayanthi Dharsha, Sugath Tillekaratna, Julian Bolling, Pushpamali Ramanayake, Anuruddha Ratnayake and Ruwani Abeymanna.