Ceyline Group is marking its 40th anniversary with the launch of ‘Roots for the Future’, a national reforestation initiative aimed at planting and nurturing 40,000 native trees across Sri Lanka.
The initiative seeks to engage Sri Lanka’s youth as active participants in restoring natural capital while fostering a self-sustaining culture of long-term environmental responsibility across school communities nationwide.
The project has commenced with Vidyarathna College and Ashoka College Horana joining the initiative. Ceyline Group is replacing conventional, unmonitored “plant-and-forget” tree-planting events with a digitally verified approach built around its proprietary OXY App platform. The system is designed to combine youth participation with an auditable approach to ecological restoration.
The initiative establishes a tri-party framework bringing together Ceyline Group, the Ministry of Education and the Department of Forest Conservation, with the aim of creating a transparent and accountable structure for the long-term development of the programme.
As the Primary Sponsor and Digital Ecosystem Owner, Ceyline Group is providing the baseline funding for Phase 1, covering 4,000 plants, soil nutrients and operational deployment as part of the broader 40,000-tree vision. The Group will also deploy and host the OXY App digital governance architecture while serving as the corporate catalyst connecting national government bodies around a shared ESG vision.
The Department of Forest Conservation serves as the Technical Oversight and Scientific Validation partner. In this capacity, it validates endemic and native plant species selected according to specific regional agro-ecological zones. The department also deploys local Forest Extension Officers to provide technical oversight, validate regional plant selections and offer scientific guidance.
The project roadmap consists of four operational phases, transitioning the initiative from a 40th anniversary project into a longer-term national movement.
Phase 1 involved establishing the tri-party framework between the three participating parties and finalising species selection maps. Phase 2 focused on custom engineering of the OXY App platform, procuring an initial baseline of 4,000 endemic saplings and onboarding school leaders for the pilot programme.
Phase 3 is currently underway, with the digital platform fully operational and tracking initial planting activities across participating school networks. The platform provides real-time audit capabilities while establishing the foundation for scaling the initiative towards its 40,000-tree target.
The fourth and final phase will involve opening the platform architecture to external corporate co-sponsors. This phase is intended to support the expansion of student incentives and enable the programme to scale towards and beyond the 40,000-tree vision.
Natasha Egodage, Executive Deputy Chairperson and Chief Purpose Officer of Ceyline Group, said the initiative reflects the Group’s purpose of inspiring leadership and contributing towards a sustainable and equitable future.
“Celebrating Ceyline’s 40th anniversary with the ‘Roots for the Future’ initiative allows us to live our purpose: ‘inspiring leadership in everyone we touch, to build a sustainable and equitable future for all.’ We hope this project of environmental stewardship empowers and inspires the next generation of leaders,” she said.
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