Srilanka, July 9 -- The Ministry of Environment has announced plans to designate several forest areas located on government lands as official forest reserves under a new conservation initiative named "Vanaspathi."

According to Deputy Minister of Environment Anton Jayakody, forests of five hectares and above have been identified in every district for protection. Special emphasis will be placed on declaring forested mountain peaks as protected reserves.

In the first phase of the program, 20 such forests-particularly in districts like Monaragala and Ampara-have been selected for designation.

The primary goal of the Vanaspathi initiative is to safeguard these forest areas and increase the overall forest cover in Sri Lanka.

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