Twenty more forests in Sri Lanka are to be declared forest reserves tomorrow (26) under the national ‘Vanaspathi’ programme.

The forests, located in Nuwara Eliya, Kegalle, Ampara, Badulla, Vavuniya and Anuradhapura districts, will be declared reserves through Gazette notifications.

The total extent of the forests is nearly 9,538 hectares.

The Ministry of Environment and Department of Forest Conservation have so far gazetted 93 forests as protected reserves. With the new additions, the total area covered will increase to nearly 65,000 hectares.