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<\/a><\/p>\nIn 2012, Sri Lanka\u2019s National Red List pronounced the towering Doona ovalifolia tree \u201cextinct in the wild.\u201d Known locally as pini-beraliya, the species lingered only as a single cultivated specimen in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya. For years, that lone tree stood as a melancholy reminder of what had been lost.<\/p>\n
The species\u2019 unlikely revival began in 2018, when a Facebook post in a medicinal plant group prompted a villager from Ratnapura district to declare, \u201cWe have this tree in our village.\u201d<\/p>\n
At first, botanists doubted the claim; related species are easily confused for one another. But photographs of the leaves raised eyebrows, and when flowers were eventually obtained by a daring tree climb, experts confirmed the identification. Since then, two more wild populations of pini-beraliya have been found, all near rivers or streams, reports Mongabay contributor Malaka Rodrigo<\/a>.<\/p>\n Conservationists moved swiftly. Dilmah Conservation<\/a>, the nonprofit arm of one of Sri Lanka\u2019s top tea producers, established a nursery that has already raised more than 250 saplings. Schoolchildren in Ayagama village were given seedlings to plant, turning conservation into a lesson in pride and stewardship.<\/p>\n Ecologists say that saving pini-beraliya is about more than preserving a single species. As a keystone of Sri Lanka\u2019s lowland rainforests, its return bolsters entire ecosystems. From near oblivion, a chance rediscovery has restored both trees and hope.<\/p>\n Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n Banner image: The flowers of the pini-beraliya tree. Image courtesy of Dilmah Conservation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n