Video PlayerClose
COLOMBO, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka plans to re-take unused coastal areas released for aquaculture and salterns as part of a mega project to re-generate 10,000 hectares of mangroves in the island country, local media reported on Monday.
The cabinet of ministers has approved a proposal by President Maithripala Sirisena, who is also the minister of environment, to take back land released for aquaculture, if they have not been used, the government information department said in a statement.
The lands will then be handed over to the Forest Department for mangrove regeneration.
The statement said the government owns vast stretches of land partly due to expropriation during the British rule.
