Dilmah tea gardens field visit, March 2020

SANH is proud to be collaborating with Dilmah Tea Gardens in Sri Lanka in work package 3.1. This workpackage investigates the impact of nitrogen deposition on lichens in both the Himalayas and Sri Lanka. We are working with Dilmah for fumigation experiments to explore the impacts of increased nitrogen air pollution on these organisms. Members of WP 3.1 visited the Dilmah Tea gardens and were successful in identifying and mapping field sites. The team made great progress in setting up plans for the experiments and have next steps of preparing site GIS with a new PhD studentship with the University of Perideniya. This was also a great chance to further build on our relationship with Dilmah tea who have been incredibly supportive of the work of SANH and reducing human impacts on the environment. SANH members had a detailed discussion with Dilmah CEO Dilhan Fernando and founder Merrill J.Fernando on the impact of nitrogen on the environment and how industry can commit to ethical and environmentally friendly business.