Overview of EFL’s significant cases filed through the decade

For over four decades, the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) has been at the forefront of public interest litigation in Sri Lanka, using the law as a tool to defend ecosystems, protect public resources, and uphold citizens’ environmental rights. EFL’s landmark cases span diverse issues- from safeguarding wetlands, rivers, forests, and national parks to challenging unlawful land alienation, destructive development, pollution, and weak environmental governance. These strategic interventions have not only halted harmful activities but also strengthened national environmental laws, shaped policy reforms, and embedded principles such as the public trust doctrine, intergenerational equity, and sustainable development into Sri Lanka’s legal framework. A selection of significant cases filed by EFL is noted below, with brief introductions and links to judgments, demonstrating EFL’s enduring commitment to ensuring accountability, securing community rights, and preserving the country’s natural heritage for future generations.

EFL’s litigation portfolio represents some of the most critical environmental battles in Sri Lanka today, addressing threats to protected areas, wildlife, forests, and coastal ecosystems. These ongoing cases demonstrate EFL’s commitment to upholding environmental law, strengthening state accountability, and safeguarding ecologically sensitive landscapes for future generations.

Several landmark cases focus on protecting Sri Lanka’s most fragile habitats. EFL continues to seek enforcement against encroachments in the Hakgala Strict Nature Reserve, one of the country’s highest-protection areas, and has intervened to stop destructive development inside the Peak Wilderness Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Similar efforts extend to preventing forest clearance in Ehetuwewa, challenging harmful waste dumping and septage operations inside Wedithalathive Nature Reserve, and defending the reserve from unlawful degazettement aimed at facilitating aquaculture projects.

EFL is also at the forefront of wildlife protection litigation. The case concerning the killing of the iconic tusker “Dala Puttuwa” continues to spotlight poaching as a serious national crime, while actions taken against illegal bottom trawling in the Puttalam Estuary aim to protect coastal biodiversity and the livelihoods of fishing communities.

At a policy level, EFL has filed critical Fundamental Rights applications challenging Cabinet decisions to release lands within declared forests, safeguarding the legal integrity of Sri Lanka’s protected area network. The Pallekandal Church case further reinforces that no activity, religious or otherwise, can supersede environmental protection laws within national parks.

Together, these cases illustrate EFL’s vital role in shaping environmental jurisprudence and defending Sri Lanka’s natural heritage through the courts.