Environmental activists in Sri Lanka are celebrating the end of a 2020 decree that left the island’s nonprotected forests more vulnerable to agriculture and development projects.

“This is a landmark victory for the protection of these important forests, securing their long-term conservation,” said Eric Wikramanayake, chair of the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL).

The EFL and its former director, Rukshan Jayawardene, were the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the decree at the Supreme Court. The case ended in their favor in early September, two weeks before the presidential election; after the election, the newly inaugurated government formalized the repeal of the decree.

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