Trees were lost during expansion of A15 and A4 main roads in the Batticaloa city, Sri Lanka. Roads were widened into double from 10 m width and trees on either side were cut down within the limits. The age of the lost trees was between one and more than 100 years. About 40 tree species and 400 individual trees were lost in 6 km stretch. The majority of lost species were Borassus flabellifer, Cocus nucifere, Albizzia, Azadirecta indica, Mangifera indica, Terminalia catappa and Thespesia populnea. Among the lost trees, higher percentage of palmyrah (22%) and coconut (17%) were recorded.
Planning, biodiversity, development
