REDD countries

The most relevant laws for REDD are the Forest Ordinance (amended 2009), the National Heritage and Wilderness Areas Act No. 3 (1988) and the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (amended 2009) which regulate protection and use of the zones and resources under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) as well as forests outside these zones. The REDD+ National Joint Programme (NJP) proposes to revise the Forest Ordinance in line with REDD requirements (Bandaratillake, 2011). The National Environmental Act (amended 2000) reflects changing forest management priorities and highlights rational exploitation of forest resources and a rational scheme for the use and conservation of land resources among other issues.

There are a number of land related laws that provide guidance on land ownership, land acquisition and the types of activities on different lands which could affect REDD implementation. The Land Acquisition Act (amended in 1986) allows for state acquisition of land from private holders for various public purposes. The State Lands Ordinance No. 8 (1947) deals with the power of the state to sell, lease, grant or otherwise dispose of state lands for management and control. The Registration of Title Act (No. 21 of 1998) aims to redress the issue of unclear land titles and records (Chokkalingam & Vanniarachchy, 2011).

While normally, the national level laws and regulations are implemented at provincial and district levels, the North Western Province has a separate Environmental Statute, which has made the National Environmental Act

At the international level, Sri Lanka has ratified over 36 multilateral environmental agreements including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , Kyoto Protocol, Ramsar Convention, World Heritage Convention, Convention on Biological Diversity, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.