Link Natural honoured at Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Award 2024

From left: Link Natural Products Head of Agriculture/ Manager – CSR and ER Priyantha Collonnege, Chief Operating Officer Chamari Wickramathilake, and Chief Executive Officer Ashan Ransilige accept award for Best Sustainability Projects Award 2024, at Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards of Ceylon Chamber of Commerce

Link Natural, a subsidiary of CIC Holdings, was honoured to declare its ongoing dedication to sustainability through the ‘Saara Osu’ project. Recently, the project was recognised with the Best Sustainability Projects Award 2024, at The Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards organised by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Sri Lanka’s Ayurveda and herbal products industry is heavily reliant on a variety of herbal materials. However, as domestic production often struggles to meet the demand, there is significant reliance on imports. The import dependency poses challenges to the quality, cost and sustainability. Link Natural launched the Saara Osu project to address this issue, and to help empower local communities.

The project is a visionary step towards assuring sustainable supply of herbal raw materials. By engaging rural farming community as our supply chain partners, Link Natural aims to significantly reduce the reliance on imports and promoting commercial cultivation and sustainable wild harvesting. The initiative empowers rural farmers, provides them with sustainable livelihood opportunities, and contributes to the economic growth of local communities. Additionally, by promoting the sustainable use of natural resources, the project ensures long-term viability of the industry, while also preserving the ecological balance.

Link Natural Head of Agriculture/ Manager – CSR and ER Priyantha Collonnege said: “We are honoured to have been recognised with this prestigious award. It is a true testament to our teams’ unparalleled commitment to sustainable practices and our goal of preserving the environments that surround the communities we serve. We will continue to strive for excellence in all our endeavours, which includes implementing strategies such as own land cultivation, out grower projects, sustainable wild harvesting and more. These efforts have ensured a continuous supply of high-quality raw materials without over-exploiting nature’s resources, while mitigating the risks of plant scarcity and environmental degradation. Through our sustainable waste handling processes, we enhance soil health and reducing reliance on chemical fertilisers, we continue to prioritise sustainable practices. Our agriculture division plays a pivotal role in this journey by remaining committed to its key functions which includes nursery management, crop cultivation, crop harvesting, sustainable waste management and more.”

The Saara Osu project aligns with five Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It empowers rural farmers economically by distributing Rs. 32 million, amongst 360 out grower farmers by the end of the 2024/25 financial year, which aligns with SDG 1, Economic Empowerment of Rural Farmers. The project also promotes women’s empowerment by involving them in over 50% of out grower farmer cultivations, which aligns with SDG 5, Equal Opportunities and Women Empowerment. It also prioritises sustainability through waste management by recycling 216 metric tonnes of extracted herbal waste and preparing 144 tonnes of compost. This aligns with SDG 11, Sustainable Waste Management.

Link Natural’s conservation efforts were further strengthened by a variety of collaborative Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Still the industry depends on the naturally grown perennial medicinal plants. We take efforts to cultivate these valuable medicinal plants many of which takes 10-20 years to reach the maturity.  Annually we are planting approximately 5,000 medicinal plants. Additionally, a further 2,000 perennial plants and 2,000 wenival plants were planted to strengthen the Parakaduwa reforestation project.

Link Natural CEO Ashan Ransilige said: “Our commitment to sustainability is an ongoing journey. We believe that responsible business practices are not merely a trend but more an essential part of our long-term success. Our out-grower network has seen many benefits from this project, including healthy planting material, buy back agreements, stable pricing, agri- technology knowledge through farmer training programs, the introduction of loan facilities and much more. We are constantly working to minimise our environmental impact, empower our communities and promote ethical sourcing. This is a core value that drives our operations, and this recognition is attributed to it.”

The Saara Osu project by Link Natural is in line with the business’s overall objective of being a globally recognised provider of high quality, safe and effective herbal products. The company wants to guarantee the long-term supply of valuable medicinal plants and improve the health of both people and the environment by emphasising sustainable practices. Link Natural’s dedication to sustainability and their beneficial effects on the environment and communities is demonstrated by the Saara Osu project’s victory in the Best Sustainability Projects Award 2024. The company’s agriculture division assures quality of raw materials in collaboration with the research and development division in each and every aspect of cultivation and post harvesting processes. Link Natural continues to lead the herbal product industry and offers a powerful example for others to follow by placing sustainability first.