Rainforest Eco-lodge shines with LEED Platinum Award for sustainable tourism

The Rainforest Eco-lodge, a stunning chalet style lodge bordering the South-Eastern side of the Sinharaja Rainforest, is leading the way by winning Sri Lanka’s first ever LEED Platinum award in the tourism sector.

The LEED award is the most prestigious designation awarded by the Green Building Certification Institute and honours outstanding professionals who have demonstrated mastery-level technical knowledge and skill; exceptional leadership in the green building community; sharing of best practices through teaching, mentoring, or research; and an ongoing commitment to service and advocate for green building and sustainability.

Promoting the Eco-lodge’s commitment to best practices in ecotourism, Rainforest Eco-lodge Chairman Prema Cooray said, “The Eco-lodge Initiative remains central to the strategy of building sustainable tourism based on Sri Lanka’s unique biodiversity richness. The lodge conforms to environmental best practices in design and management, following international ecotourism guidelines in Sri Lanka for the first time, and also supports conservation activity in the forest buffer of the threatened Sinharaja Rainforest a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

Cooray said LEED award was in recognition of Rainforest Eco-lodge’s contribution to the green building movement.

The 16 chalets resort gives the nature loving public an opportunity to commune with the natural world and experience the forest habitat in all its glory. Located on a five hundred-acre division of the Enselwatte tea estate the lodge offers a spellbinding 360 degree view of the forest reserve, with the backdrop of the sounds of nature coming alive, be it the meandering of a stream, chirping of birds or the playful chattering of squirrels in the forest.

The Rainforest Eco-lodge’s chalets situated among the tea bushes facing the forest canopy, with each chalet consisting of a bedroom, washroom, living room and balcony. The main structure of the lodge comprises a lounge, restaurant, kitchen and reception area.

The Eco-lodge has also initiated a community outreach program, a long-term sustainable development objective of the Eco-lodge, which is to develop and improve the quality of life of the neighbouring tea estate community. A new village with larger homes, areas for home gardens, a new school crèche and clinic, health, nutrition and hygiene will figure prominently on the agenda. Skills-training and micro-enterprise projects will also be added on with the evolution of the project

.With the Rainforest Eco-lodge discerning guest now have the chance of approaching a different world of flora and fauna, rare but myriad plant life, several living species including monkeys, squirrels, bats, tree frogs, ants, beetles and birds all endemic to Sinharaja, making the lodge a place where the paths of the wildlife, travellers and the wild-life community can come together. The Rainforest Eco-lodge is committed to protecting the unique Sinharaja eco-system and culture while offering authentic Sri Lankan forest experiences.