Extinct-in-the-wild plant rediscovered in Sri Lanka thanks to social media
In 2012 Sri Lanka’s National Red List pronounced the towering dipterocarp Doona ovalifolia “extinct in the wild.” Known locally as Pini-Beraliya, the species lingered only as a single cultivated specimen in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya. For years that lone tree stood as a melancholy reminder of what had been lost.
Its unlikely revival began in 2018, when a Facebook post in a medicinal plant group prompted a villager from Ratnapura district to declare, “We have this tree in our village.” At first, botanists doubted the claim; related species are easily confused. But photographs of the leaves raised eyebrows, and when flowers were eventually obtained by a daring tree climb, experts confirmed the identification.
Since then, two more wild populations have been found, all near rivers or streams, reports Malaka Rodrigo. Conservationists have moved swiftly. Dilmah Conservation established a nursery that has already raised more than 250 saplings. Schoolchildren in Ayagama were given seedlings to plant, turning conservation into a lesson in pride and stewardship.
Ecologists argue that saving Pini-Beraliya is about more than preserving a single species. As a keystone of Sri Lanka’s lowland rainforests, its return bolsters entire ecosystems. From near oblivion, a chance rediscovery has restored both trees and hope.