When millions of feet return, the farmers rejoice

International organizations are behind a push to revitalize degraded land in the central highlands of Sri Lanka

Giri Kadurugamuwa climbs onto a mountain slope by the roadside and breaks off a big chunk from the exposed root of a tea tree. Without little apparent effort on his part the chunk falls off like a piece of dried biscuit.

"It's very brittle," says Kadurugamuwa, director of the Alliance for Sustainable Landscapes Management, an NGO dedicated to promoting the sustenance of biodiversity in managed landscapes.