TPTC Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) initiative with UNDP BIOFIN and Talawakelle Tea Estates PLC represents a significant development in linking tourism with landscape stewardship.
PES is based on the principle that those who benefit from ecosystem services can contribute towards the protection of the ecosystems that provide them. In the context of The Pekoe Trail, the tourism experience depends on landscapes, biodiversity, tea heritage and the continued cooperation of landowners.
The initiative provides a practical model for:
- Linking tourism promotion with incentives for landscape stewardship.
- Recognising the role of plantation companies and landowners in maintaining the natural and cultural assets that underpin the trail experience.
- Creating structured partnerships between tourism operators and land managers.
- Exploring opportunities to extend similar arrangements to other sections of the trail.
The initiative is also relevant to Sri Lanka’s wider biodiversity-financing agenda. UNDP BIOFIN’s 2026 publication on PES in Sri Lanka identifies tourism businesses investing in healthier landscapes along The Pekoe Trail as an example of how beneficiaries of ecosystem services can contribute to their protection.
