In 2006, both Kamal Melvani, managing director, and Jerry Moles, chair of the board of the NeoSynthesis Research Centre (NSRC) of Sri Lanka attended the International Landcare Conference in Melbourne, Australia. The board and staff of NSRC had sought an approach to expanding their efforts and decided that Landcare with its triple bottom line of ecological, social and economic wellbeing was the appropriate vehicle. Over the years, NSRC has developed an effective approach to reclaiming badly degraded landscapes into productive forest gardens increasing farmer incomes, improving environmental services, building soils, and establishing habitat for threatened and endangered indigenous species. Called analog forestry, farmers, government agents, business enterprises, university based researchers, NGOs, and bilateral and multilateral development organizations have joined with NSRC in demonstrating the effectiveness of the approach in thousands of home gardens across different climatic zones. Current and past projects have been funded by various contracts and grants from sources including the Sri Lanka National Water Supply and Drainage Board, UNDP. World Conservation Union-The Netherlands, Australian Foundation for the Peoples of Asia and Pacific, Oxfam-North, World Wildlife Fund, BothEnds, Helvetes-Sri Lanka, and private donors.

Given success on the ground with villagers and more recently on a large tea estate that controls the headwaters of a major river , NSRC decided that a broad landscape scale demonstration is required -- one that includes an entire river basin. By strategically locating demonstrations in different areas in the catchment from the headwaters to the entry into the Indian Ocean, people will be able to visit successful projects, question those benefiting, and decide whether or not to make appropriate changes in their own gardens and estates. Overtime, as more and more farmers and landowners participate, the basin will become a model for Sri Lanka as a whole.

In early February of 2010, Sue Marriott and Vick Mack of the Secretariat for International Landcare and Rob Youl, Mary Johnson, and Horrie Poussard of Landcare International were approached about participating in the launch of Landcare Lanka in early June. Sue and Vick agreed to attend the launch and Rob Youl arranged for Matthew Stephenson, an experienced Landcare facilitator from Victoria, to participate and share Australian Landcare experiences.

In June, 2010 these Landcare International Representatives joined the newly formed Landcare Lanka board of directors in travelling to visit four project sites and participate in three workshops initiating Landcare Lanka with local stakeholders including participating farmers, tea estate workers, union representatives, local government agents, university researchers, donors and high level elected officials. The primary goals of Landcare Lanka are to establish Landcare in Sri Lanka and to collaborate with International Landcare.

Mike Newman will serve as executive director of Landcare Lanka. A former manager of large tea estates, Mike as supervised the transformation to organic production and the establishment of income generating activities and improved diets for estate labour through vegetable production. Serving on the board of directors are Kamy Melvani-Iyer, D. C. Panabokke, Parveen S. Dassanaike, R. M. Kumudini Kumarihamy, Susan Marriott, Victoria Mack, Yvonne Everett, and Jerry Moles.