Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Protected area / relocation · Sri Lanka · 2010–2018

World Bank-backed Colombo flood work turned Beddagana wetland into a park

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The World Bank supported a 213 million dollar flood and wetland programme in Colombo, and the Beddagana wetland became a park. The Centre for Policy Alternatives says the bank stayed silent on evictions by the Urban Development Authority.

What?
The World Bank reported 213 million dollars of support for a flood and wetland programme in Colombo, and the Beddagana wetland became a park. World Bank
Where?
Colombo, Sri Lanka, including the Beddagana wetland World Bank
When?
World Bank support reported in September 2018; UDA targeting in the 2010s, per CPA World Bank
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Beddagana wetland — Became a park, per the World Bank World Bank
Harmed
  • Families targeted for eviction by the UDA — Targeted for eviction, per CPA; the number actually evicted is not stated
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
World Bank support for flood and wetland works; evictions by the UDA, per CPA. World Bank
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The World Bank reported 213 million dollars of support for a flood and wetland programme in Colombo, and said the Beddagana wetland became a park.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) wrote that the bank stayed silent on evictions carried out by the Urban Development Authority (UDA).

CPA also reported that the UDA targeted 68,812 families in 1,499 settlements in the 2010s.

The Sunday Times reported that a family evicted in 2014 was asked for 1 million rupees, repayable over 20 to 30 years, for an apartment.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: CPA's figures of 1,499 settlements and 68,812 families are the NGO's own account. The sources reviewed give no official count.
    • None on record The CPA account is not linked to its own source in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say how many families were actually evicted or relocated.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not describe whether the park changed flooding or wildlife at Beddagana.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    2. Going up in life or coming down
      Sunday Times (Sri Lanka) · 2019-07

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Wetland
    Land that is saturated or covered with water for long periods, such as marshes, swamps and peat bogs.

    Bonds and banking

    Arranger
    The bank that structures and sells a bond or loan deal, usually for a fee.

    Law and courts

    Land titling
    Formal legal recognition of ownership of land.
    Similar cases
    Carbon credits · Protected area / relocation · Cambodia · 2015–2025
    Southern Cardamom REDD+ project and the arrest of Pork Nget (Cambodia)
    Same type: Protected area / relocationSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Protected area / relocation · International · 2019–2020
    WWF independent review (Pillay panel) and US funding suspension
    Same type: Protected area / relocationSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Killings and repression of defenders · Protected area / relocation · Nepal · 2006–2020
    WWF Nepal Chitwan ranger death (Shikharam Chaudhary)
    Same type: Protected area / relocationSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Mining · Protected area / relocation · Indonesia · 2025
    Raja Ampat nickel licences revoked
    Same type: Protected area / relocationSame regionHarm to nature not measured