Gira Panagoda: It’s amazing to see cities nestled in the rainforest

“In the session in Xishuangbanna, I saw that the cities go inside the rainforest. That’s a great thing we get," said Gira Panagoda, Mayor of Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

Gira said this during the 2026 Global Mayors Dialogue·Xishuangbanna event, which was be held in south Yunnan’s Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture from July 14 to 16. 

Modern cities with a large population face pollution and they are thus in need of a green environment. Gira called on cities to join hands in tackling shared challenges.