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Prepare Sustainable Strategic development Plans for a selected Tea Estate in Mid-country region in Sri Lanka using GIS R.M.S.S. Rajapakse, J.A.A.M. Jayakody and M. Jayawardena Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka, St. Coombs, Talawakele, Sri Lanka Up-to-date and reliable information is vital for managerial purposes and take efficient planning decisions. Researchers, policy makers as well as estate managing companies may wish to integrate socio-economic, spatial and temporal data in order to make Sustainable Strategic Development Plans (SSDP). Remote Sensing and GIS is widely accepted as a tool for the establishment of integrating spatial and attribute data. In recent years the development of Geographical Information system (GIS) makes timely accessible of spatial and temporal data (Burrough, 1986). Moreover, its capability of spatial analysis and presentation makes it useful tool for studying land use change and developing sustainable land use plans. Objectives of the study The major national objective of tea industry is to utilize available lands on estates towards sustainable development by ensuring land use efficiency with proper soil conservation measures and environment protection. In addition, producers’ objective is to manage tea estates to maximize profits. Therefore, the overall objective of this project is to identify suitable strategic land use development plan for marginal tea estates to maximize their profits. Study background Westhall Estate, a marginal tea estates in mid country tea growing area in Sri Lanka was selected for this study. Westhall estate is managing by Kahawatte plantations Ltd. Analysis Methodology Procedure of compilation of existing maps and Data is presented in Fig. 1.  Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the methodology Aerial photographic interpretation and detailed field checking methodology was used for identify estate and field boundaries, identify land use types as well as identify landforms for soil survey. The interpretation of aerial photographs was carried out on stereo panchromatic aerial photographs taken in 1987 and 1994, with an average scale of 1:15000. Using a Zoom Sterosketch (model SB215), a basic interpretation of photographs was performed in Upper Mahaweli Watershed management project office at Polgolla, Sri Lanka. The scale of the final field boundaries, land use and soil maps are 1:10,000 scale. Location 0 The location of the estate is as Shown in Table 1. Table 1: Locations of the Westhall Estates
Detail Map Field boundaries of selected estate with location are presented in following figure. 
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