Conservation and future challenges
View(s):
Prof Sarath Kotagama
Prof Sarath Kotagama will deliver the monthly Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) lecture onAugust 19 at 6 p.m., online via Zoom.
He will speak on ‘Protection, Conservation and Future Challenges’. Those interested could register online on https://forms.gle/4GJbg9bym2EzvvRt8
As Sri Lanka faces the greatest dangers it ever has to its environment, wilderness areas and populations of wild creatures, the need to protect and conserve that which remains is of paramount importance. Almost daily, the media report of cases of deforestation, the killing of wild animals, encroachment into protected areas, pollution, and increased human-wildlife conflicts. The list goes on.
The destruction must stop now, or the cost to Sri Lanka will be immeasurable, impossible to reverse, and paid for by our children. Are we happy to stand by and let this happen?
Conservationist and scholar, Professor Sarath Kotagama has been in the forefront of conservation from his days as a 17-year old activist, when still at school at St. Thomas’ College, to the 70-year-old he is today. He has over 100 peer reviewed publications to his name, authored over 25 books on the environment, the fauna and flora of Sri Lanka and, of course, is perhaps best known for his books on birds in Sinhala and English. His principal research was on the Rainforest Bird Flocks of the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest.
In 2003, Professor Kotagama received the Distinguished Achievements Award from the Society of Conservation Biology, USA – the first Sri Lankan and only the third Asian to be so honoured.
The lecture is presented in association with Nations Trust Bank and open to all.