‘... and Wilderness is paradise enow’
It was a fascinating expe rience - seeing some
lesser-known lensmen turning out some fine specimens of wildlife photography.
A hundred and fifty two entries from 25 photographers comprised the exhibits
of their work in Vanadivi Asiriya - ‘The Beauty of the Wilderness’
at the Art Gallery last week.
They are all members of the Wildlife Trust Photographic Society and
this was their first exhibition. Their efforts showed potential and there
was ample proof that they are an enthusiastic lot.
Mathew’s ‘Ceylon green bee eater’ won the first place in the
competition with Hermione Ratnayake (Alone at the top) and Palitha
Antony (Visitors from overseas) getting the second and third places.
Seven won certificates.
Award winners in four special categories were: Jayasiri Wickremasinghe
(Sisila- Cool) - Best Artistic Photograph; Nipula Gunasekera (Nidahasa
- Freedom) -Best Nature Photograph; T. N. K. Weerakkody ( Skulk
of Beauty )- Best Wildlife Photography, and A G Maduwage (Mulawa
- Mislead) - Best Rare Photograph.
A feature of the exhibition was the large number of photographs featuring
elephants. There were some quite interesting ones although none had won
a prize.
Their commitment
“We are committed to the protection of the flora
and fauna of Sri Lanka. We hope to foster a greater awareness of our obligation
to ensure that the island’s life sustaining ecology survives intact for
future generations. To this end, the role of the wildlife photographer
is important” says the Wildlife Trust Photographic Society’s Chairman Jinasiri
Dadallage. (He is also the Executive Director of the Wildlife Trust).
In a message to the Exhibition souvenir, Director Wildlife Conservation
Berty Jayasekera said the conservation of wildlife in Sri Lanka and the
resolution of the severe human-animal conflict (specially the elephant)
are the two major challenging issues the Department is faced with.
“This situtaion calls for scientific management plans based on authentic
information and research. In this context, photography plays an important
role as support to information and wildlife research with special emphasis
on the diverse physical environment of Sri Lankan forests and the biodiversity,”
he says.
Wildlife literature
With a lot of reading mate-rial already available in English on wildlife
conservation, it is commendable that the Wildlife Trust has turned out
a series of leaflets in Sinhala. Sold at very reasonable prices, there
were quite a few who picked them up at the exhibition.
The WildLife shops run by the Trust offer posters, stickers, gifts and
souvenir items for those who are interested. The Trust has just moved to
229, Kirula Road, Narahenpita. There is a shop at 349 Galle Road, Kollupitiya
too.
The Trust runs a Centre (they call it the T R E E Centre) at Randenigala
and invites those interested to plan their training programmes, conferences
and workshops, nature observation, wildlife expeditions and nature appeciation
excursions at the Centre.
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