Who’s Afraid of Exotic Species, Gene Pirates and Government Babus?
Dr Ranil Senanayake, photo by Janaka Sri Jayalath In this second part of a long interview, South Asia’s first systems ecologist Dr Ranil Senanayake shares his views on many facets of biological diversity. He looks at the challenges involved in in-situ and ex-situ conservation of plant and animal species on our already crowded and slowly warming planet. He takes stock of the Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted by governments of the world in 1992, and laments the narrow vision of old school foresters and Sri Lanka government bureaucrats who “literally miss the forest for the trees”. Dr Senanayake obtained his PhD as a Systems Ecologist from the University of California at Davis in 1978 and has had a long and illustrious career as a researcher, university teacher and activist. Author of numerous scientific papers, media articles and presentations, he has served on the UN committee that produced the authoritative Global Biodiversity Assessment. Systems Ecologist Ranil Senanayake in conversation with Science…
Continue reading »




