This year marks a significant milestone for Sri Lanka’s biodiversity conservation ambitions – three decades of commitment to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) since its ratification after the Rio Earth Summit….
As Sri Lanka gears up for the parliamentary election on November 14, the topics for debate are depressingly familiar – bringing criminal politicians to justice, ascertaining the responsibility for the Easter Sunday…
Emeritus Professor Sarath Kotagama needs no introduction to any in the conservation community of Sri Lanka. Not always seeking populism but preferring pragmatism, whether one agrees with him or not there is…
Ray Wijewardene (1924-2010) often quoted these words by the English poet Robert Browning, embedded in the poem Andrea del Sarto. An engineer, aviator, inventor, farmer and a public intellectual of the highest…
On August 1 Sri Lanka celebrates Sri Lankan Leopard Day, which will be observed annually following a proposal from the Wildlife and Nature Preservation Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS), the country’s oldest…
Climate change is one subject that has consistently dominated the world headlines over the past decade. Increasing consumerism fuels large scale fossil fuel usage and damages the natural environment. This results in…
As both a developing nation and a biodiversity hotspot, Sri Lanka has to tread a delicate balance between conservation and development. The recent decision to degazette portions of the Vidattaltivu Nature Reserve…
In February this year Sri Lanka received an UN award in recognition of its efforts to rebuild and restore its mangrove ecosystems, highlighting best practices and methodologies that could serve as a…
Hakka patas (a cynical Sinhala term which translates as jaw breaker) are small improvised explosive devices, also known as a Homemade Explosive Device (HED), which consist of gun powder, stones, lead and…
Mannar Island transcends the realm of a mere tourist destination. It’s a living tapestry woven with threads of breathtaking natural beauty, a profound historical heritage and a vibrant cultural diversity that has…
Politicians, government officers, temple officials and business people are illegally acquiring hundreds of acres of forest land belonging to the Department of Forest Conservation in the Kataragama area and distributing them to…
On World Wildlife Day, it is important to remember both the triumphs and the tragedies of conservation in Sri Lanka. One of these is the Uda Walawe National Park, which was established…
In 1971, a group of activists set sail from Canada in an old fishing boat to protest against the underground nuclear testing by the US military at Amchitka, an island off Alaska….
Mannar is one of the oldest cities in Sri Lanka dating back to the maritime Silk Road and the trade routes between India and Sri Lanka. It also has some of the…
December’s deaths caused by illegal electric fences of three tuskers, beloved characters in their territories, marked the 449th elephant death of 2023, bringing the estimated death toll to the highest ever recorded…
