Sri Lankan environmentalist wins prestigious US award

[July 2, 2003 - 9.00 GMT] 

The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) will honour Sri Lanka’s Prof. Sarath Kotagama, the only Sri Lankan with a PhD in environment and ornithology. He will today be presented the “2003 Distinguished Service Award for Education and Journalism” at a special ceremony at Minnesota University in Duluth, USA.

The SCB with a membership of over 6,000 science experts in 90 countries is the premier professional society for those seeking to conserve biological diversity.

The annual SCB awards in five different categories are presented to organisations and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to environmentalism. Prof. Kotagama is the third Asian and the only Sri Lankan to receive the award.

Kotagama who is also the Professor of Environmental Science at the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo has many ‘firsts’ to his credit. He founded the ‘Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL)’, the ‘March for Conservation’, ‘The Sri Lanka Environmental Foundation’, ‘The Mihikatha Institute’ and the semi-government ‘Wild Life Trust’. During his tenure as Director of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka ratified the Ramsar Convention and took the first substantive step toward biodiversity conservation regulations.

Kotagama has authored several publications including the National Wildlife Policy for Sri Lanka (1990) and the National Wetland Conservation Policy for Sri Lanka (1997) and Strategy for the Preparation of the National Biodiversity Action Plan for Sri Lanka (1997).

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Last Updated Date: July 02, 2003  - 9.00 GMT.