|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 1 July 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Birdwatching Professor wins international award by Florence Wickramage "My interest in birds was kindled as a 10 year old boy studying at St. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa. I was fortunate to have come under the guidance of Rev. Canon Foster who was my teacher in bird watching. At the age of 13, I won the school prize for birdwatching and this was the stepping stone which propelled me forward to study Ornithology". Professor Sarath Kotagama recalled his early years in school. The salubrious environs which surrounded St. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa taught him lessons on the beauties of nature and the need to conserve it. In addition to birds, conservation of nature became part and parcel of his daily life. Professional Sarath Wimalabandara Kotagama was born on 22nd August 1950 in rural Bandarawela but still considers Kotagama in Bibile as his village. He had his primary education at St. Thomas College, Bandarawela, his secondary education at St. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa and his tertiary education at S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. He entered the University of Colombo in 1969 and completed a BSc degree in Zoology special with a Second Class (Upper Division) in Marine Ecology. He completed his postgraduate Ph.D in Ornithology studying the feeding and behavioral ecology of the Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittaculakramerii) in 1982. In preparing for his postgraduate, Kotagama was fortunate to have come into contact with Professor G.M.Dunnet from the University of Aberdeen through whose guidance Kotagama completed the Ph.D in 1982. During this period Kotagama felt that there was a need for a bird organization in Sri Lanka that catered for the amateur birdwatchers of the country with an indigenous flavour and based on scientific observations. This need resulted in Kotagama with six others founding the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL). FOGSL became a university approved NGO for birds and has contributed immensely to the conservation and study of birds.
Kotagama's main research interest has been in flock studies in rainforests which led him to study the flocks in the Sinharaja rain forest for 4 years. He pioneered the use of the grid system for Avifaunal Surveys in Sri Lanka. His scientific contribution includes about 28 research publications and over 40 presentations. He has written three books in Sinhala about birds and the first ever field guide in English in 1995. His latest comprehensive book on birds titled "Siri Laka Kurullo" was launched recently. This book has been specially compiled for field guides and is also a boon for amateur birdwatchers. To popularize birdwatching among school children and the general birdlover Kotagama has conducted over 500 school and public lectures and has authored numerous articles in the newspapers. He has also contributed to the forthcoming Indian Subcontinent Bird Book authored by Inskip, Grimmet etal. For over three decades, Kotagama has been an ardent conservationist, environmental educationist and wildlife ecologist and these were also his research and education fields. National contributions Kotagama's national contributions in his chosen fields has been remarkable. The most significant was his being the author of the National Wildlife Policy for Sri Lanka (1990). He is also the author of the National Wetland Conservation Policy for Sri Lanka (1997), the Sector author on Environmental Education for the National Conservation Strategy (1985), member of the National Science Policy Committee (1984) and the author of the Strategy for the preparation of the National Biodiversity Action Plan for Sri Lanka (1997). Through these interests and activities Kotagama has contributed as Founder President and Chairman of the "March for Conservation", "Young Zoologists Association", "The Sri Lanka Environmental Federation", "The Mihikatha Foundation", "The Mihikatha Institute", and the semi-government "Wildlife Trust". He has also served in numerous government bodies advising and helping them in the field of environmental concerns. He was the Chairman of the Environmental Council of Sri Lanka from 1990 to 1992, the premier body helping the Central Environmental Authority of Sri Lanka formulate actions to safeguard the environment. He served as the Director, Department of Wildlife Conservation from 1989 to 1992 seconded from the university. It was during his tenure of office at the DWLC the policy was adopted and major progressive changes made for wildlife conservation. It included making Sri Lanka ratify the Ramsar Convention and taking steps for the regulation of biodiversity conservation. Kotagama has made several international contributions to conservation efforts. He functioned as the National Coordinator in the preparation of the Asian Wetlands Directory, The Asian Red Data Book on Birds and also served as a Technical Member in the Asian Important Bird Area programme of the Bird Life Asia Council. He conducted the South Asian workshop on the Asian Red Data Book held in India in 1996. Awards Professor Sarath Kotagama received the first Environmental Award in 1994 from the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science and in 1997 became the first and only Professor of Environmental Science in Sri Lanka. He continues to steer the Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka to make it a better organization to meet the national and international obligations to conserve the Birds of Sri Lanka. On July 02nd, Professor Kotagama is honoured with the prestigious "2003 Distinguished Service Award for Education and Journalism" by the international Society for Conservation Biology at a special ceremony held at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, USA. Professor Kotagama thus becomes the first Sri Lankan and the third Asian to be awarded this illustrious honour. The award is the highest recognition that the Society bestows upon colleagues in the struggle to study, protect, sustain and restore that diversity. Professor Kotagama receives this award for his extraordinary contributions to environmental reform and education in Sri Lanka. (Picture by Ruwan de Silva) |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
