Yala is a paradise for spotted animals such as leopard and deer, but the spotty creature found last week in the Manik Ganga near Kosgasmankada was unusual. Published on SundayTimes on 26.08.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180826/news/whip-tailed-beauty-spotted-in-yalas-menik-ganga-308087.html A party having a dip in the river’s shallows found a long-tailed creature with a disc-shaped body patterned with many small dark spots or reticulations. From one ...
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180729/news/the-smart-three-wheeler-that-doesnt-tuk-tuk-304677.html Published on SundayTimes on 29.07.2018 An electric three-wheeler with a Lankan heart and a Japanese soul is planning to make travelling eco-friendly A plan to manufacture an electric three-wheeler in Sri Lanka was revealed this week, with its prototype showcased in Colombo for the first time. The Samurai three-wheeler, built with Japanese technology and currently being tested in Sri Lanka, ...
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180722/news/who-needs-glyphosate-when-friendly-weeds-can-fight-for-you-303543.html published on SundayTimes on 22.07.2018 The government last week lifted the ban on glyphosate, in deference to complaints that the tea and rubber industries find it difficult to control weeds without the popular weedkiller – but a project successfully proves that weeds among tea bushes can be controlled without chemicals. Good plants that grow under tea to make a carpet ...
Expert sets up website to prevent human and snake deaths. Published on SundayTimes on 15.07.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180715/news/how-to-keep-our-serpents-in-paradise-302412.html To prevent the needless slaughter of up to 10,000 snakes a day by people panicking over snakebite death, toxinology expert Dr. Kalana Maduwage is urging the public to use a snake identification website he has masterminded to find out if a snake is venomous. The ...
Published on SundayTimes on 08.07.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180708/news/cash-crop-or-villain-palm-oil-expansion-debate-rages-301636.html “The establishment of new oil palm plantations, expansion and re-plantation should be discontinued in Sri Lanka,” the Central Environment Authority (CEA) has recommended, asking for time to study claimed critical side-effects such as high water usage, soil erosion, high agro-chemical usage and potential destruction of biodiversity. The protest at Deraniyagala against
This year’s ‘Yathra’ organised by Eco-Friendly Volunteers (Eco-V) saw youth from the North and South getting a firsthand view of the northern environment. Published on SundayTimes on 08.07.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180708/magazine/cycling-together-in-palmyrah-country-301256.html ‘Vanni Yathra 2018’- a cycling journey by youth from both the North and South highlighted the importance of joint ventures in protecting nature. Launched on June 4 from Kilinochchi, the journey ...
Published on 01.07.2018 on SundayTimes http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180701/news/the-adventures-of-bom-chippy-snooky-and-co-300177.html With interest in books high this week with the Big Bad Wolf book sale reaching Sri Lanka, a second time, it seems fitting that names for six tiny spiders newly discovered in this country come from the books of the famous children’s writer, Enid Blyton. These goblin spiders, minute six-eyed creatures living in leaf ...
Nansen will address 38-year gap in marine surveys. Published on SundayTimes on http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180617/news/norwegian-researchers-sail-in-to-probe-fishing-stocks-298464.html The long-awaited Norwegian research vessel, RV Dr Fridtjof Nansen, which sails around the globe helping developing countries set up ecosystem-based fishery management, will reach Colombo on June 22. Sailing around the globe: The Norwegian research vessel, RV Dr Fridtjof Nansen The Nansen, regarded as the world’s most advanced .
Cattle Egret is a common bird – but can you spot this bird in your area these days..? The photos show ground of University of Colombo on the morning of 26th of May 2018. There were 55 Cattle Egrets foraging on the wet ground with number of them in full breeding plumage. The birds started gathering few days prior, where about ...
Amanda Samani Jayawardhana who specialises in conceptual photography to hold her maiden exhibition. Published on SundayTImes on 18.06.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180617/magazine/clicking-not-just-a-picture-but-a-story-297936.html “Photography is more than just a collection of random clicks. I treat the camera as a tool that helps me to express a story,” says Amanda Samani Jayawardhana who will hold her maiden solo photography exhibition titled ‘Artsy’ next weekend. Amanda Samani ...
Scientists hope a line of buoys enclosing threatened sections of the Bar Reef will provide a lifeline for the dying marine sanctuary. Published on SundayTimes on 13.05.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180513/news/floating-lifeline-to-rescue-dying-bar-reef-293881.html Bar Reef, off Kalpitiya, is one of the marine sanctuaries affected by catastrophic coral bleaching. Marine activists who deployed a number of floating buoys demarcating two sections of Bar Reef from March 26-29 ...
World Otter Day falls on Wednesday (May 30); but an unfortunate otter inhabiting the marshes of Kotte, close to Parliament, did not live to see this day http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180527/news/calls-to-protect-colombos-urban-wildlife-as-dead-otter-discovered-near-parliament-295913.html. Environmentalists have asked motorists not to speed on the roads adjacent to urban marshland after the carcass of an otter was discovered close to the Parliament vehicle park and jogging track at ...
#Earth_Day: Today – 22nd of April- is the ‘EARTH DAY’. Have you noticed the popular search engine Google had following as its GoogleDoodle today..? Visit the link to read Earth Day message by leading primatologist Dr.Jane Goodall. “Every single individual matters. Every single individual make some impact on the planet on every single day and we have a choice ...
Published on විදුසර 21.02.2018 as part of my series of articles ‘ගෙවත්තේ ජෛව විවිධත්වය’ [Biodiversity of Home gardens]. Click on this link to open a .pdf of the page – ගෙවත්තේ රැඟුම් වැයුම් දක්වන වැලන්ටයින්ලා – Vidusara 21.02.2018 පසුගිය සතියේ පෙබරවාරි 14 දා ආදරවන්තයන් ගේ දිනය (Valentine’s Day) ලෙසින් සැමරීම ට බොහෝ ආදරවන්තයින් සහ සහකාරියකගේ සිත දිනාගැනීමට උත්සාහ කරන වැලන්ටයින්ලා විසින් ...
Sri Lankan waters are home to 30 species of marine mammals, including dugongs, whales and dolphins. Now the remaining member of the cetacean group, the porpoise, officially joins this list. Indo-Pacific finless porpoise washed ashore at Talaimannar (c) Department of Wildlife Conservation The porpoise is a close relative of the dolphins; both look similar, with a shorter beak helping to ...
Published on SundayTimes on 28.01.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180128/news/get-on-with-total-bottom-trawling-ban-say-conservationists-278835.html Sri Lanka passed laws to ban destructive bottom trawling in July last year but the laws are yet to be enforced and might even be watered down. Rich marine habitat is being damaged by bottom trawling in the Puttalam and Kalpitiya lagoons and in the north, including Jaffna. Mechanised bottom trawling in broad daylight ...
Experts urge care in human collisions with top predator Published on SundayTimes on 14.01.2018 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/180114/news/dont-frighten-leopards-out-of-existence-277089.html Last week’s commotion over a cornered leopard reinforces the need to handle such encounters with care to prevent an escalation into intense leopard-human conflict, warn experts Andrew Kittle and Anjali Watson. A few close encounters with leopards occur every year in the hill country; last ...
WISH YOU ALL A NATUREFUL NEW YEAR..!!! Today is the last day of year 2017. I couldn’t write as much I wanted in year 2017; but managed to compile a weekly column for Vidusara titled ‘ගෙවත්තේ ජෛව විවිධත්වය’ (Biodiversity in Home Garden) since June. Aim 0f ‘ගෙවත්තේ ජෛව විවිධත්වය’ (Biodiversity in Homegarden) is to unravel the beauty of the biodiversity in ...
