Jayantha: Since I was a schoolboy I have been interested in our wildlife. When I was young I lived in Vavunia, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Ba-ndarawela and Puttalam before moving to Kandy. I was able to nurture my interest in wildlife when I was in theses places. My father too was very interested in animals and always had many as pets and in fact bred some of them. Latterly I kept notes on the various observations I made. This was a great help when I decided to write a book.

Jayantha: Human-elephant conflicts in the country are caused because of different reasons. It is necessary for the Department of Wildlife Conservation to make an assessment of these causes and take action to mitigate the conflicts on an area by area basis. The conflicts will never be eradicated but can, with a concerted effort, be reduced.

‘The Island’: You have been involved in biodiversity issues for sometime now. What do you feel about the problems faced by Sri Lankan biodiversity?

Jayantha: Actually, biodiversity is a relatively new word. However, biodiversity is very important in the context of the conservation of our natural resources. It looks at the natural resources of an area collectively.

At present, we have very little data and information on many of the large number of species of fauna and flora that make up our biodiversity. Therefore without this information, we cannot make any pragmatic or realistic conservation plans. So the first thing to be done is to make an assessment of our biodiversity in detail, through surveys, observations and research. This information will help to form the basis when developing conservation plans that would actually help to preserve the species that needs protection.

Jayantha: The Ministry of Natural Resources, which is responsible for our biodiversity has failed to see the bigger picture, let alone understand it. They carry out a few programmes but this is in no way a part of a big conservation plan. They do not have any pragmatic master plan for biodiversity conservation nor have they made any moves to formulate one.

Jayantha: I have a lot of practical field experience. I have copious notes and I have read and discussed various aspects of our biodiversity with many who are knowledgeable on the subject. So, a book seemed logical especially since there is no book like this available for those ho want to know more about Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity.

Jayantha: Not one of my five grandchildren has shown an interest in wildlife, except a cursory interest shown by two of them.

However, my grandchildren apart, there are many of the younger generation who are not only interested in wildlife but committed to its conservation. They are from both urban and rural areas. I have found, in my visits to the 150 odd schools each year, that there is a tremendous interest in our environment and wildlife amongst rural children. Their handicap is the lack of sufficient books on these subjects in Sinhala and Tamil

Jayantha: I am writing a book on our tame elephants, which is more less 75 per cent finished now. Then I have to revise my first book which was titled ‘The Elephant in Sri Lanka’. Some day I hope to write on the History of Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka.

Jayantha: One project that I have carried out for the last seven years is to visit, each year, 150 rural schools, where there are human-elephant conflicts. We teach them all about our biodiversity and elephants and why they should be conserved etc. This is not easy in areas where the elephants have caused a lot of damage to cultivation, houses and also killed people. However, there is much less animosity towards the elephants after they learn of the elephants social life, care for their babies etc.

Jayantha: I also have a project where we have visited each of the homes of those who have been killed by wild elephants and given the needy children school books for the entire year. We help over a 100 children each year. We also help by building houses for those who live in temporary huts and are too poor to build a suitable house. This project has been going on for the last two years. My website www.elephantsinsrilanka.org gives all the details of these projects.

Jayantha: The human-crocodile conflict is not very serious in this country. Most of the problems are in the Nilwala Ganga where there are saltwater crocodiles, which are man-eaters. However, the Department of Wildlife Conservation carries out very little crocodile management and conservation in this country. The only action is to translocate man-eating crocodiles to national parks.

We have an ironic situation where the mugger crocodile is found in fair numbers in this country, but its numbers are declining in other countries in which it lives. On the other hand, the numbers of the saltwater crocodile have been greatly reduced here, but are found in many other countries in Asia and also Australia in large numbers.