In the early 1960s...

My parents were one of the first families to inhabit Uda Walawe under the government's new resettlement program.

to give way to villages and farmlands. Soon after, 308 square kilometers surrounding the beautiful Walawe River—the land's lifeblood—was declared as the brand-new Uda Walawe National Park, as if it could compensate for the vast loss of habitat and wildlife which occurred.

Forests were cleared

I grew up in this very remote area in Sri Lanka surrounded by forests and wildlife, where every day was a struggle to survive against dangerous wild animals. The human settlements were made by clearing prime elephant lands, and as we grew up, we started to face the dire consequences in the form of Human Elephant Conflict (HEC). I thus became determined to find holistic solutions to the ever-rising HEC impacting the beautiful lands in which I used to run free as a child.

In the early 1960s...

My parents were one of the first families to inhabit Uda Walawe under the government's new resettlement program.

Forests were cleared

I have been working with numerous elephant conservation projects from 2001. I did my PhD on the behaviour and population demography of Asian elephants in the University of Colombo Sri Lanka. My future research will focus on major issues in wildlife conservation – mitigating HWC with the active participation of the local community. I hope to develop local, national and international collaborations in various aspects including direct participation, education and research, technology and innovative business in Sri Lanka to promote human-wildlife coexistence. I am optimistic to further develop my field research centre at Udawalawe to conduct long-term elephant research and to connect students and researchers around the globe. I established the EPIC on a broader perspective; my dream is to bring Udawalawa to the world, let Udawalawa share its secrets with the world and let the world provide Udawalawa with its knowledge, technology and power to coexist with the wildlife. You are invited to be part of the journey and help turn the dream reality!