Eco Safari Lodge first to be BiodiversityConscious®

Dr. Sampath Wahala (External Consultant), The Carbon Consulting Company team consisting Kanishka Jayasinghe, Shermila Weragoda, Lakmini Senadheera, Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne and The Palpatha Team consisting Jeevaka Perera, Chaminda Senewiratne, Anura De Silva and Darrel Bartholomeusz

A ground breaking milestone in the eco tourism industry took place recently when the Palpatha Eco Safari Lodge, became the first of its kind in the industry to be certified as a BiodiversityConscious® Lodge.
The certification issued by The Carbon Consulting Company, was based on the camp meeting the requirements of the BiodiversityConscious® guidelines developed by the company, to recognize entities that go out of their way to ensure the protection and enhancement of their surrounding biodiversity, which is very often compromised by the entity’s operations. To meet these rigourous requirements demanded that Palpatha submit to an independent biodiversity assessment by CCC, with independent validation carried out by its external consultant.   
The assessment quantified the species and faunal biodiversity that encompassed the Lodge. The initiatives taken by the Palpatha team to safeguard and add to this biodiversity was also assessed. The Lodge cemented its undertaking to further enhance and protect the biodiversity by developing projects which are to be carried out over the following 2 years.  Speaking on the occasion, Jeevaka Perera one of the founding partners of the Lodge said “Palpatha Eco Safari Lodge is the brainchild of 3 school friends, who founded the property as a family getaway. But we soon realized that this gift was one that should be shared with the larger community, especially with those who love to be in touch with wildlife and nature. From there the idea of a fully fledged Eco Safari Lodge was born.”
The task of leading the team on this assignment went to well-known Environmental and Sustainability leader Dr. Sampath Wahala from the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.