Back to ECO-V from USA.

I returned from a very successful trip to USA. After the GIS training at the University of Tennessee (Sponsored by Conservation Leadership programme - CLP) I went to Orlando, Florida to meet Dr. Rudran. There I stayed with Dr. Rudran and his family and discussed the future plans on Western purple faced langur conservation programme. It was very successful meeting with him as I got many ideas and work plan for the future of this project. I also did able to visit the Disney Animal Kingdom in Orlando. It was very interesting to see how conservation awareness has combined with entertainment to spread the message of protecting threatened species of the world. It was full of fun but the hidden message of conservation is very much there and I loved the place and learnt many things which are useful for our country. However I believe we need more focused conservation education programmes especially for our kids with my new experience .

After Orlando I went to Philadelphia to meet Prof. Eduardo and his wife Claudia for another meeting and both of them are very active conservationists in Argentina and very friendly people. I had a great time with them and their 3 young sons who are having grasshoppers, and toads as pets. They reminded me Gerald Durrell and his books about all these unusual pets but the beauty of that is the attention they give for these tiny creatures. That is the most important conservation message they are passing to any adult in this world.

I’ll be traveling to Udawalwa on Monday to supervise the work Harsha and the team has done on Pelican conservation work during my absence.