Biodiversity Sri Lanka held its 7th Annual General Meeting on November 3rd, 2022 at Ramada Colombo. The event was held physically after a two-year virtual hiatus due to the escalation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the meeting, a new Board of Directors was appointed. They are Mr. Dilhan C. Fernando, CEO of Dilmah Ceylon Tea Company and Trustee of Dilmah Conservation (Chair), Mr. Shiran Fernando, Chief Economist, Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Anshuman Saikia, Coordinator, Regional Portfolio Management and Officer in Charge, IUCN Sri Lanka, Mr. Ranjith Pandithage, Chairman, DIMO, Mr. Hasrath Munasinghe, Deputy General Manager Marketing, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Ms. Sayuri Daluwatte, Group Chief Operations Officer, Jinasena (PVT) LTD. Mr. Lasitha Wimalaratne, Chief Executive Officer, HNB Assurance PLC. Mr. Prema Cooray, Chairman of Rainforest Ecolodge and a pioneer in the tourism and hospitality sector in the country, will continue to function as a Director/Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, Sri Lanka’s leading naturalist and taxonomist of freshwater fish of Sri Lanka was subsequently appointed as a Director being a person who has rendered outstanding service towards the fulfillment of the objects of the Association or who has proven expertise and/or standing in the field of business, sustainability and the environment in terms of Article 13.5 of the Articles of Association of BSL.
The Chairman, on behalf of the Secretariat, also took the opportunity to thank the outgoing members of the Board of Directors, including Mr. Nandana Ekanayake – Chairman of Siam City Cement (Lanka) Ltd., Mr. Mahesh Nanayakkara, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Citizens’ Development Business Finance PLC., Mr. Shahid Mohomed Sangani, Director of Dynawash Ltd. and Mr. Subramaniam Eassuwaren – Deputy Chairman of Eswaran Brothers Exports (PVT) Ltd., for their outstanding service rendered towards the upliftment of the platform’s status, recognition, and effectiveness. Their services over the past two years have been of immense support and will no doubt be remembered and much appreciated over the years to come in this long journey we foresee.
Two of the past Directors who have served the platform diligently since its inception will no longer be with the board in the upcoming financial year. Dr. Ananda Mallawatantri retired from office as Country Representative of IUCN Sri Lanka in September 2022. He served on the Board, representing initiating partner IUCN from its inception. His untiring efforts towards the upliftment of BSL was recognized before the full membership of the Association.
Mr. Chandrarathne Vithanage, Senior Assistant Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce is also due to retire by the end of this year. He has been a strength from the inception of the Platform and has encouraged the staff in very many ways, giving them leadership in a number of initiatives that BSL has undertaken together with the CCC.
The former Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and present Secretary to the Prime Minister – Mr. Anura Dissanayake also left the board, in his capacity on the Board of Directors as a person who has rendered outstanding service towards the fulfillment of the objects of the Association with proven expertise and standing in the fields of business, sustainability and the environment. His current assignment as Secretary to the Prime Minister keeps him extremely busy in managing the country during these turbulent times and hence has requested that he be excluded from the Board of Directors for the next session.
The meeting was attended by a majority of BSL’s membership across all categories – Patron, General, SME and Associate. Sponsors of the event were American and Efird Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., Citizens Development Business Finance PLC, Climate & Conservation Consortium, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Dilmah Conservation, and DIMO Lanka. Membership of BSL represents over 80 companies across 8 industry sectors, namely, agribusiness and food, banking and finance, engineering and construction, information and communications technology, manufacturing, service, tea plantations, and tourism and hospitality.
Established in August 2012, Biodiversity Sri Lanka was formally established as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee on October 22, 2015, and has had a steady growth in membership up to date.
