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 as well as add to this biodiversity was also assessed. The Lodge cemented it undertaking to further enhance and protect the biodiversity by developing project 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 those who love to be in touch with wild life and nature; and therein was born the idea of a fully fledgedEco Safari Lodge.
We have always cared about the environment and the community that surrounds us. Our team is always on the frontlines of community development and social welfare activities in and around Saliyawewa. Hence, looking after the biodiversity of the premises was really second nature to us. However, having the Carbon Consulting Company come into very ably assist us by independently assessing and verifying this biodiversity was quite informative. Not only have they identified over 70 species of birds and nearly 25 species of butterflies, but they even identified and recorded the presence of the largest frog species in the country on our site, a fact of which we were blissfully unaware till now.
The recognition by CCC as a BiodiversityConscious® Lodge will really help us demonstrate our commitment toward the preservation of our threatened environment. It will also serve to re-assure our guests that their holiday in no way compromises the environment; accomplishing instead quite the opposite, as their patronage helps the Palpatha Team to constantly do more in order to actively preserve our biodiversity.
The task of leading the team on this challenging assignment went to well-known Environmental and Sustainability leader Dr. Sampath Wahala from the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.
“The BiodiversityConscious® certification was some time in the making”, says CEO of Carbon Consulting Company - Sanith de S. Wijeyeratne. “ The aim of the brand mark is to recognize that the entity being awarded has not only had the vision, foresight and drive to assess the impact of their operations on the situational biodiversity, but has also taken suitable steps to minimize future impacts as well as setting up appropriate compensatory mechanisms to offset their impacts. We are inspired by what the team has Palpatha has been able to achieve, and are encouraged that individuals with such a green vision are driven to make a significantly differentiate the way they carry out their business. Both the Palpatha and CCC teams worked hand in hand to carry out the field assessment as well as to develop suitable enhancement plans for the lodge. It has been a privilege to work with them, and the certification is fully justified and I sincerely wish them the best for their future.”
