Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, commonly abbreviated FOGSL, is the

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n affiliate of

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

. It was founded in 1976 to promote the conservation of birds and preservation of the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

. FOGSL headquarters are situated in the Department of Zoology, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Its president is Professor Sarath Kotagama

Activities and events

Identifying and proposing

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s (IBAs) in Sri Lanka is one of the main activities of the group. This project has now entered its second phase, conducting studies to evaluate the

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of proposed 70 IBAs. Conducting research on some selected endemic birds, the

Sri Lanka blue magpie The Sri Lanka blue magpie or Ceylon magpie (''Urocissa ornata'') is a brightly coloured member of the family Corvidae, found exclusively in Sri Lanka. This species is adapted to hunting in the dense canopy, where it is highly active and nimble. I ...

and

spot-winged thrush The spot-winged thrush, (''Geokichla spiloptera''), is an Asian thrush, a group within the large thrush family Turdidae. It is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka. This uncommon species breeds in hill rainforests, and to a lesser extent i ...

, is another activity of the group. Following the events of the

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

, FOGSL provided some direct humanitarian assistance. The group helped in wetland restoration, rebuilding schools, and coastal land-use planning. National bird ringing programmes conducted in

Bundala National Park Bundala National Park is an internationally important wintering ground for migratory water birds in Sri Lanka. Bundala harbors 197 species of birds, the highlight being the greater flamingo, which migrate in large flocks. Bundala was designated ...

concentrate on studies on

migratory birds Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Migration carries high costs in predation and mortality, including from hunting by ...

and the

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s. The Field Ornithology Group intends to extend the research to other sites on the migration route and to develop a web database. From 2008, Field Ornithology Group conducts a bird count in December in the lines of Christmas Bird Count by the

National Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organ ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Sri Lanka's location at the tip of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

has made the island a termination point in the North-South bird migratory route. Organizing a bird education exhibition to promote awareness among general public is one of the annual programmes of the group. This commemorates the late P. B. Karunathna, who was a leading naturalist in the country and one of the founding members of the society. In 2020 numerous hotels and resorts and travel agencies adopted FOGSL "Bird Friendly Concept". This programme started in 1997. Project mainly focus foreign tourist.

Activities for youth

The FOGSL also organise activities for children. They have launched an "FOG Kids" programme, focusing on

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

and field trips for children aged over 14. Another programme, called "Preserving Heritage for Tomorrow", was carried out in collaboration with Sri Lanka Telecom in 2007 to raise awareness on the conservation of the

Sinharaja Forest Reserve Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a forest reserve and a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO. According to International Union for Conser ...

. 180 students and 45 teachers from various schools participated in the programme.

Publications

The small grants programme of the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

granted the Field Ornithology Group 20,308.00 for printing of selected publications and other activities. As part of their educational programmes, Field Ornithology Group has published many books and posters, not only on birds, but also mammals and wetlands. The FOGSL also publish two

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...

, ''Kedetta'' in Sinhala and ''Malkoha'' in English.

References

{{authority control Science and technology in Sri Lanka Animal welfare organisations based in Sri Lanka Ornithological organizations Bird conservation organizations 1976 establishments in Sri Lanka Organizations established in 1976

Org The Open Rights Group (ORG) is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues and by fostering a community of grassroots activists. It campaigns on numerous issues including ma ...

Environmental organisations based in Sri Lanka Organisations based in Sri Lanka