COLOMBO (News 1st): Lahiru Wijedasa, a senior research fellow at National University of Singapore’s (NUS) tropical peatland research programme, was appointed by conservation group BirdLife International as Asia forest coordinator.

The move marks Wijedasa’s first foray into civic society after a career in scientific research,
specialising in botany and ecology.

Wijedasa was part of a team that recently discovered a new species of flowering tree in a peat swamp in Sumatra.

Their discovery of Disepalum rawagambut marks the first new discovery of a tree in a peat swamp habitat in almost 60 years.

The last peat swamp forest tree discovered was the Shorea retusa, which was also found in Indonesia back in 1963.

Lahiru’s s new role will involve working with partners on forest conservation projects across Asia.

One of his first projects is in ecosystem restoration, working with Burung Indonesia, an Indonesian bird conservation group, and British charity Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, to conserve the lowland forests of Sumatra, Indonesia.

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