Ven Kirantidiye Pannasekera was a pioneer in environmental conservation activism starting from 1981.

He started an organization named Friends of Nature

Friends of Nature

Friends of Nature is an international movement with a background in the Social Democratic movement, which aims to make nature accessible to the wider community by providing appropriate recreational and travel facilities.-Background:It is a non-profit organisation which, in addition to encouraging...

 to help protect the Sinharaja Forest of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. He was able to form the "Sri Lanka Environmental Congress" by gathering all the scattered environmental organizations at village level in 1986. He became the first secretary in 1986. In 1987 he was instrumental in starting the first Environmental Village program by teaming up with the
National Housing authority and Central Environmental Authority in Sri Lanka.

Sources

• Only One Earth - 1986 - Published by BBC
  BBC
  The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
  
   and UNESCO
  UNESCO
  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...