Pavithra Attanayake

Pavithra (Pavi) is a passionate environmental educator, conservationist, and zoologist with over eight years of experience in ecosystem restoration, environmental education, and sustainable development.

She serves as a Senior Executive at the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPSSL), the third-oldest conservation organisation in the world. Pavi began her career as a Junior Research Assistant at the Science Education and Dissemination Unit of the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), where she promoted STEM education among youth. Her subsequent role as a consultant at Janathakshan (Guarantee) Limited enhanced her expertise in climate change and sustainable development. At WNPSSL, she has led the Youth Wing for four years, engaging over 30,000 schoolchildren in environmental education. As a British Council-trained facilitator, she inspired 130 youth leaders in Climate Action and represented Sri Lanka in the British Council’s 90 Youth Voices program, which united young leaders from 45 countries.

Pavi’s academic background spans zoology, botany, ecology, wildlife management, and conservation. She is also an AFEC-X fellow at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her passion for community-based conservation and ecology drives her current work as an ecosystem restoration practitioner.