The partnership is anchored in the understanding that the leopard is an umbrella species.
Protecting it also safeguards entire ecosystems and countless other species that share its habitat.
By supporting leopard conservation, DFCC Bank and WWCT are making a wider commitment to biodiversity protection, environmental resilience, and sustainable coexistence between people and wildlife.
Thimal Perera, Chief Executive Officer of DFCC Bank, commented,
“Environmental conservation is integral to our vision for a sustainable future.
Our focus is not only on preserving nature but also on ensuring that communities can live, work, and thrive in balance with their environment.
Through this partnership, we are investing in awareness, education, and practical solutions that reduce conflict on the ground and deliver lasting value for both people and wildlife.”
Ecologist Anjali Watson, Co-Founder and Managing Trustee at WWCT, added,
“The leopard is Sri Lanka’s only terrestrial apex predator, and its continued survival means the protection of entire ecosystems.
At WWCT, our research has shown that focusing on the leopard provides a fast and effective route to conserving landscapes and biodiversity on a wider scale.
This partnership provides access to resources at scale, enabling us to take this science to communities and the public, ensuring that conservation is not just data-driven but also inclusive and practical.”
This collaboration will deliver a nationwide awareness campaign to highlight the ecological role of leopards and the dangers posed by land fragmentation, snares, and poaching.
At the same time, community-based interventions will be piloted in high-risk areas to reduce leopard mortality.
These include introducing non-lethal crop fencing options to replace snares, providing veterinary support to address misattributed livestock losses, and reduction of disease transmission and developing coexistence strategies that enable rural communities to live more safely alongside wildlife.
Over the past two decades, WWCT has established itself as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost research-driven conservation organisations.
Its Leopard Project has generated some of the most extensive data sets on leopard populations in Sri Lanka, directly influencing national conservation policies while pioneering fieldwork on human-wildlife coexistence.
This partnership falls under DFCC Bank’s Sustainability Framework, which prioritises biodiversity protection, climate resilience, and community-level conservation.
It reflects the Bank’s long-term commitment to align business with environmental stewardship and to play a meaningful role in shaping Sri Lanka’s sustainable future.
Photo Caption from Left to Right ; Andrew M Kittle, Principal Investigator, WWCT, Anjali Watson, Co-Founder and Principal Researcher, WWCT, Thimal Perera, CEO, DFCC Bank, Shamindra Marcelline, Deputy CEO, DFCC Bank.