Prof. Upul Subasinghe

Prof. Upul Subasinghe is attached to the Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura. His expertise and research interests are forest, forest plantation management, forest restoration, forest certification, forest biomass and carbon, and non-timber products of forest trees. Prof. Subasinghe is the pioneer in agarwood research in Sri Lanka and has extensively contributed to agarwood nursery and plantation establishment in the country. In addition, he has been involved with research on aromatic plants and trees such as sandalwood, and growth perdition of plantation species such as teak, eucalyptus, Alstonia, mahogany, etc.

Prof. Subasinghe was the former director of the Centre for Forestry and Environment, which was established to conduct applied research on forestry and environment sectors. He also engages with WWF training and awareness programs on land restoration using nature-based methods, especially with private sector organizations in Sri Lanka that utilize large portions of watersheds in the country for agriculture plantation management. He supported many private sector industries in establishing and maintaining forest plantations, especially teak, sandalwood, and agarwood, and obtaining forest certification and chain of custody in Sri Lanka and overseas. He has prepared forest management plans for many private sector plantations, conducted social impact analysis, and similar work to aid the investors in managing their forests harmoniously with the community while protecting the environment and earning profits. He was an active member of the UNREDD+ project conducted, forestry-sector master plan preparation, and many other policy-making activities.