About Thilak Kariyawasam

Kariyawasam Majuwana Gamage Thilak
(Thilak Kariyawasam)
Sri Lanka
Thilak is holding Organic Agriculture Diploma and Advance certificate Organic Agriculture Development from Grolink from Sweden. Also, he is having “Eco Sanitation higher Diploma” from University of Life Science of Norway.
Same time has been the President of the Lanka Organic Agriculture Movement (LOAM) since 2009. Thilak is one of the board members to National Organic Control Authority (NOCA) which will be Sri Lankan Organic Agriculture Control body. Sri Lanka Council of Agricultural Research having separate national working group for Organic Agriculture and Forestry, in there he is severing as a key member.
SriCert is local certification body where he serves as Managing Director. There are lots of publications he was managed publicized with many subjects. Thilak is member of Asian Regional Organic Standard (AROS) drafting group under the Global Organic Marketing Access (GOMA) project under the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). He also is having many hats with social, Agriculture and Environmental movements.

Thilak also functioning as certification specialist on Organic Agriculture Quality and Standard setter. Also he was serve to advisory member to Commission of Intellectual Property Rights. Specially plant genetic resource (PGR) conservation and Geographical Indication (GI) area he had specialty. Therefore, he had chance get International Advance training from WIPO and Sweden patent office (PRV) under the SIDA.
In 2009 setup Local group of PGS with the support of Indian PGS Council Support, Thilak was tried set up governmental supported PGS work on Country level. After many years that effort still going on. Then he has set up LOAM -PGS national focal point from 2019. With this initiation local farmers and consumers get kind of support to organic Nish market.

2020 Sri Lankan New President has initiated the 7-member Advisory Group on Organic Agriculture Thilak also one of them. Same time new government has issue gazette on new organic zone as demonstration area for that ministry of Agriculture set up steering committee including Thilak.