| Department of Wildlife Conservation | |
| Native Name A: | Sinhala; Sinhalese: වනජිවි සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව Tamil: வனசீவராசிகள் பாதுகாப்பு |
| Seal: | File:DWC Sri Lanka seal.png |
| Formed: | (as the Wildlife Department) |
| Preceding1: | Fauna and Flora Protection Committee |
| Preceding2: | Forest Department |
| Preceding3: | Conservator of Forests |
| Superseding6: | --> |
| Jurisdiction: | Government of Sri Lanka |
| Headquarters: | 811/A Jayanthipura Road, Battaramulla |
| Coordinates: | 6.8972°N 79.9198°W |
| Employees: | 1,826 (2017)[1] |
| Budget: | රු 5.204 billion (2017) |
| Minister1 Name: | C.B. Rathnayake |
| Chief1 Name: | Chandana Sooriyabandara |
| Chief1 Position: | Director General |
| Parent Department: | Ministry of Environment and Wildlife Resources |
| Child25 Agency: | --> |
| Keydocument1: | Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance, No. 2 of 1937 |
The Department of Wildlife Conservation (Sinhala: වනජීවී සංරක්ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව Vanajivi Sanrakshana Departhamenthuwa) is a non-ministerial government department in Sri Lanka. It is the government department responsible for maintaining national parks, nature reserves and wildlife in wilderness areas in Sri Lanka.[2] Forest reserves and wilderness areas are maintained by the Department of Forest Conservation.[3] The head of the department is the Director General of Wildlife Conservation, formally known as Warden. It was established in October 1949 with Captain Cyril Nicholas, MC as its first Warden.
The department is headed by the Director General of Wildlife Conservation, with it headquarters located in Battaramulla. The head office is made up of several divisions covering operations and administration under the preview of Directors, deputy directors and assistant directors.
Each province as an assistant director assigned to it with an office located within the province. The Elephant Transit Home and Training Center has an assistant director in charge of each.
The department deploys a large number of field officers and personal to manage and protect the wildlife in the national parks. They have law enforcement powers under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance and the Fire Arms Ordinance. They operate range offices and beat offices.
The field carder grades include;
| National Reserve | Strict Natural Reserve | 3 | |
| National Park | 26 | ||
| Nature Reserve | 9 | ||
| Jungle Corridors | 1 | ||
| Sanctuary | 62 | ||