Bundala National Park
Bundala National Park | |
---|---|
Location | Southern Province, Sri Lanka |
Nearest city | Hambantota |
Coordinates | 6°12′50″N 81°13′30″E / 6.21389°N 81.22500°E |
Area | 3,339.38 hectares (12.8934 sq mi) after regazzetting in 2004, originally of 6,216 hectares (24.00 sq mi)[1] |
Established | 1969 (sanctuary) 1993 (national park) |
Governing body | Department of Wildlife Conservation |
Official name | Bundala |
Designated | 15 June 1990 |
Reference no. | 487[2] |
Bundala National Park is an internationally important wintering ground for
History
The area was declared a wildlife sanctuary on 5 December 1969,[6] and was upgraded to a national park on 4 January 1993 with land area of 6,216 hectares (24.00 sq mi).[7] However the park was regazetted in 2004 and the original park was reduced to 3,698 hectares (14.28 sq mi).[1] In 1991, Bundala became the first site in Sri Lanka to be designated a Ramsar wetland. In 2005, Bundala was declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. In January 2006, an area adjacent to Bundala covering an area of 3,339.38 hectares (12.8934 sq mi) was declared as the Wilmanna Sanctuary.[1]
Physical features
The area mainly underlain with
Flora
The ecological areas of the national park contain seven terrestrial
Fauna
The Bundala National Park has been identified as an outstanding Important Bird Area in the South Indian and Sri Lankan wetlands.[10] 324 species of vertebrates have been recorded in the national park,[1] which include 32 species of fish, 15 species of amphibians, 48 species of reptiles, 197 species of birds and 32 species of mammals. 52 species of butterflies are among the invertebrates.[8] The wetland habitats in Bundala harbours about 100 species of water birds, half of them being migrant birds.[1] Of 197 avifaunal species 58 are migratory species. National Bird Ringing Programme (NBRP) was launched in Bundala by in collaboration of Department of Wildlife Conservation and Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka in 2005.[11]
The greater flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus which visits in large flocks of over 1,000 individuals, from Rann of Kutch of India is being the highlight. Waterfowl (lesser whistling duck Dendrocygna javanica, garganey Anas querquedula), cormorants (little cormorant Phalacrocorax niger, Indian cormorant P. fuscicollis), large water birds (grey heron Ardea cinerea, black-headed ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus, Eurasian spoonbill Platalea leucorodia, Asian openbill Anastomus oscitans, painted stork Mycteria leucocephala), medium-sized waders (Tringa spp.), and small waders (Charadrius spp.) are the other avifaunal species which are present in large flocks. Black-necked stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, lesser adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus and Eurasian coot Fulica atra are rare birds inhabit in the national park.[1]
A few
Bundala harbors various forms of fishes including salt water dispersants
Threats and conservation
The water quality in the lagoons has changed by the drainage of excess water from irrigation systems,[12] and release of sludge from the saltern into Bundala lagoon.[1] The habitats of the wading birds and wildlife in the shrub forest and dunes is threatened as a result of the spread of two invasive alien plants, Prosopis juliflora and Opuntia dillenii, around the tidal plains in Malala-Ambilikala Lagoons and the sand dunes and nearby scrub forests. The spread of Prosopis juliflora is made easy by uncontrolled livestock herds.
The seeds of the
Conservation projects launched include a turtle conservation project, and an invasive alien plants eradication program aimed at the removal of Prosopis juliflora and Opuntia dillenii. The proposed conservation measures are re-demarcation of the park's boundary and widen the boundary to include the northern scrubland, resettle families inhabiting within the park, a programme to control spread of invasive alien plants, create irrigation structures to stop the flow of irrigation water and management of livestock grazing.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Wetland Cluster within Bundala National Park". Sri Lanka Wetlands Information and Database. IWMI. Archived from the original on 15 August 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ "Bundala". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ISBN 978-955-573-401-1.
- ^ "Twenty-three New Biosphere Reserves Added to UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Network". unesco.org. UNESCO. 29 June 2005. Archived from the original on 3 February 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
- ISBN 978-955-573-346-5.
- ^ ISBN 978-2-8317-0030-4.
- ISBN 978-955-9059-04-2.
- ^ a b c Bambaradeniya, C. N. B. Impacts of the recent tsunami on the Bundala National Park – The first Ramsar wetland in Sri Lanka (PDF). The World Conservation Union. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- Bonn Convention. p. 6. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 October 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ "South Indian and Sri Lankan wetlands" (PDF). BirdLife International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ Kotagama, Sarath W.; Bellio, Maria Grazia; Dayananda, Kariyawasam (2006). "Pioneering shorebird research in Sri Lanka: launch of the National Bird Ringing Programme" (PDF). Wader Study Group Bulletin. 109. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ Piyankarage S. C., A. P. Mallawatantri, Y. Matsuno, and K. A. S. Pathiratne. 2004. Human impacts and the status of water quality in the Bundala Ramsar wetland lagoon system in southern Sri Lanka. Wetlands Ecology and Management 12(5): 473–482.
- ^ Lalith Gunasekera, Invasive Plants: A guide to the identification of the most invasive plants of Sri Lanka, Colombo 2009, pp. 114–115. A biodiversity status profile of Bundala National Park: a Ramsar national wetland of Sri Lanka Bambaradeniya, Channa N.B.; Ekanayake, S.P.; Fernando, R.H.S.S.; Perera, W.P.N.; Somaweera, R. Colombo: IUCN Sri Lanka, 2002.
ISBN 955-8177-16-4
External links
- Matsuno, Yutaka; van der Hoek, Wim & Ranawake, Mala, eds. (1998). Irrigation water management and the Bundala National Park: Proceedings of the workshop on water quality of the Bundala Lagoons (PDF). International Water Management Institute.
- Perera, Nishanthi (2007). "An Overview of Bundala National Park: An exceptional wetland facing multitude of problems" (PDF). Siyoth. 2 (1): 4–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2010.