Sri Lanka plans radical revamp of national parks
Date: 14-Jun-01
Country: SRI LANKA
A government statement also said the Wildlife Department and Zoological Gardens had been brought under the control of President Chandrika Kumaratunga.
It said the government would implement a host of "practical and effective" programmes aimed at conserving wildlife, streamlining the management of reserves, protecting rapidly endangered species and preserving the biodiversity of Sri Lanka.
The programmes would be funded by a $29 million soft credit line from the Asian Development Bank, the statement said.
Sri Lanka has 12 national parks, but not all are open to the public because of the country's civil war.
Some funding would go to training villagers in areas bordering forests and areas where elephants roam.
"Special attention has been paid by the president on elephants, as well as the human lives and cultivations being destroyed by the elephant-man conflict now being reported from various parts of the island," it said.
Human encroachment on forests has resulted in increased clashes with wild elephants and deaths of both people and elephants have been reported recently.
There are 4,000 to 4,500 wild elephants in Sri Lanka, as well as a wide range of other species, many endemic to the island.
Sri Lanka is also a bird watchers' paradise with over 420 species of birds, 27 of them endemic.
In February a Sri Lankan bird watcher found a new species of owl - the island's first new bird discovery in 132 years.