The Anawilundawa Wetand Sanctuary (Sinhala: ආනවිළුන්දාව තෙත්බිම) is one of the Sanctuaries in Sri Lanka. It is situated between the coast and the Negombo-Puttalam railway, in Puttalam District. The wetland has been identified as one of the most important habitats for residential as well as migratory aquatic avifauna in the country (Indika & Mahaulpatha, 2015).
History
Due to the rich bird diversity, the Department of Wildlife Conservation designated Anawilundawa a sanctuary on 11 June 1997, under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance through a government Gazette notification published under the no. 979/15 (Rodrigo et al., 2008).
Based on the unique biodiversity, cultural heritage, functional value as a feeding ground, the Anawilundawa wetland was recognized as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on 3 August 2001 (Begam, 2015; Rodrigo et al., 2008). It is the second Ramsar site in the country (Indika & Mahaulpatha, 2015).
The wetland
The wetland extends in an area of about 1.397 ha. consisting of an ancient group of shallow cascading tanks, ranging from 12-50 ha. in extent, built by King Parakramabahu I [(1153-1186 A.D.) Begam, 2015; Rodrigo et al., 2008]. The tanks include Pinkattiya, Wellawala, Maradansole, Ihalawewa, Anawilundawa, Suruwila and Maiyawa (Begam, 2015; Rodrigo et al., 2008). To the west of these tanks is a large area of paddy fields (412 ha.), interspersed with islets of natural vegetation (Rodrigo et al., 2008). Further west is a Dutch-built canal that runs between the Mundel Lake in the north, and the Deduru Oya and Sengal Oya estuaries in the south (Rodrigo et al., 2008).
The wetland lies in the dry zone of the western lowlands of the country and therefore, has a moderately hot and dry climate (Rodrigo et al., 2008). The annual rainfall for the area is about 1000-1500 mm and the mean annual temperature is approximately 26°C (Rodrigo et al., 2008).
.2) Anawilundawa Wetland Sanctuary in Sri Lanka, Anawilundawa Wetland Sanctuary small pond, & Anawilundawa Wetland Sanctuary of dambulla by Gobalakrishnan Thuvaragan are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
References
1) Begum, M., 2015. The study of
biodiversity of water birds in the Suruwila lake region of Anawilundawa
Tank Sanctuary (Ramsar Convention), Srilanka. Hist, 12(36), pp.111-116.
2) Indika, J. and Mahaulpatha, D.W.A.,
2015. Patterns of seasonal abundance and diversity in the waterbird
community of Anavilundawa sanctuary. Wildlanka, Vol. 3, No.1. pp.31-37.
3) Rodrigo, R.K., Perera, M.S.J., Perera, N., Peries, T.N., de Silva, S. and Bambaradeniya, C.N.B., 2008. A preliminary survey on the herpetofauna in the Anawilundawa wetland sanctuary: The second Ramsar site of Sri Lanka. Tigerpaper, 35, pp.27-32.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 7 June 2022
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