Flood Plains National Park
Flood Plains National Park is a national park situated along the Mahaweli Ganga River from its mouth near Trincomalee to Polonnaruwa.
F lood Plains National Park (Sinhala: ජලගැලුම් නිම්න ජාතික වනෝද්යානය; Tamil: வெள்ளச் சமவெளிகள் தேசிய வனம்) is a national park situated along the Mahaweli Ganga River from its mouth near Trincomalee to Polonnaruwa in the Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa districts, Sri Lanka. History The presence of elephants, rich plant diversity and a large number of aquatic birds including 75 migratory species led to the designation of this area as a national park on 7 August 1984 (Green, 1990; IUCN & CEA, 2006). The park was added to the lUCN/CNPPA Register of Threatened Protected Areas of the World in 1989 (Green, 1990). Physical, Ecological Features & Climate The flood plains are composed of river channels, riverine marshes, villus, mangroves, lagoons, and tidal creeks associated with the Mahaweli Ganga (IUCN & CEA, 2006). It covers approximately 50,000 ha (the park area only covers 17,350 ha of the upper flood plain) of land and is linked with Wasgamuwa National Park to the southwest, Somawath…