DWC and Sri Lanka Navy conduct coastal cleanup program in Wilpattu National Park

Friday, 7 May 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Navy in the Kalpitiya area organised a coastal cleanup program in Wilpattu National Park (WNP) from 6 to 9 April.

More than 50 volunteers from Sri Lanka Navy and 30 staff members from DWC collected 1,600 bags of plastic bottles, polythene, glass and other debris along the 39km coastal line from Gangewadiya to Mollikulam.

WNP Warden Suranga Rathnayaka mentioned that “this is the first time DWC executed a coastal clean up in this scale, especially along the coastal line of Wilpattu National Park”.

According to Sampath Bandara, Technical Advisor for the Supporting Wilpattu National Park and Influence Zone Management in Sri Lanka project, this coastal cleanup program was implemented as a part of many environmental management activities currently supported by the project in the national park.

The project is implemented by the Department of Wildlife Conservation of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project combines the conservation efforts within the Wilpattu National Park with the sustainable development of its influence zones.

The project aims to improve Wilpattu National Park’s management capacity with an emphasis on the Park Operations, Environmental and Visitor Use Programs, in technical and specialist terms, in support to the Wilpattu National Park Management Plan (2019-2024).

This activity was proposed by Chamath Lakshman, the former Park Warden in WNP, parallel to the International Coastal Clean-up Day in 2020. However, the activity was postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and health restrictions in the area. Thereafter, the event was rescheduled and implemented under the close supervision of WNP management and local MOH following health restrictions and safety standards.

DWC Deputy Director – Visitor Services Management Chandani Wilson and Director – Protected Area Management Manjula Amararatne extended their fullest support and guidance to organize this activity. DWC is planning to continue this activity into a monitoring study creating sampling plots along the coastal line of WNP.