Govt. de-gazettes part of Vidataltivu Nature Reserve

Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Minister Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi 

An extraordinary gazette has been issued de-gazetting a section of the Vidataltivu Nature Reserve to set up an aquaculture industrial park. 

The gazette issued by Minister of Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Pavithradevi Wanniarachchi, noted that the area specified in the appendix of the gazette will no longer be designated as part of the Vidataltivu Nature Reserve. 

However, the appendix of the gazette notification has not been made available to the public. Accordingly, the exact land extent of the area has been de-gazetted and other information remains unknown.

According to previously available information, the aquaculture industrial park will be used for the farming of various species including marine finfish, crabs and exotic species of shrimp in a Public Private Partnership (3P) and is expected to raise $ 1.3 billion for the Government.

However, environmentalists have expressed concerns about the project. They have expressed fears that the move would set a bad precedent, leading to more land within the reserve being de-gazetted in the future for economically lucrative projects, leading to serious environmental and conservation issues.

In 2012 a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) carried out by experts identified Vidataltivu as an area requiring protection, leading the Government to gazette 29,180 hectares as a national reserve on 1 March 2016 by order of the then Minister of Wildlife and Sustainable Development Gamini Jayawickrama Perera.