National Forest parks in Sri Lanka (The paradise)

Sri Lanka is tropical country which is located in the Indian Ocean, down south to the Indian peninsula. The country is covered with lots of greens with a forest cover of 30%.

There are 26 national parks in Sri Lanka. The land area covered by these national parks are about 5,734km² National parks are demarcated and protected areas which are belong and administrated by wild life department. These are governed by the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (No. 2) of 1937. There are some activities, such as hunting and killing animals in these reserved areas.  Other than this, removing any wild animal, disturbing of wild animals, interfering in the breeding of any animal and destroying eggs/nests of birds and reptiles are also prohibited.  Using any trap, poisonous material or explosives that can harm to animal or plant life in these areas is also prohibited.  Damaging plants and shedding, land clearing, mining are also prohibited. There are sufficient laws in the country to address those issues but there are some instances that it is not work as expected.

Visitors and tourists who come to see animals and flora should possess a visitor pass or a permit to enter to national parks. Among all the National parks Wilpattu and Yala are the oldest. Mostly visited national parks are again above both and Horton plains and Udawalawa.

Some of the famous National parks in Sri Lanka

Wilpattu National park 

– located in North Central and North Western provinces. The land extent is 1316.7 km² . This spreads across the Puttalam and Anuradhapura districts, and borders the Mannar and Vavuniya Districts. This national park is one of the most important elephant habitats in the country and it is also a great place to observe the elusive Sri Lankan leopard and the sloth bear.

Yala National park

– Located in Southern and Uva provinces. The land extent is 979 km². This is the most visited and oldest national park in Sri Lanka. The park is best known for its variety of wildlife and is important conservation of Sri Lankan elephants, leopards and aquatic birds.

Madhu road National park

• Located in about 25 kilometers East of Mannar in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.  Land extent is 630 km². Various species of animals live in this park and among them Sloth bear, Leopard, Water buffalo, Wild Boar, are the main ones. Sri Lankan Gray hornbills, Blue-faced malkoha, Brown-Capped Barbbler, SL Crimson-Fronted Barbet, Sri Lanka junglefowl, S.L Wood shrike, Malabar pied hornbill, Brahmin kite are the bird species. There are a significant number of wild elephants and there is also an elephant corridor through the Madupara area. Small mammals like giant squirrel, golden jackal, common langur, common mongoose, Indian are also sheltered in the forest.

Wasgamuwa National park

This park is located in Central and North Central province. It is having a land extent of 370.6 km². In the Park elephants can be observed as large herds and there are many animal species including Sri Lankan bear,wild boar, pea cock, dear are available. It is also important area for bird watching.

Wasgamuwa has the highest biodiversity in plant species and there are more than 150 floral species available.

Udawalawa National park

Udawalawa National park is located in Sabaragamuwa and Uva province with aland extent of 308.2 km². The park was created as sanctuary for wild animals displaced by the construction of the udawalawa tank from Mahaweli project and to protect the catchment of the reservoir.

Udawalawe is an important habitat for water birds and elephants. It is enriched with many native and wide variety of flora. There is an elephant transit home in the park and this is very much important in rescuing specially baby elephants.

It is a popular tourist destination and the third-most visited park in the country.

All most all the National parks in Sri Lanka has its own unique characters. Different visitors who come to visit and observe different things can select accordingly. In the web page descriptions of other parks also will be included with time and the other parks which were not shown here will be listed below.

1. Maduruoya National park – Located in Eastern and Uva provinces and the Land extent is 588.5 km².
2. Somawathiya National Park – Located in Eastern province and North Central province and the land
   • extent is 376.5 km².
3. Galoya National park – Located in Eastern and Uva provinces and the land extent is 259 km².
4. Lunugamwehera National park – Located in Southern province and Uva province and the land extent
   • is 235 km².
5. Chundikulam National park  – Located in Northern province and the land extent is 195.7km².
6. Adams bridge National park – Located in Northern province and the land extent is 190 km².
7. Kumana National park  – Located in Eastern province and the land extent is 181.5 km².
8. Floodplains National park – Located in North Central province and the land extent is 73.5 km².
9. Minneriya National park – Located in North Central province and the land extent is 89 km².
10. Angammedilla National park – Located in North Central province and the land extent is 75.3 km².
11. Kaudulla National park – Located in North Central province and the land extent is 69 km².
12. Bundala National park – Located in Southern province and the land extent is 62.2 km².
13. Horton plains National park – Located in Central province and the land extent is 31.6 km².
14. Horrowpatana National park – Located in North Central province and the land extent is 25.7 km².
15. Delft National park – Located in Northern province and the Land extent is 18.5 km².
16. Lahugala Kithulana National park – Located in Eastern province and the land extent is 15.5 km².
17. Pigeon Island National park – Located in Eastern province and the land extent is 4.7 km².
18. Ussangoda National park – Located in Southern province and the land extent is 3.5 km².
19. Hikkaduwa National park – Located in Southern province and the land extent is 1 km².
20. Galwaysland National park – Located in Central province and the land extent is 0.03 km².
21. Horagolla National park – Located in Western province and the land extent is 0.01 km².