Eco- Adventure

Sri Lanka blessed with an abundance of flora and fauna has a long radiation of conservation. This goes back to its ancient Buddhist tradition which teaches respect and compassion to all living things. The world’s first wild life sanctuary was set up by Royal edict in the 3rd C.B.C. in Mihintale
(Where the Buddhist doctrine was first preached) and is still a sanctuary. Understanding the importance of conservation ecological integrity, large wilderness tracts were set aside by successive rulers as reserves for rain catchments and pest control purposes. Today, the sanctuaries, national parks, and reserves where law protects flora and fauna comprise 14% of the Island’s total land area of 65610sq, Km.

Within this land area there are more than 70 sanctuaries, National parks & a number of wetlands and mountain ranges. Therefore the bio- diversity in Sri Lanka is regarded to be greater per sq. Meter of surface area than any other country in the Asian Region. When Sri Lanka’s ecosystem is compared with other Asian countries, Sri Lanka has many tropical rain forests, montane, lowland, and virgin forests and wetland. There are also many ecosystems with mangroves, sand dunes, beaches and coral reefs. Numbering over 220, Sri Lanka for its size has perhaps the largest number of waterfalls of any country in the world.

Sri Lanka is a global bio-diversity hot spot. About half of its species are endemic, including all fresh water crabs, 90% amphibians, 25-75% reptiles and vertebrates, around 50% fresh water fishes, 26% flowering plants, 145 mammals and as many as non migrant birds.

Species richness is extreme and there are known to be over 3,368 species of flowering plants, 314 ferns, 575 mosses, 190liverworts, 896 algae, 1920 fungi, 400 orchids, 242 butterflies, 117 dragonflies, and damselflies, 139 mosquitoes, 525 carabis beetles, 266 land snails, 78 fresh water fishes, 250 amphibians, 92 snakes, 35 fresh water crabs, 21 geckos, 21 shrinks, 322 non- migrant birds. The island also provides critical habitat for internationally mobile species, including5 species of endangered marine turtles, about 100 species of waterfowls, and many other migratory birds.