User:KiralaKelle

Kirala Kelle Wetlands - Sri Lanka


Kirila Kelle Wetlands are found a short distance inland from the southern Sri Lankan coastal city of Matara. The wetlands are a part of the Nilwala River basin. They comprise some 750 acres of wetlands surrounded by some 6000 acres of farmland. Due to land and water management problems this area has lost most of its farmable land. This reduction in historically arable land has resulted in widespread poverty and associated social and environmental problems for some 35,000 people. The Kirila Kelle Wetlands are the focus for a sustainable Environmental Conservation Community Development program. This is being developed through Ecotourism and community development, by way of a provincial integrated development strategy, that is managed and implemented by the community for the community.

Biodiversity
Sri Lanka has been identified as one of 34 biodiversity hot spots in the world by the environment activist group Conservation International. Kirila Kelle Wetlands has had the following fuana numbers identified: forty eight bird species with ten migrant species;twenty fish species with three endemic; and thirteen rare butterfly species.

Wetlands Conservation
The Kirila Kelle Wetlands are the focus of The Kirila Kelle Wetlands Conservation Project. This Community Based Ecotourism Project is focussed on saving the wetland and providing support to the local community.