West Coast Wetlands

West Coast Wetlands

The absence of human development is usually a beautiful thing. How rare the comfort of an environment where you can Imagine the world as It used to be - unmolested by diesel, industry and the noxious waste they generate. How refreshing the retreat where nature's ingenuity is synonymous with beauty and abundance. Why else would governments go to great lengths to preserve large tracts of virgin land? But, also, why should setting aside such land sometimes be so difficult and controversial?

Sri Lanka is no stranger to lands gazetted for conservation; national parks, reserves and sanctuaries freckle the countryside with islands of green. One area not necessarily reputed for its natural resources, especially given the population density, is the west coast north of Colombo as far as Puttalam. And yet, here, hidden from the road, are long and significant stretches of protected wetlands like the Muthurajawela Sanctuary (the largest peat bog in Sri Lanka) and the Annaivilunduwa Wildlife Sanctuary.

Why Wet Matters?

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Interestingly, some of the planet's more controversial protected areas are wetlands. Wetlands fall into many categories, best defined by the International Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971 and better known as the Ramsar Convention: Wetlands are “areas of marsh, fen, peatland, or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters." In Sri Lanka, these include inland freshwater areas like rivers, streams, marshes, swamp forests and villus (flood plain lakes); saltwater areas like lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, sea grass beds and coral reefs; and manmade areas like tanks, reservoirs, rice fields and salterns. About 15% of the island can be considered natural or manmade wetlands.

Wetlands mean different things to different people. To professional and amateur naturalists and scientists, they are refuges of astonishing p biodiversity, both floral and faunal. for example, according to IUNC - The World Conservation Union, in Sri Lanka approximately 30% of vertebrate species, and, more specifically 50% of the annual migratory bird population, rely on wetland  ecosystems for food and shelter.

Environmentalists and ecologists concerned about long-term planetary sustainability also cataloged the valuable functions of wetland. |The mix of soils, water, plants and animals plays a major role in flood control ground water and aquifer recharge, erosion control and shoreline stabilization, waste treatment (absorption and retention of sediments and pollutants) and as a carbon sink. As urban sprawl devours more and more land, these stabilizing influences are of ever- increasing importance.

Of course, for resident’s wetlands are survival lifelines, serving as a reliable source of water, food, medicinal herbs, raw and religious materials and ornaments; an endless supply of fish, fertile land and irrigation water to subsistence anglers and traditional agriculturalists; and a means of transport.

Isn’t it odd, then, that these zones of overflowing productivity should be considered by many people to be wastelands? Isn't it disturbing to think that industrialists and developers ire forever lobbying to "Improve the economic yield, apparently ignoring the business worth of the ecosystem's biological diversity end cultural heritage? This is particularly poignant given that the loss of wetlands and obliteration of their benefits could have long-term consequences to humans even greater than the already serious possible extinction of species both reliant upon and fundamental to a wetland system.

Muthurajawela Wetland Sanctuary

 Located between 25km north of Colombo and adjoining the Negombo Lagoon is a vulnerable but gorgeous urban wetland system-the largest saline wetland in Sri Lanka, called the Muthurajawela Marsh. Covering more than 3,100 hectares, of which 1,777 hectares are now a Wetland Sanctuary, Muthurajawela is a mangrove-packed bird paradise one of 12 priority wetlands in Sri Lanka of high biodiversity - including endemic and nationally threatened species - and great ecological significance.

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Muthurajawela's importance increases daily now that it is the greater Colombo urban area's only sizable healthy wetland, the Diyawanna Oya, Bellanwila-Attidiya and Lunawa marshes having terribly degraded. Unfortunately, lessons learned elsewhere are slow to be implemented at Muthurajawela, where in 1991 there were more than 150 industrial units in and around the marsh and contiguous Negombo Lagoon, a number that has no doubt increased, as has pressure from growing housing development. In the 1990s, although a land-use master plan was created for the area, few recommendations have been implemented and limited protecti¬ons mean the protected nature is still at risk.

Fortunately, there is one strong glimmer of hope. Not far from the village of Bopitiya is the community-based Muthurajawela Visitor Centre (T: +94 (011) 483 0150), also known as the "The Marsh". Its staff lead two-hour guided boat tours (Rs700 per person) to learn about the mangrove ecosystem. Profits from “The Marsh’ go to mangrove conservation and replanting and educational programs. Open daily 7am-6pm (the last trip departs at 4pm), it has an educational information centre complete with 20-minute video and crafts shop. It is set on the Hamilton Canal off Bopitiya Road (a left turn off Negombo Road after the 16km post).

Annaivilundawa Wildlife Sanctuary

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On the Puttalam Road approximately 100km north of Colombo (15km north of Chilaw), an unsigned left turn 300 metres beyond of the 91km post leads 1.5km down a quiet lane into the heart of another unique wetland region. Annaivilundawa is a duster of shallow, 12th century, manmade, cascading freshwater reservoirs surrounded by and sustaining; lowland agriculture. Each tank is 12-50 hectares' in size and less than four meters deep, but they collectively help to irrigate more than 400, hectares of traditional paddy and are safe haven to a startling wetland biodiversity.

In fact, a 1996 Wetland Conservation Project report gave Annaivilundawa particularly high biodiversity scores, especially for endemic and threatened species, particularly birds. IUCN statistics from 2000 recorded that 10% of the vertebrate species and several plants identified at Annaivilundawa are nationally threatened and the total number of vertebrate fauna species documented amounts to 35-40% of those occurring in Sri Lanka.

Situated along a western migratory route wintering birds, the wetlands are also a vital food and rest stop for tired feathered travellers. These fowl add colour to the resident species, dominated by waterbirds, some of which have settled in large breeding colonies. A total of more than 130 bird species have been recorded, including rare ' I species once thought extinct in Sri Lanka. Lastly, identified in the wetland waters are approximately 50% of the freshwater fish species known in the country, including several endemics, along with migratory fish and an array of the zooplankton and phytoplankton they eat. All of this helped earn Annaivilundawa recognition as Sri Lanka's second Ramsar site in August 2001.

Although the sanctuary is free to visitors, most of the space is inhospitable to human bipeds. This is only fitting, given its wildlife sanctuary standing. Nevertheless, the main access road runs between the large Suruwila tank (on the left when heading west) and the Annaivilundawa tank, into both of which views are excellent and unobstructed. At the ‘T’ junction just beyond the tanks, roads north and south, paralleling the coast, promising changing vantages for further viewing. *