Eco Tourism in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka,  blessed with an abundance of flora and fauna has a long tradition of conservation. This goes back to its ancient Buddhist tradition which teachers respect and compassion to all living things. The world’s first wild life sanctuary was set up by Royal edict in the 3^rd c. B.C. in Mihintale (where the Buddhist doctrine was first preached) and is still a sanctuary.

In Sri Lanka 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 than any other country in the Asian region. When Sri Lanka’s ecosystem is compared to other Asian countries, Sri Lanka has many tropical rain forests, mountains, lowlands and virgin forests and wetlands. 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 fish, 26% flowering plants, and 145 mammals.

The richness in species is extreme and there are known to be over 3368 species of flowering plants, 314 ferns, 575 mosses, 190 liverworts, 896 algae, 1920 fungi, 400 orchids, 242 butterflies, 117 dragonflies, 139 mosquitoes, 525 beetles, 266 land snails, 78 fresh water fish, 250 amphibians, 92 snakes, 35 fresh water crabs, 21 geckos, 322 non migrant birds. The island also provides critical habitats for international mobile species, including 5 species of endangered marine turtles, about 100 species of waterfowl, and many other migratory birds.