Chundikkulam National Park | Sri Lanka

History 

On February 25, 1938, the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (No. 2) of 1937 designated Chundikkulam Lagoon and its surrounding area as a bird sanctuary. 

The Sri Lanka Army’s 55 Division, advancing from Nagar Kovil, reclaimed the area around the Chundikkulam sanctuary from the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in January 2009. 

Following that, the Sri Lankan military began constructing military bases in the sanctuary, prohibiting local fishermen from using it and local residents from returning to their homes. In January 2012, the army opened the Chundikulam Nature Park Holiday Resort in the sanctuary’s northern section. 

Following the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, the government announced plans to turn several sanctuaries in the Northern Province into national parks. An Integrated Strategic Environmental Assessment of Northern Province, published in October 2014 by the government with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme, recommended that the Chundikkulam sanctuary be expanded westwards towards Elephant Pass and south-eastwards towards Chalai and Pallamatalan and upgraded to a national park. The sanctuary’s area would be increased from 11,149 ha (27,550 acres) to 19,565 ha (48,347 acres) as a result of absorbing state-owned forests nearby. 

Chundikkulam, along with Adam’s Bridge, Delft, and Madhu Road, were designated national parks by the government in May 2015. 

On June 22, 2015, the Chundikkulam sanctuary was designated as a national park with a total area of 19,565 ha (48,347 acres). 

The area around the Chundikkulam sanctuary in Sri Lanka was designated as a bird sanctuary in 1938. In 2009, the Sri Lankan army began constructing military bases in the sanctuary. The sanctuary’s area would be increased from 11,149 ha (27,550 acres) to 19,565 ha (48,347 acres) after absorbing state-owned forests nearby. Chundikkulam, along with Adam’s Bridge, Delft, and Madhu Road, were designated national parks by the government in May 2015. 

Flora and Fauna 

Mangrove swamps and seagrass beds surround Chundikkulam Lagoon in part. Palmyra palm plantations, scrub forests, and a variety of dry zone flora can be found in the surrounding area. The park is home to a wide variety of water and water birds, including bar-tailed godwits, black-tailed godwits, black-winged stilts, brown-headed gulls, common sandpipers, curlew sandpipers, eurasian coots, eurasian curlews, eurasian spoonbills, eurasian teals, eurasian wigeons, Leopards, sloth bears, and deer are among the mammals found in the park. Mugger and saltwater crocodiles have also been spotted in the park. 

Mangrove swamps, scrub forests and dry zone flora can be found in the surrounding area of the park. The park is home to a wide variety of water and wader birds, including bar-tailed godwits, black-tailed godwits, black-winged stilts, brown-headed gulls, common sandpipers, curlew sandpipers, eurasian coots, eurasian curlews, eurasian spoonbills, eurasian teals, eurasian wigeons, Leopards, sloth bears, and deer are among the mammals found in the park.