‘Hakka patas’ Animal rights and related matters
by Dr Rohan H Wickramasinghe
Some days ago, I received an article on elephant conservation by Jeremy Hance in The Guardian of August 12th. Much of the piece concerned the ‘Elephant Sanctuary’ in Tennessee, USA, which was established over 20 years ago on 200 acres and now covers 2700 acres. It presently hosts 10 elephants and sightseers, parties and casual visitors are unwelcome and not admitted.
The staff is very experienced in the various aspects of the management of the sanctuary. They are, also, devoted to their charges. One such is Otto Fad, Animal Behaviour and Research Specialist (see below), who notes that ‘elephants have deep psychological needs’.
The article on ‘Elephant Conservation’ was published in support of 2017’s ‘World Elephant Day’ (WED2017). This was co-founded on the 12th August 2012 by the Canadian film director, Patricia Sims and the ‘Elephant Re-introduction Foundation of Thailand’, which was founded in 1996 on the initiative of Queen Sirikit. (The latter Foundation was set up to attempt to re-introduce some of the approximately 2800 ‘domesticated’ elephants in Thailand to the wild.) Patricia Sims was the director of the documentary ‘When Elephants were Young’, which was narrated by ‘Star Trek’ actor, William Shatner. ‘World Elephant Day’ is managed by the ‘World Elephant Society’.
The populations of elephants in the wild have been diminishing significantly in recent years. This is primarily due to poaching for ivory and, also, to human/elephant conflict in areas of increasing human activity. Some estimate that the numbers of African elephants (i.e. Bush Elephants and Forest Elephants) in the wild today approximate 400,000 and those of Asian elephants are 40,000. Others view these figures as grossly exaggerated. Be that as it may, it is indisputable that the numbers are declining.
The concept of doing something for elephants has been spreading rapidly in recent years. Animal rights groups, such as PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals), have been working on different fronts to improve the ways in which people treat these and other animals. This includes the way animals are treated in some zoos and, especially, circuses.
The three decades-long battle the animals’ rights groups had with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus is a case in point. The Bailey Circus was launched in about 1806 by Hachaliah Bailey and was probably the first in the US. It included an African elephant, a trained dog, a horse, some pigs and a wagon. After ups-and-downs and a merger, a revitalized circus began as ‘P. T. Barnum’s Great Travelling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan and Hippodrome’ in 1871. The circus developed over the years and came to be billed as ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’. Animal rights groups, including PETA, however, took up in court battles the cause of what they claimed was ill treatment of animals, which included elephants, lions, tigers and kangaroos. Eventually the circus withdrew on 1 May 2016 the 11 Asian elephants they had performing with the circus and sent them to join the approximately 31 others they had in their 200-acre Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida. This was the largest herd of Asian elephants in North America. This move was followed on Sunday 21 May 2017 with the complete closing down of the circus after a history of 146 years due to lack of income to meet expenses. The success of the animal rights organizations in this matter is attributable to the public pressure which had been created.
The foregoing brief account of the history and fate of the Ringling Circus demonstrates the growing concern for the way animals are treated. This includes the way livestock is treated and is not confined to the Western and developed worlds. The urge to do something for elephants is growing in recent years and ‘World Elephant Day’ is now observed in numerous countries, including, for example, Australia, Canada, India, Nepal, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, UK and USA. As regards organizations involved in activities and events in relation to ‘World Elephant Day’, the 24 listed in Wikipedia are only a few of the many. Activities related to marking ‘World Elephant Day’ included, for instance, a march in Washington, D.C. and the Wildlife Conservation Society arranging for the ringing of the closing bell at the Nasdaq Market Site in Times Square, New York City. The Wildlife Conservation Society also joined with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in crushing almost two tons of ivory (value: 8 million USD) in a symbolic start to WED2017.
As regards ‘World Elephant Day’-related matters in Sri Lanka, the only event brought to my attention was the launch of a book on ‘elephants’. However, The Island newspaper on Monday the 14th August did carry an elephant-related news item titled ‘Hakka patas injures jumbo calf seriously’. This noted that a young elephant wounded by a ‘hakka patas’ had been found in the Hambantota Port premises. It was noted that the mouth of the elephant is seriously injured. The animal also bears a gunshot wound on its head and it has also lost part of its trunk due to a previous injury. The photograph accompanying the article gives clear evidence that the report does not exaggerate the suffering of the animal.
It is appropriate here to return to the observations of Otto Fad of the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. He notes that ‘Welfare is a concept that can be applied to any animal in any situation…….. Does anyone think that a starving elephant who has just had her lower jaw blown off by a hakka pata (a makeshift explosive inserted in fruits and vegetables to injure or kill any animal raiding fields) takes comfort in her ‘wild’ status ?’ It is noteworthy that this observation does not explain that ‘hakka patas’ is a word used in Sri Lanka. In other words, to many if not most elephant lovers worldwide an explanation is already unnecessary that it is in Sri Lanka that this abominably cruel contraption is used.
The excuse will no doubt be advanced that the ‘hakka patas’ (incidentally, a most cynical term which is translated as ‘bang goes the lower jaw’) is used to protect the crops of the farmer. While the writer does not profess to be an authority in the area of protecting crops from elephants, he does not accept that a solution cannot be found, which is more humane than the use of a ‘hakka patas’. The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS), which has been established since 2002, is working actively in the area of human-elephant conflict, which it estimates has an economic cost of 10 million USD per year in Sri Lanka. Its field work by local and foreign volunteers is conducted around Wasgamuwa National Park.
Fire crackers have traditionally been employed to scare elephants away from crops and human habitations (particularly when paddy is stored after the harvest). However, this technique is less effective after frequent use. The SLWCS also makes use of solar-powered electric fences. A more recent approach introduced by the SLWCS is the use of bee hives in the path of routes taken by elephants. This has been found in African countries to have a useful deterrent effect. However, this is not universally applicable, since bee colonies may abandon their hives during unfavourable conditions. Again, excessive dependence on bee colonies to deter problems with elephants is inadvisable as honey bees are on the decline in many parts of the world due to problems with pollution and disease. (The pollution problems may include disorientation due to the use of radios, TVs and cell phones.) The SLWCS is also experimenting with planting fences of citrus (i.e. orange and lime trees) to deter elephants as well as to provide additional sources of income to villagers. A further novel approach being tried out by the PAMS Foundation (co-founded by the late Wayne Lotter) is ‘Chillie Pepper Fences’ on the outskirts of Ruanda National Park in southern Tanzania to protect crops during the growing season.
The argument that ‘hakka patas’ is used to protect crops and habitations from elephants ignores the fact that the ‘hakka patas’ is also used to procure the meat of the wild boar. This is often offered in a quiet voice by bungalow keepers managing circuit bungalows etc in relevant regions. (As regards consuming the flesh of elephants, Siran Deraniyagala in his authoritative ‘The Prehistory of Sri Lanka’ (1992) notes that there is no firm evidence that the Veddahs hunted elephants for food. This was probably linked to a taboo among the Veddahs. )
Locations in Sri Lanka where elephants may be observed are the Wildlife Parks, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Dehiwela Zoological Gardens and the various Peraheras. Some elephants are privately kept. Reams have been written on elephants in these locations and it is not the purpose of this article to enter into these discussions, which are freely available for reference by those interested.
The purpose of this article is to focus attention on the outright cruelty practiced in our treatment of our wildlife and other animals on occasion. The packed conditions under which cattle are sometimes transported when some of the animals die of suffocation before arrival at their destination and the indiscriminate killing of friendly street dogs are other scandals which need to be addressed effectively. The use of ‘hakka patas’ in Sri Lanka to kill wildlife is evidently becoming widely known internationally. It is fortunate that the recent incident where a live eagle was reportedly skinned in the presence of others in order to satisfy the sadistic instincts of a few did not receive wider coverage in international circles.
We are already having to defend ourselves internationally against charges of being abusers of human rights. If we don’t take effective action against the practice of employing ‘hakka patas’, wildlife organizations around the world will enter into the picture sooner rather than later and, in the first instance, urge their nationals to avoid tourism to Sri Lanka until we set our house in order. Schools, religious bodies and law enforcement agencies could help. The Ringling Circus matter provides ample evidence that once the international animal rights organizations around the world get their teeth into an issue they do not give up. In the matter of taking effective action against the continuing use of ‘hakka patas’ I would be in sympathy with them.
Source – 21/08/2017,The Island, See more at – http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=170358
Wildlife officers to be armed
Sustainable Development and Wildlife Minister Gamini Jayawickrema Perera wants Wildlife Conservation Department’s field officers to be issued with weapons, like in the case of Police officers. At present such officers are issued with weapons only if they possess a Watcher’s permit to use firearms.
Watcher’s permits are issued, particularly to those employed in estates, to use firearms (shotguns) whilst the weapon is issued in the name of the owner.
Source – 21/08/2017, Times Online, See more at – http://www.sundaytimes.lk/article/1029932/wildlife-officers-to-be-armed
Rs.10,000 fine, two-year jail term if found using polythene
A 10,000-rupee fine and a two-year term of imprisonment will be imposed if found guilty of using polythene and plastic when the ban becomes legally effective from September, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) said. It said the production, sale and use of polythene of less than 20 microns would be banned from September 1.
The CEA requested people to use biodegradable and environmental friendly material.
Source – 22/08/2017,DailyMirror, See more at – http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Rs-fine-two-year-jail-term-if-found-using-polythene-135141.html
Making a killing with poisoned food
The ongoing drought conditions affecting many parts of the country is taking a deadly toll of animals and inland fish.
Wildlife officials from drought-stricken areas reported hunters had taken to poisoning natural waterholes where animals and birds regularly quench their thirst at Suriyawewa, Weliwewa and in 14 tanks found in Hambantota. This has already led to the death of a deer and seven goats in the vicinity of the waterholes.Unfortunately actions of unscrupulous persons attempting to make a fast buck via this sad situation are posing much danger to both man and beast.
What is worse is the flesh is being sold to villagers, despite the health risks involved.
Last week at the Kalawewa tank in Anuradhapura a haul of dead fish was discovered. The reason behind their death still remains a mystery and a foul odour prevailed in the area as a result of the putrefying fish.
However villagers are reportedly collecting the dead fish floating on the surface, for consumption. The product is also sold in the open market, despite the health risks.
Fishing boats in the regulatory net for plastic waste
Thousands of fishing vessels that carry plastic water bottles and containers will be required to bring them back to shore under new laws being pondered to cut down the plastic waste piles that litter the oceans around Sri Lanka and choke precious marine life.
When fishing vessels return to port, crews will be required to account for plastic containers they took on board. There are an estimated 53,900 fishing vessels in the dozen main fishing districts. The industry will be encouraged to use larger — five litres or more — water containers.
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has joined hands with Marine Environment Protection Authority to bring in these measures.
Director General Christie Fernando said that all fishing vessels will have to account for the number of bottles of water. Boats will only be allowed to have on board containers of five-litre capacity or more and each vessel will be asked to report the number of bottles they have and account for the same on their return.
Fernando said that about 4,000 multi-day vessels cary about 100,00 litres of water to last a month. “They use the water for washing, cleaning, cooking purposes.’’
Fernando said a circular has been sent to all the district fisheries offices and to assistant fisheries directors. The regulation is being drafted and will be incorporated in the act soon, he said.
The Marine Environment Protection Authority said 22 fishing harbours will be monitored together with the Fisheries Ministry.
Chairman Rohana Perera said awareness of plastic waste will be raised. “We are encouraging them to manage, minimise and re-use plastic responsibly.’’
Source – 20/08/2017, The Sunday Times, See more at – http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170820/news/fishing-boats-in-the-regulatory-net-for-plastic-waste-255471.html
Desperate national parks battle poachers, curtail safaris and campers
National wildlife parks are struggling with an increase in poaching and are limiting access to safari operators and campers amid a devastating drought.
The Yala National Park may even be closed to visitors next month.
There have been reports of animals poisoned at watering holes by poachers at various national parks.
Despite the drought, wildlife officials also say they will provide water only if necessary and instead allow nature to take its course.
Safari jeep operators are complaining of restrictions imposed on them.
The director general of the Department of wildlife Conservation, M G C Sooriyabandara said, park wardens are given the discretion to manage the situation and reduce safari vehicles entering the parks. “Even a one way system has been devised to reduce the same vehicles running up and down,” he said.
He said that the Yala National Park will be closed in September.
Mr Sooriybandara said that officials will rarely intervene in nature and will provide water only if it necessary.
“When we provide water, we choose tanks and watering holes near the safari trails regularly visited by tourists to attract animals, and to make sure that the regularly monitored area is secure from poachers.’’
He said joint patrols are undertaken against wildlife poachers. Wildlife range offices near national parks provide two officials from each office to combine with park rangers and form teams of 10 to carry out raids.
Meanwhile, park rangers and wardens have prepared their own plans.
The warden of the Wilpattu National Park, Chamath Lakshman Perera, said only 30 safari jeeps are allowed at a time, between 6:00 am and 10:00 and then from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.Mr Perera added that both bungalows and campsites have been closed.
He said 28 small water tanks are being filled up using tanker trucks.
“Lots of poaching activities are happening during the dry months, so we reduce the safari jeeps,’’ he said.
Recently, they detected 13 trap guns and captured four armed men.
A wildlife official said the Yala National Park will be closed next month and will be re-opened after October.
Buddika Widanage, warden at Gal Oya National Park, said it was not badly affected by the drought thanks to the Senanayaka Samudraya. But he said the water levels in the reservoir had dropped.
He said park rangers and officials of the nearby wildlife offices carry out night patrols to catch poachers who set up trap guns or leave poisoned food at watering holes.
Mr Widanage also said campers are only allowed if they bring their own water.
“Even the three-hour boat rides have been cut to two hours” he said.
The Minneriya Park has suffered from the drought since last year, warden Bhathiya Madugalle said. Elephants are the worst effected — less than 10 remain in the park. Animals have moved to Kandalama Park and Ritigala Eco Park.
Mr Mudalige said that there is also less elephant grass.
He explained that water and food are not provided to animals so that the natural balance is maintained and to allow for the survival of the fittest.
Meanwhile, the Independent Safari Jeep Drivers Association claims unfair treatment.
The head of the group, P D Keerthi, said most parks had reduced access. He claimed the operators could provide water and food for anim,als but wildlife officials and the minister would not allow it.
Mr Keerthi also said the one way drive system for safari jeeps could be dangerous in the event of an attack by elephants, when reversing is the only choice.
He complained that although they are regulated, VIPs are allowed roam in the parks day and night.
Source – 20/08/2017, The Sunday Times See more at – http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170820/news/desperate-national-parks-battle-poachers-curtail-safaris-and-campers-255478.html
The ‘Glen Falls’ at Nuwara Eliya is no more
The ‘Glen Falls’ which added much scenic beauty to Nuwara Eliya is drying up. The waterfall once synonymous with the town of Nuwara Eliya of which many a hotel and roads are named after is now visible only on rainy days. Area residents have watched as the waterfall dried up before their eyes.
Colonial Governor Edward Barnes who designed and developed the town of Nuwara Eliya, set up his official residence in the vicinity of the magnificent 60 -70 metre high falls.
Today this beautiful waterfall is no more.
Despite the waterfall reappearing mainly during the monsoon season, this unfolding disaster does not seem to have attracted the attention of either the populace or those in positions of trust and authority.
Environmentalists claim the over utilisation of this precious water resource for the fast expanding commercial purposes as well as public sanitation, paved the way for the drying up of this once beautiful landmark.
They add potato cultivation on hill tops which commenced in the sixties also contributed to the drying up of the falls whose source spring is situated close to Shanthipura Kala Oya on the ‘Single Tree Mountain Range’ around 6,830 ft above sea level.
The then town of Nuwara Eliya 12.43 sq km in extent, was carved out by the British in 1828 and was originally a town of farmers with one Samuel Baker opening a 1,000-acre farm in 1848.
According to the census of 1881 ordered by then Government Agent (GA) Baros, the town was home to a population of 1,701 persons comprising 270 families.
Today the population consists of 35,000 persons, comprises around 7,500 houses, 3530 commercial buildings and 803 government buildings.
During the dry season water to the city is severely restricted as the sources for drinking water and sanitation needs remain the same as in 1881, other than the few deep-water wells provided via Japan’s JAICA.
The spurt in hotel construction will further stretch the scarce water resources in the area and will undoubtedly aggravate the situation.
If the situation is not tackled with sensitivity even the future existence of the city of Nuwara Eliya remains at risk.
Source – 20/08/2017,The Sunday Times, See more at – http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170820/news/the-glen-falls-at-nuwara-eliya-is-no-more-255450.html
See the agony of this monkey, but what do we do?
A skeletal monkey with little but skin and bone is seen after it quenched its thirst and struggled out of a temporary well that compassionate people had dug with a cloth ladder for the voiceless and helpless creatures in the fire and fury of the ongoing drought. The temporary well was dug at the Meegaswewa tank in the Thabbowa Park in the Puttalam District. Reports say hundreds of monkeys and other animals have died after suffering for weeks and months in the barren waste. Pic by Karuwalagaswewa Jayaratne.
Source – 20/08/2017, The Sunday Times, See more at – http://www.sundaytimes.lk/170820/news/see-the-agony-of-this-monkey-but-what-do-we-do-255590.html
Death of seven-feet leopard being probed
The Wild Life Conservation Department is probing the death of a seven-feet male leopard in the Deltota, Lulakanda area.
Assistant Forest Range officer G R Dharmarathna told the Daily Mirror that the leopard was found dead on Monday evening following information provided by resident to the area wild life office.
An official from the Wild Life Conservation Department said the carcass of the leopard was handed over to the Peradeniya veterinary surgeon for a postmortem.
He said the reason for the leopard’s death had not been established so far.
The Sri Lankan leopard is a subspecies of leopards native to Sri Lanka that was first described in 1956 by the Sri Lankan zoologist Deraniyagala.
The leopard was listed as an Endangered species on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List in 2008 is also an offense to kill, trade or harm a leopard under the Wildlife Act.
Source – DailyMirror, See more at – http://www.dailymirror.lk/134995/Death-of-seven-feet-leopard-being-probed
Unexpected beauty of SRI LANKA’S MANGROVES
Tourism in Sri Lanka – the tropical island nation just a stone’s throw from the tip of southern India – is on an upswing, thanks to thousands of miles of sugar-sand coastline, lush interiors dotted with tea plantations and the mystique of a place that’s still relatively undiscovered.
And while the country’s pristine beaches, not yet overrun with tourists or towering condos, draw budget and luxury travellers alike from around the world, a different kind of coastal tableau – shallow, shore-hugging waters where mangrove forests grow – is not only worth exploring, but a matter of national attention.
In Negombo, a laid-back beach town roughly 20 miles north of the country’s capital, Colombo, tours of the area’s wetlands start across the street from the Muthurajawela Visitor Centre, in the gray-green waters of the Dutch Canal.
This long, narrow waterway was built in the 18th century to transport spices and now links Negombo and Colombo. As the sun sinks towards the horizon, I climb aboard a modest, motorized boat for a 90-minute tour led by Amal Priyankara, a 26-year-old naturalist and Negombo native.
As our boat slowly plies the canal, Priyankara points out birds that, to an untrained eye, are slow to appear among the leaves, branches and brush.
In the 30 or so minutes, it takes us to reach the end of the waterway, we spot white-throated kingfishers, cormorants, graceful green and purple herons, cattle egrets, red lapwings and other colorful birds.
Eventually, our boat arrives at the canal’s northern mouth and moves into the wide-open Negombo Lagoon, a shallow, 3,000-hectare expanse of saline water surrounded by dense, green, leafy growth.
We cruise at a comfortable clip for several minutes, passing the occasional fisherman and school of silver flying fish. With the sky growing pink and gold above us, Priyankara motions to our captain, who sidles the boat up snugly along a thicket of shrubs, their long, narrow roots reaching down into the water like skinny, splayed fingers. Long, green pods with pointed ends dangle from several of the plants’ branches, like javelins waiting to pierce the placid surface.
“Rhizophora mangroves,” says Priyankara, giving a name to the tangle. Sri Lanka is home to 29 species of mangroves. He’s seen 16.
Importance of mangroves
“Mangroves are a really big topic in my country,” he says. “Schools are teaching kids about them.”
Education is key as mangroves play a crucial role in Sri Lanka’s – and the world’s – coastal ecosystem that extends far beyond the aesthetics they bring to a boat tour. They provide critical shelter for young fish (replenishing coral reefs and fisheries, thus facilitating the livelihood of Sri Lankans who fish for a living) and sequester up to 50 times more carbon dioxide than other kinds of forests, making them indispensable in combating climate change.
They also act as a buffer against tropical storms, reducing damage to coastal communities. (Some studies have shown that areas with more substantial mangrove forests fared better during the 2004 tsunami than did communities without them.) But for all their virtues, mangroves are also at risk, having been dangerously depleted in recent decades thanks in large part to the country’s shrimp-farming industry.
“Sri Lanka generally lacks rules and education about the environment,” says Priyankara.
Women leading the way
That’s all changing now, though, thanks to Berkeley, California-based Seacology, which is about halfway through a five-year partnership with Sri Lankan NGO Sudeesa (formerlyknown as the Small Fisher Federation of Lanka) to teach Sri Lankans about the importance of mangroves.
The organizations provide small-business tools and micro loans to 15,000 local women in exchange for their commitment to help conserve, rehabilitate and replant all of the nearly 22,000 acres of mangrove forests that grow along the country’s coasts.
Anuradha Wickramasinghe, chairman of Sudeesa, says that the organizations targets women in particular because “much of the information and direction in households here is funneled down through them.”
Through the organizations’ Sri Lanka Mangrove Conservation Project, women in 14 districts and 1,500 small communities located near mangrove forests complete mandatory three-day training on mangrove conservation, business management and livelihood development before receiving micro loans that allow them to start or expand their own small businesses.
These range from roadside snack bars and grocery markets to drying and selling fish for household cooking to handcrafting rope ties for fishing boats, to name just a few. In 2016, the organizations opened the Seacology-Sudeesa Mangrove Museum on the grounds of Sudeesa’s headquarters in Chilaw – roughly an hour’s drive north of Negombo on Sri Lanka’s west coast – as a place to educate locals, students and ecologically minded tourists about all things mangroves.
Visitors enter the new museum through a spacious theater where a film offers insight into the ecology, plight and conservation of Sri Lanka’s mangroves.
Inside the sunlit exhibit hall, visitors find dozens of species of mangrove-dwelling creatures – carefully preserved and neatly displayed in jars and on shelves – plus diagrams and illustrations depicting everything from different types of mangroves to the plants’ eco-mechanics.
On nearby Colombo Road, dozens of the program’s micro-loan recipients gather daily in a small, open-air marketplace to sell their wares – fresh fruit and vegetables, packaged local spices, terracotta garden pots, colorful clothes, and handicrafts, among other goods. “We feel very proud,” several of the women say of their business achievements.
Support from Sri Lanka’s Navy
Seacology’s and Sudeesa’s reach within Sri Lanka is extensive. The organizations also run a Northern Regional Centre in Mannar, in the country’s quiet, war-ravaged north, where many of the women who cycle through the program are conflict widows. As in Chilaw, the Mannar facility is home to a mangrove nursery (there are three nurseries in total throughout the groups’ facilities), where seedlings are nurtured and prepped for replanting in wild coastal habitats.
And farther north still, near Jaffna, Seacology and Sudeesa are working with Sri Lanka’s Navy to replant mangroves and to spread the word about conservation throughout the surrounding communities.
Together, the Navy, Seacology, and Sudeesa have planted about 38,000 mangroves around Sri Lanka. For the officers who were enlisted then, this life – marked by conservation and community outreach – is a far cry from the tense civil war that raged here less than a decade ago.
Back on Negombo Lagoon, the sky starts to darken, and it’s time for our tour to end. As we motor away from the mangroves, I take a last look over the side of the boat, marveling at all of the life that the mangroves sustain – both under water and on land. Making our way back toward the Dutch Canal, Priyankara explains that the mangrove ferns that make up the foundation of several small islands within the lagoon were, for a time, on the country’s ‘RedList’, an ominous marker of conservation status for Sri Lankan flora and fauna.
But thanks to protective measures put into place in recent years, they’re now on the rebound and off that list. Surrounded by the lush beauty of Negombo Lagoon, one can’t help but hope that, as tourism continues to flourish in this tiny island country, so, too, do its precious mangroves.
CNN
Source – Nation, see m,ore at – http://nation.lk/online/2017/08/12/unexpected-beauty-of-sri-lankas-mangroves.html