COLOMBO: A new sanctuary for water birds in Sri Lanka has been declared in the war zone of Mannar. Known as the Vankalai Triangle, prior to the proposal of making it a sanctuary, it is now known as the Vankalai Sanctuary. The Vankalai Triangle comprises the Vankalai, Puliyanthivu Island and Tiruketiswaram, located in Mannar. This large triangle of land is entirely uninhabited except for the Talladi camp.

Udaya Sirivardane, committee member of the Ceylon Birds Club (CBC) said the Club had put in a great deal of effort to protect this region as a sanctuary. Their efforts had finally paid off when their proposal was accepted, and the area was declared a protected sanctuary by the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

Along with the proposal for new conservation area, they also requested that the site be accorded the status of a ‘wetland international importance’. The sanctuary usually supports more that 20,000 water birds, therefore this qualifies it to be a Ramsar Site, the committee member added.

“Nearly 200 migrant birds have been found in the Vankalai Sanctuary since April and several other birds too have been observed to have been attracted here”, Sirivardane explained.

These are mainly Shorebirds that are found in shallow waters and shore lines. For these various species of shore birds the Ceylon Bird Club (CBC), believes that Vankalai Sanctuary would be an ideal place, since it is one of the best and richest sanctuaries in Sri Lanka for water birds. Vankalai Sanctuary is of great importance to these shore birds and many other migrant birds too. It is essential that this bird rich area within the Mannar mainland and the island be protected by the state, Sirivardane emphasised.

He added that considering the fact that there were few other sanctuaries for these birds, while some had even been destroyed, the Vankalai Sanctuary would be a welcome place for birds that were once there.

Mannar is the first protected area declared in the Northern Province after the conflict began.. It is important to keep this sanctuary protected because there are 3 species of birds which were earlier thought to be migrant birds, but later became resident in Sri Lanka, he said. He added that having a good and safe sanctuary would be of benefit to Sri Lanka since migrant birds are already noted to have arrived in V.T. These birds need to be assured that the sanctuary is safe. Since the army camp is situated right there, protection from bird shooters is undoubtedly assured.

The CBC was founded in 1943 by seven members and its main objective initially was to simply make a record of members’ observations. Since then it has been actively collecting, recording and providing information on the birds of Sri Lanka with regard to their status and distribution. The objective of the club widened over the years and currently they aim to promote the protection of bird species and subspecies along with the conservation of their habitats. This is a non governmental and non-profit organisation, with all its work being done by its members voluntarily.

Mannar is probably the best place in the island to observe ducks and bird shooters did not waste time taking advantage of this. However, due to the military situation, duck shooting has been prevented for nearly 20 years. However, since along with that, the water bird census too had to cease until 2002, ornithologists too were prohibited from the area.

When the water bird census personnel visited the Mannar region early in 2003, they found that the Spot- Billed ducks were breeding there. It was remarkable considering that it was known only as a rare migrant in Sri Lanka. Similarly other water birds which were known to be very rare elsewhere in the island were found in record numbers in Vankalai Triangle.
CBC now hopes that this new and beautiful sanctuary in a region where there is so much conflict could bring solace to at least the birds.

South Asian MediaNet

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