Sujithwasantha’s Weblog

It seems inevitable that as long as we humans impose our own theories on how to best govern nature, there will be a difference of opinion of “animal” management. Over the course of evolution, the elephant as we know it today has evolved into a strong forced bulldozer that has the power to modify the landscape it resides in. For elephants their effect on the landscape is often considered destruction, but is it?

The answer to this question partially depends on your preconceived views of “nature”. If you see nature as something static and in a particular way then any change no matter how minute will amount to destruction. An interesting statistic found in the book African Elephants: A Celebration of Majesty about this issue; a general estimation shows that Man is clearing more forests in one day that all the elephants in Africa will ‘destroy’ within one year. Put in perspective, the effect that elephants have on their environment may not be as serious are we have been led to believe.

Unfortunately for some, our narrow opinion of seeing elephants as only living bulldozers of destruction is far from the case. As much as 80 percent of what elephants consume is returned to the soil as barely digested highly fertile manure

It seems inevitable that as long as we humans impose our own theories on how to best govern nature, there will be a difference of opinion of “animal” management. Over the course of evolution, the elephant as we know it today has evolved into a strong forced bulldozer that has the power to modify the landscape it resides in. For elephants their effect on the landscape is often considered destruction, but is it?

The answer to this question partially depends on your preconceived views of “nature”. If you see nature as something static and in a particular way then any change no matter how minute will amount to destruction. An interesting statistic found in the book African Elephants: A Celebration of Majesty about this issue; a general estimation shows that Man is clearing more forests in one day that all the elephants in Africa will ‘destroy’ within one year. Put in perspective, the effect that elephants have on their environment may not be as serious are we have been led to believe.

Unfortunately for some, our narrow opinion of seeing elephants as only living bulldozers of destruction is far from the case. As much as 80 percent of what elephants consume is returned to the soil as barely digested highly fertile manure

205 km from Colombo is Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka’s first capital founded about the 4th century BC. According to the Mahavansa, the Sinhala Buddhist chronicle, the city was a model of planning. Precincts were set aside for huntsmen and scavengers and even heretics and foreigners. There were hostels and hospitals, separate cemeteries for high and low castes. A water supply was assured by the construction of reservoirs.

Anuradhapura was to continue for six hundred years as the national capital. But internecine struggles for the royal succession grew, and it became more and more vulnerable to the pressures of South Indian political expansion. The city was finally abandoned and the capital withdrawn to more secluded areas.

But the monuments of Anuradhapura’s heyday survive, surrounded by the solemn umbrage of trees, scions of an ancient parkland.

The park was initially established in 1938 only with block I and other blocks were included later.Rainfall is highly seasonal. Main source of rainfall is Northeast monsoons (December – February) and inter monsoonal rains during March-April. Mean Annual Rainfall: 900 – 1300 mm. Area is experiencing drought during June –October. Mean annual Temperature 27o C. Daily temperature above 30oC is not uncommon.Vegetation is mainly consists of Secondary lowland dry monsoon forest & semi arid thorny scrublands. Small patches of riverine forest, mangroves, sand dunes and dry grasslands also presented.

Forest area is dominated by Palu (Manilkara hexandra), Weera (Drypetes sepiaria), Malitthan (Salvadora persica), Ehala (Cassia fistula), Divul (Limonia acidissima) and Kohomba (Azadirachta indica). Thorny scrubland is dominated by Eraminia (Ziziphus.sp) and Andara (Dichrostachys cinerea). Sonneratia, Acanthus, Rhizopora and Lumnitzera species dominate the mangrove vegetation.

Where plants and trees from around the world seen at home
Hakgala Botanical Gardens, just 10km away from Nuwara Eliya City. Hakgala is one of the places one visits as an essential part of a pleasant journey in the famous hill resort of Nuwara Eliya. The site is legendary. It was once the pleasure garden of Ravana of the Ramayana epic and according to many, it was one of the places where the beautiful Sitha was hidden by the demon king. The present botanic gardens were founded in 1860 by the eminent British botanist Dr. G.H.K. Thwaites who was superintendent of the more famous gardens at Peradeniya, near Kandy.

Situated in the Hill capital Kandy. This visit to this garden will provide spectacles at extraordinary beauty and absorbing interest for any nature lover and casual visitor. 68 miles off-Colombo, 4 miles off Kandy this garden dates from 14th century reign of king Vikrama Bahu III. Peradeniya is well know for it’s large variety of plants ornaments, useful machine and other creepers that produce the special spices at Sri Lanka. The great lawns highlight huge tropical trees and variety at bamboo can be found in one place.
The best know attraction of the garden is the orchid House, which houses more than 300 varieties of exquisite orchids. A spice garden gives you a first hand introduction to the trees and plants used for the traditional Ayurvedic medicine. Mahaweli river, Sri Lanka’s longest river surrounding this garden gives an added beauty to this garden. It wont be wrong to say that this garden is one of it’s best kind in the world and the best in Asia

sri Lanka is a Nature’s wonder. the little island 270 km by 140 km in size has everything a nature lover will look for. The highly diversified island differs from city to city, district to district and province to province.

Mountains, Geo Plains, Dashing Water Falls, National parks, Sea, Beaches Rocks, Paddy fields, Tea Gardens, Rain Forests, Rivers, Landscapes, Streams all are beautiful. The Sri Lankan  nature’s beauty blends in it’s wild life of elephants, birds, animals, flowers and wide verity of trees.

The beautiful world lies beneath the waves, and Sri Lanka offers a wide variety of experiences and vistas for photographers .
Hikkaduwa reefs support five species of angel-fish and twelve species of butterfly-fish. These fish feed on coral tentacles and coral polyps. Statistics from the Hikkaduwa Marine Sanctuary have revealed that 18.2% of the lagoon area have live hard coral cover, 8.19% of coral rubble and 28.9% of dead corals.
In this area, traditional fishing types such as angling and the use of cast nets are prevalent.