Sustainable Alternative Wetland Management Strategy for Kalu Oya and Mudun Ela Basins of Sri Lanka

Abstract

As a tropical island, Sri Lanka has highly diversified wetlands. Even though, the wetlands in the Western Province of Sri Lanka are highly rich in biodiversity, they are endangered due to the human development processes. Consequently, the sustainability of the wetlands and the economic and social life of the settlers who settle near and in the wetlands are significantly destructed. Due to the population growth and the rapid infrastructure development, the wetlands have been shrunken. Many land hungers have been emerged during the process of the city development and Megapolis. In this dichotomy, creating a policy framework on the wetlands is vital. There are two major objectives of the study, first, to describe the current impacts of socio-economic activities to the wetlands; second, to propose sustainable alternatives for preparation of the wetland management strategy for Kalu Oya and Mudun Ela Basins which are in the southwestern part of Gampaha District in Sri Lanka. The used strategies of the survey are fivefold: case studies of each sub catchment, measuring land use changes using secondary data and verified by the field visits, questionnaire survey for primary quantitative data, field observations, and focused group discussions for qualitative data. Even though, they are the two basins of the Kelani River which is 145 km long being the fourth longest river in Sri Lanka which are also highly fragile sub catchments of the main catchments of the River. More than 80 percent of the neighboring settlers and settlers of wetlands do not know the significance and uniqueness of the wetlands and their life support services to the human beings and the other ecological services of these wetland ecosystems. Economic activities of all the wetlands are approximately equal and the usage of wetlands has been transforming from agricultural to industries and small services.