Geopark for Conserving the Geological Heritage of Sri Lanka--A case study

摘要

Geopark concept has been discussed among Sri Lankan geologists and decision makers during the recent past. However no progress has been made so far to identify a suitable location for this purpose. This paper identify a suitable area which could be conserved, partly or completely as a Geopark in Sri lanka.The area identified lies in the South Eastern part of the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. The area is commonly known as Ukgalkalthota (Rocky Pass) covering approximately 60 square kilo meters of land and situated about ISO km away from the capital city of Colombo. Nearly one third of the area is a virgin forest and already conserved as a forest reserve. Few important locations of cultural heritage with rock monuments, which have not been developed, also lie within the proposed area.