A Preliminary Survey On The Herpetofauna In The Anawilundawa Wetland Sanctuary: The Second Ramsar Site Of Sri Lanka

摘要

The Anawilundawa wetland sanctuary (7°42'N, 79°49'E), 1,400 ha in extent, is located between the coast and the Negombo-Puttalam railway, in Puttalam District of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. Chilaw, 10 km to the south, and Puttalam, 35 km to the north, are the nearest main towns. The wetland consists of an ancient group of shallow cascading tanks, ranging from 12-50 ha in extent, built around 1140 AD by King Parakramabahu. The system consists of seven small irrigation tanks, namely, Pinkattiya, Wellawala, Maradansole, Irakka-wela/Ihala Wewa, Anawilundawa, Suruwila and Maiyawa, aligned from north to south. The surface area of the tanks totals about 188 ha, with none exceeding a depth of 4 m at the deepest point (generally near the bund) when at full storage level. They are separated from each other by low earthen bunds, which now are largely overgrown. To the west of the reservoirs is a large area of paddy fields (412 ha), interspersed with islets of natural vegetation. Further west is a canal, constructed by the Dutch, joining the Mundel Lake in the north, and the Deduru Oya and Sengal Oya (oya is the local term for stream) estuaries in the south (CEA, 1994).