National parks are a class of protected areas in Sri Lanka and are administered by the Department of Wildlife Conservation. National parks are governed by the ''Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (No. 2) of 1937'' and may be created, amended or abolished by

ministerial order A ministerial decree or ministerial order is a decree by a ministry. With a ministerial decree the administrative department is delegated the task to impose a formal judgement or mandate. Ministerial decrees are usually imposed under the authority ...

. All of the land in national parks are state-owned and the entire

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is protected. Activities prohibited in national parks include hunting, killing or removing any wild animal; destroying eggs/nests of birds and reptiles; disturbing of wild animals; interfering in the breeding of any animal; felling/damaging of any plant; breaking up land for cultivation/mining/other purpose; kindling/carrying of fire; and possessing/using any trap/explosive/poison to damage animal or plant life. Visitors are allowed to enter national parks but only for the purpose of observing flora and fauna and with a permit. There are currently 26 national parks which together cover an area of .

National parks

References

External links

Department of Wildlife Conservation, Sri Lanka
{{Geography of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka

National parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...