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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. In recognition of their ecological, socio-cultural and economic significance, and
because of the existing threats to resources, Trincomalee Bay and Thampalagamam Bay
were identified in the 1997 Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) as areas requiring
special management.
2. The Sri Lanka Coastal Zone Management Plan, 2004 (Ref.0903) further developed the
Special Area Management (SAM) concept. The concept of SAM is the collaborative, adaptive
and flexible approach to resource management within a defined geographic area.
3. The North East Coastal Community Development Project (NECCDEP) identified
Trincomalee bay (TB) as an important coastal area and initiated the development of a SAM
plan with the concurrence of the Coast Conservation Department (CCD). The North East
Coastal Community Development Project (NECCDEP) developed an interim Special
Management Area (SMA) Plan and implemented several activities in the adjoining areas of
TB focusing on natural resource conservation and sustainable utilization by coastal
communities.
4. NECCDEP took the initiative to develop a comprehensive SAM Plan for TB in March
2009. The interim SMA Plan developed by NECCDEP was used as the base document in the
planning process and additional information was collected where necessary. The SAM
terminology was adopted to comply with the CCD requirements specified in the 2004 CZMP.
5. The key focus of the planning process was conservation of natural resources and
sustainable utilization of those resources to maximize the benefits to stakeholders,
particularly local community stakeholders.
6. Negative issues related to the sustainable use of the TB and potential interventions to
address these issues were identified through a consultation process with communities, line
agencies, District SAM Community Coordinating Committee (DSAM CCC), Non-
Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and resource user groups. Necessary field trips were
also conducted for further data collection and verification purposes.
7. TB is a prominent feature of the geography of Sri Lanka due to a large deep water
bay, which functioned as a natural harbour for thousands of years before becoming a
commercial harbour about 200 years ago. TB is a large basin estuarine ecosystem rather
than a single water body and consists of the large central estuary of Koddiyar bay and
associated smaller bays, Inner harbour bay, China bay, Thampalagamam bay, Shell bay and
Dutch bay.
8. A 1-2 km band extends from the shore in the southern and eastern sections of
Trincomalee bay. The water in this band is generally shallow with 10-12 m depth. The
seabed then descends sharply to depths of 400-800 m in the core area of the Bay. The Bay
mouth towards the northern harbour area is about 55-68 m deep.
9. Due to the depth, these areas are not suitable for the growth of coastal vegetation
such as mangroves and associates. However, the western section of Thampalagamam bay
is generally shallow (1-2 m in depth) and provides suitable habitat for mangrove vegetation
and mudflats. Prominent mangrove vegetation occurs along the southern and south-western
sections of Thampalagamam bay.
10. The mission of the TB SAM Plan is the “Sustainable management of the TB SAM
area so as to bring environmental, social and economic benefits to local communities whilst
ensuring the conservation of natural resources”.