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TRINCOMALEE BAY SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA Page | 2
population and urbanization in the coastal zone adds to this risk. The infrastructure
necessary to avoid, minimize or mitigate these risks, so as to avoid negative impacts, is
expensive and available resources are limited.
9. Coastal fisheries also make a significant contribution to the national economy.
Coastal habitats and their valuable physical and biological resources have increasingly come
under pressure as human activities have become more intense, and this has inevitably led to
conflicts among resource users and threatened the livelihoods of all who depend on those
resources. With these developments, there is the risk of exploiting coastal resources beyond
sustainable limits (Ref. 1647, 1648) .
10. The devastating tsunami of 26 th December 2004 created havoc particularly in the
coastal regions of eastern and southern Sri Lanka. More than 35,000 inhabitants died whilst
over 443,000 were displaced. The loss and damage to property was over 2 billion US $ (ADB
feature on 8 December 2008). The destruction of infrastructure such as buildings and roads
created a huge volume of building waste which was dumped along the coastline creating
many secondary environmental issues. Large numbers of reconstruction projects were able
to bring back and, indeed, upgrade, almost all the infrastructure facilities, thanks to donors
and international communities.
11. The impacts of the tsunami on natural habitats such as mangroves, coral reefs, sea
grass beds, and sand dunes were also locally significant. A number of restoration projects
have been implemented to rehabilitate these natural systems.
C. Economic importance of coastal region
12. The coastal zone is a very important economic and environmental asset for the island
nation of Sri Lanka. Five out of nine provinces of the country, the Western Province, the
North-Western Province, the Southern Province, the Eastern Province and the Northern
Province include the coastal zone. At present 59 % of the Sri Lankan population lives in
coastal districts with maritime boundaries. Infrastructure facilities, employment opportunities,
service facilities are required by this population and proper planning in the coastal region is
the only way to meet these challenges.
The 2007 study by Nayanananda (Ref.0907) of the economic significance of the coastal region of
Sri Lanka, in the context of pre and post tsunami environmental changes, revealed valuable
information on the economic importance of the coastal zone. The economic value of the
coastal zone is immense because the coastal zone is rich in natural resources. The total
national GDP value in 2006 was Rs. 980,720 million. Of this value, Rs. 426,998 million was
contributed from the coastal provinces amounting to 44% of the total. In terms of contribution
of coastal GDP by province, the Western Province contributed the highest which was about
66% whilst the lowest contribution was about 4% from the Northern Province. The Eastern
Province contribution was about 5.5%.
13. Trade, tourism, manufacturing and transport, storage and communication, fisheries
and agriculture are the important economic activities in the coastal zone. Tourism has
emerged as the fourth largest foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka and coastal tourism is
the major tourism component.
14. The information in Table I.1 below shows the contribution of the Eastern Province to
national GDP and national coastal zone GDP. These data show the economic importance of
the eastern coastal zone and highlight the need for proper management of resources to
sustain socio-economic development.