in Sri Lanka - Ministry of Environment

ConservationAll species of hard corals are protected in Sri Lanka through the Fauna and Flora Protection Actby the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Corals and reef habitats are also protected underthe Coast Conservation Act, but are limited to the coastal zone, which is a two kilometer widestrip of coastal water around the country. Four marine protected areas have been establishedto date under the Department of Wildlife Conservation, namely Hikkaduwa Marine NationalPark, Pigeon Island Marine National Park, Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary and Rumassala MarineSanctuary. Due to inadequate implementation of wildlife and fisheries regulations there is littleprotection given to reef habitats, even within the marine protected areas.The creation of special management areas under the Coastal Zone Management Plan hasled to the development of management plans for the Hikkaduwa Marine National Park and theBar Reef Marine Sanctuary. However, most of the recommendations for the protection of coralreefs in these two areas have not been implemented.RecommendationsIndividual species of hard corals can best be protected by protecting entire reef habitats.Species based conservation will only be successful in localities where a rare species is found.Corals release gametes into the water and coral larvae travel widely in ocean currents andsettle on suitable substrates. Therefore, protection of entire reef habitats is the only method toensure the protection of corals in Sri Lanka.Although there are several management plans for coral reef areas and despite the fact thatcorals have been given legal protection under the Fauna and Flora Protection Act, both coralreefs and corals receive little protection in the natural environment.ReferencesArudpragasam, K. D. 1984. Ecology of Rocky Shores and Estuaries of Sri Lanka. In Ecology and Biogeography inSri Lanka (ed C. H. Fernando): Dr. W. Junk Publishers, The Hague.Bourne C. G. 1905. Report on solitary corals collected by Professor Herdman at Ceylon in 1902. Rept. Govt. CeylonPearl Oyster Fish. Gulf of Mannar (Suppl.) 29: 187 - 242.De Silva M. W. R. N., & Rajasuriya A. 1985. Checklist of stony corals for Sri Lanka with ecological notes on newrecords. 41 st Annual Scientific Sessions of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science. Colombo.De Silva M. W. R. N., & Rajasuriya A. 1986. Geographical extension of the range of the Fungid coral genusZoopilus Dana, 1846 to the Indian Ocean. 42nd Annual Scientific Sessions of the Sri Lanka Association for theAdvancement of Science. Colombo.Mergner, H. & Scheer, G. 1974. The physiographic zonation and the ecological conditions of some South Indian andCeylon reefs. pp. 3 - 30 Proc. Int. Coral Reef Symp., Brisbane, Australia.NARA, CORDIO/IUCN/GCRMN, & SLSAC. 2005. Rapid assessment of tsunami damage to coral reefs in Sri Lanka.Interim report No. 1.: NARA/CORDIO/IUCN. 9.Ortmann A. 1889. Beobachtungen an Steinkorallen von der Sudkuste Ceylons. Zool. Jahrb. (Syst.) 4: 493 - 590.Pillai C. S. G. 1972. Stony corals of the seas around India. Proc. Symp. Corals and Coral Reefs, 191 - 216.Rajasuriya A. & De Silva, M. W. R. N. 1987. Two Genera and five Species of Hermatypic Corals New to Sri Lanka.43rd Scientific Session of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science,. Colombo: Sri LankaAssociation for the Advancement of Science.Rajasuriya, A. & De Silva, M. W. R. N. 1988. Stony Corals of the Fringing Reefs of the Western, Southwestern andSouthern Coasts of Sri Lanka. In Proc 6th International Coral Reef Symposium, pp. 287-296. Australia.378