RESEARCH ARTICLE

EVALUATING THE STATUS OF CONSERVATION AND PROTECTON IN WASGOMUWA NATIONAL PARK AND ITS MITIGATON

Abstract

Wasgomuwa National Park is a very important National park in Sri Lanka both ecologically and culturally. It's situated in mid country with high value of biodiversity. Also it has very high value as water shed in the lower Mahawali basin and it act as elephant migration center in the area. So protection of this park is very important. With the recent incidents that happened within the National park, there was question whether there is adequate protection for Wasgomuwa National Park. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the status of protection in Wasgomuwa National Park and identified the prevalent threats. The study goes on to recommend possible mitigation measures to improve protection of the national park. Several methods like structured interview surveys, discussions and search of past records were used to gather data. The data was analyzed by using 2*2 matrix method, simplex method, criteria weighting method and preparing crime charts. Thereby the main factors that affect National Park protection has been identified. Finally, solutions to mitigate the gaps in protection have been identified under three main categories: 1: improving the protection of the national park by improving resources, upgrading the knowledge and upgrading management of park staff. 2: improving the protection of the national park through empowering and educating surrounding communities 3: improve the park protection by introducing the new technology and methods. Implementing those mitigation measures at the field level could ensure improved protection of the national park.

Keywords: criteria weighting method, crime maps, new technology, empowering, upgrade management, Beat office, Range office, improve motivation, raid, hot spot maps, benefits for staff, informer network

How to Cite: Gayan Chinthaka Bandara,B.M, (-0001). EVALUATING THE STATUS OF CONSERVATION AND PROTECTON IN WASGOMUWA NATIONAL PARK AND ITS MITIGATON.WILDLANKA, 7(2):Pages 084-094

Published On:0000-00-00

Download