Traveling
with responsibility, without harming
the sustainability of the destinations
and its inhabitants but at the same
time enjoying the visit. It is about
being an environmentally friendly
and conservation conscious traveler.
Sri Lanka is an ideal destination
of eco tourism with a wealth of activities
for the whole family. From nature
trails, hiking, cycling, bird watching,
photography or wild life safaris are
just the beginning of the list. You
could also visit a tropical forest,
relax in the beach or hike to natural
forest reserves. No part of the country
is just a step away from eco friendly
activities.
The Island of Paradise - Sri Lanka
is well known to tourists for its
coastal tropical beach resorts, the
fascinating eco tourism attractions
of nature parks, rain forests, vast
lakes, reservoirs, protected wild
life and the greenish hill country
with its waterfalls, tea estates and
year-round cool weather attracting
more and more tourist to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is a country blessed by
nature. Though it is a island, a mere
dot on the world map, it is filled
with a wide variety of beautiful and
ecologically important natural habitants.
Sri Lanka harbors a vast amount of
wildlife, far larger in proportion
to her size, because of its environment
and its tropical conditions. Elephants,
leopards, deer and wild boar are some
of the main attractions of wildlife
enthusiasts. Bird life is a major
portion of Sri Lanka's wildlife. The
abundance of Sri Lanka's bird life
makes it an ornithologist's paradise.
To the botanist this is indeed a land
of plenty. The different climate zones
allows for trees, tropical as well
as temperate to flourish. The luxuriant
undergrowth and tall majestic trees
of the wet-zone tropical forests contrast
with the arid scrubland and galipot
palms of the dry northern and eastern
regions of the island.
Sri Lanka is a paradise for animal
lovers who enjoy animal or bird watching.
There are many national parks and
sanctuaries in Sri Lanka that offer
you an opportunity to observe “real”
wildlife at least once in your lifetime!
The animals that roam the national
parks and sanctuaries are many in
variety. Example of animals that you
can see in a national park such as
Yala National Park are elephants,
leopards, sloth bears, deer and monkeys,
wild buffalos, wild boars, porcupines,
ant-eaters, civet cats, jackals, mongooses,
Loris (unique to Sri Lanka), several
varieties of lizards, squirrels, reptiles
and amphibians.
Today Sri Lanka preserves 12 National
Parks, 51 Sanctuaries, and 3 strict
Natural Reserves (Horton Planes, Knuckles
range and Peak Wilderness). There
are 628 vertebrates (84 mammals, 379
birds, 133 reptiles and 32 amphibians),
a myriad of invertebrates and about
900 species of fish. Out of these,
10 mammals, 21 birds, 70 reptiles,
15 amphibians and 17 fishes are endemic,
i.e. found only in Sri Lanka. Out
of the 242 species of butterflies
in the island, only 6 kinds live above
4000 feet elevation. There are more
than 3000 species of plants, about
five times the number in the United
Kingdom. Of these about 25% of the
flowering plants are endemic.
Sri Lanka with all this natural gift
will be the ideal holiday destination
for anyone with any interests. Either
it be Eco or Cultural or just a sunny
beach stay you won’t find a better
place than this...
For more information'svisit
www.ecotourismsrilanka.net