“Are the President and PM Ready to Destroy Wilpattu Again?”— A Leader from the Same Political Spectrum Questions.

Sajeewa Chamikara
Land and Agricultural Reform Movement

The Wilpattu National Park complex and its associated protected forest network must first be liberated from being treated as a forest system subject to partisan political or communal agendas, and instead recognized as a natural system of immense ecological, biological, and archaeological significance – one that holds equal rights for present and future generations. Only then can we begin to comprehend the full value of this ecosystem: the water streams nourished by Wilpattu’s forests that sustain agriculture, the protection these forests provide to farmlands by maintaining habitats for elephants and other wildlife, the critical role these woodlands play in capturing rainfall from the northeast monsoon and gradually releasing it into the groundwater systems, and the intricate mechanisms by which this entire ecosystem functions.

Yet Mahinda Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa and Rishad Bathiudeen – who demonstrated no understanding of these vital ecological relationships – initiated the destruction of Wilpattu’s internal ecosystem in 2010. Under Navy leadership, they began by constructing two lengthy roads, each spanning 38 kilometers, along Wilpattu National Park’s coastline and surrounding areas. This was followed by settling people in the Wilpattu North Sanctuary. Subsequently, large-scale clearing occurred in the Kal Aru forest north of Wilpattu National Park, with more settlements established.

Simultaneously, the Lower Malwathu Oya Irrigation Project is being implemented by clearing approximately 15,000 acres of forests and farmlands, including crucial elephant habitats, east of Wilpattu National Park. All these activities represent systematic assaults on the Wilpattu forest system’s survival.

While legal action was taken to stop the destruction of protected forests for road construction and settlements, in July 2024 the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) revived the Wilpattu issue as an election strategy, aiming to create ethnic tensions for political gain. This plan was orchestrated by Ven. Viharagala Vijayakitti Thero of the National Movement for a Virtuous Society, former Puttalam District MP Ali Sabry Rahim of the Muslim National Alliance, and former SLPP State Minister K. Kader Mastan, among others.

Their strategy focused on reviving the illegal 38-kilometer road through Wilpattu National Park that courts had banned from public use. On Sunday, July 7, 2024, about 300 people attempted to forcibly enter the National Park to illegally access this prohibited road, though the attempt was thwarted through intervention.

What’s most alarming is that current President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, despite being fully aware of this history, have recently made statements supporting reopening the Wilpattu road. Their positions recall the Sinhala proverb “With education comes no power, and with power comes no education,” revealing their lack of understanding about the broader implications of constructing roads through Wilpattu. The biodiversity loss from fragmenting forest systems, the inevitable increase in human-elephant conflict, and the potential for these situations to spiral out of control – all these demand strategies to protect Wilpattu’s ecosystem and mitigate conflicts, not decisions that will exacerbate them.

Is a Road Through Wilpattu Necessary?

The courts have explicitly banned use of the illegally constructed Wilpattu road, recognizing its harm to the National Park’s ecosystem. The President and Prime Minister cannot disregard these judicial orders without undermining the judiciary and challenging the rule of law itself.

Communities from Marichchikkaddi, Karadikkali and Mollikulam villages north of Wilpattu National Park were displaced when the Navy forcibly occupied their traditional Bukthividi settlements, farmlands and reservoirs to establish camps and hotels. Former Minister Rishad Bathiudeen responded by destroying the Kalaru forest (now called Mavillu Conservation Forest) north of Wilpattu to resettle these displaced people. Rather than stopping this destruction of Wilpattu’s associated forest systems and restoring the traditional lands seized by the Navy, politicians are pursuing illegal actions that further damage the park. Their efforts appear focused not on securing displaced people’s rights, but on destroying Wilpattu National Park – Sri Lanka’s oldest and most unique national park, also designated as a Ramsar wetland of international importance – for narrow political gains.

We must first examine whether a road through Wilpattu National Park is truly essential. The proposed Puttalam-Mannar road through Wilpattu spans 120 km (via Eluwankulam, Mollikulam, Silawathura), while the existing alternative route (via Nochchiyagama, Vilachchiya, Silawathura) measures 150 km. Is destroying Wilpattu National Park’s integrity justified to save just 30 km of travel distance?

History of Illegal Road Construction in Wilpattu

Conservationists worldwide have long celebrated Wilpattu National Park alongside Sinharaja as crown jewels of Sri Lanka’s natural heritage. As a complex dry zone ecosystem teeming with wildlife and steeped in history, Wilpattu held special promise after the defeat of LTTE terrorism. Tragically, the opposite occurred. In 2010, two roads were bulldozed through Wilpattu’s forests, wetlands and archaeological sites under the pretext of connecting Puttalam and Mannar. The Navy executed this illegal construction under the Ministry of Resettlement, blatantly violating environmental laws passed by Parliament.

These illegal roads – built at the behest of Minister Basil Rajapaksa and others – became the foundation for escalating violations in Wilpattu’s forest system. Today, it’s these very illegal Navy-built roads that some are demanding to reopen.

The 35 km road through Wilpattu National Park (wrongly called the Old Mannar Road) stretches from Kala Oya at Eluwankulam (southern border) to Uppuaru (Modaragam Aru) at Pookulam (northern border). Its route through the park includes Karuwalakuda, Pomparippu, Periya Pedavillu, Sinna Pedavillu, Mollikulama, Maila Pedavillu, Kali Pedavillu and Pookulam. Additional road networks branching from this main artery required massive forest and wetland destruction. Large pits excavated for road construction soil became death traps for elephants.

The Coastal Road Deception

The environmental violations didn’t stop there. Another new coastal road was constructed along Wilpattu’s shoreline under the guise of connecting Mannar and Puttalam, while actually preparing the beachfront for tourist resorts. The Ministry of Economic Development (headed by Basil Rajapaksa) actively solicited investors for these developments.

This coastal road annihilated sand dunes, thorn scrub forests, dry mixed evergreen forests, coastal ecosystems and archaeologically significant areas along 40 km of Wilpattu’s coastline. A 70-meter-wide forest corridor was obliterated, including sites linked to King Vijaya’s landing and Mesolithic period artifacts. Proponents justified this destruction as creating the “shortest route” between Puttalam-Mannar while boosting coastal tourism, blind to the irreversible loss of Sri Lanka’s ancient civilizational heritage.

The deforestation that began in 2010 continued in 2014 when the Navy fenced off about 5 square km of forest near Mollikulam bridge using barbed wire, including over 1000 acres of coastal border forest. They built earthen embankments and planned a massive tourism project in this crucial elephant habitat, clearing forest sections and constructing 3 km of roads (10-15m wide). Another 3-acre forest patch was cleared for soil excavation. Evidence showed displaced elephants wandering the new roads. These illegal activities were only stopped after exposure.

Ecological Devastation from Road Construction

Irregular soil excavation for illegal road construction caused surrounding wetlands to flood during rains. The roads fragmented wildlife habitats in western Wilpattu, causing significant biodiversity loss. When the road briefly opened on January 24, 2010, heavy tourist traffic confined wildlife to fragmented sections of the park. Elephant habitats were divided, tiger prey areas were disrupted, and roadkill incidents surged.

In the months after opening, numerous animals – including deer, wild boar and bears – were killed by vehicles and buried without autopsies or wildlife officer notification. Countless smaller creatures also perished under wheels. Such destruction has no place in a wildlife sanctuary.

An Onslaught of Illegal Activities

During the road’s brief operational period, visitors damaged park trees – especially during fruiting seasons when palm branches were broken by climbers or vehicles. These damaged branches hosted Vanda tessellata orchids, the dry zone’s most colorfully diverse orchid species. Unauthorized road access also enabled other illegal activities in the park.

Security force personnel stationed in Wilpattu were caught transporting game meat in official vehicles, storing it in Kondachchikuda shops. We documented and reported these violations with evidence.

Invasive Species Invasion

The new roads introduced invasive plant species to Wilpattu. Highly invasive Megathyrsus maximus and Lantana camara flourish along the road’s exterior sections, with seeds carried into the park on vehicle tires. These threaten to overrun the park’s thorn forests and villu ecosystems.

Prosopis juliflora – a severe coastal ecosystem threat – dominates areas from Puttalam to Eluwankulam along Wilpattu’s southern border. The coastal road risks spreading this invader into the park’s coastal ecosystems. Brief road operation already introduced fire grass along roadside ecosystems.

Other national parks like Lunugamvehera, Bundala and Udawalawe spend heavily to remove invasive species like Handapana, Ginithana and Kalapu Andara. These invasives shrink animal habitats and prey bases while increasing human-elephant conflicts in surrounding areas – a likely scenario if Wilpattu’s roads reopen.

Wilpattu’s Ecological and Archaeological Wealth

Wilpattu National Park is actually a park complex. The first section (54,953.2 hectares across Anuradhapura and Puttalam districts) was declared on February 25, 1938. Four subsequent declarations expanded Wilpattu: 7,021.4 hectares (April 28, 1967), 22,981.4 hectares (August 27, 1969), 25,252.9 hectares (December 5, 1969) and 21,484.8 hectares (December 7, 1973), totaling 131,693.7 hectares.

Wilpattu also connects to other protected areas – Wilpattu North Sanctuary, Tambowa Sanctuary, Mavillu Conservation Forest and Weerakkulichole Forest Reserve – forming an expansive wildlife habitat. This network protects watersheds of rivers like Kala Oya, Modara Ganga Aru and Kal Aru, all compromised by road construction deforestation and soil excavation.

According to the IUCN’s 2006 Wilpattu Resource Inventory, the park contains diverse ecosystems: dry mixed evergreen forests, thorn scrub, riparian forests, wet/dry deciduous grasslands, floodplains, swamps, lakes, mangroves, salt marshes, sand dunes and coastal environments. Surveys recorded 623 flowering plant species (123 genera, 27 endemic) and 328 animal species across six groups (butterflies, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals; 21 endemic).

Wilpattu is both ecological treasure and archaeological wonder. It encompasses King Vijaya’s landing site and traces of pre-Vijayan civilization. Sampath Gunathilaka’s 2006 report identified 68 archaeologically significant sites within Wilpattu, including fossil beds, prehistoric remains, ancient burial grounds and Mesolithic stone tools.

The Pomparippu Megalithic burial grounds contained 3.5-foot-tall cremation urns, evidence of advanced civilization predating Balangoda Man. Many such artifacts were destroyed during illegal road construction and excavations. No decisions or actions endangering this heritage should be permitted.

Legal Implications and National Park Security

By advocating reopening Wilpattu’s illegal road, the President and Prime Minister are encouraging violations of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (as amended by Act No. 07 of 2022). Section 5(1) prohibits national park entry without permits, while Section 67B(1) designates this as a cognizable offense warranting arrest. Section 63 prescribes penalties up to Rs. 50,000 fines and/or two years imprisonment. Aiders and abettors face equal punishment under Section 59.

The Department of Wildlife Conservation must enforce these laws against anyone illegally entering Wilpattu to reopen the road. Failure to do so would erode rule of law, democratic governance and equality before law – betraying citizens who supported this government believing it would uphold these principles.

We urge all government authorities to honor this trust and protect Wilpattu National Park – not destroy it for political expediency.