A Gazette Extraordinary has been issued establishing a ‘Hambantota Managed Elephant Reserve’ under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance.

The gazette has been issued under Subsection (2) of Section 2 of the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (Chapter 469).

State Minister of Wildlife Protection, Adoption of Safety Measures including the Construction of Electrical Fences and Trenches and Reforestation and Forest Resource Development Wimalaweera Dissanayake has signed the relevant gazette.

The gazette declares the area of land – excluding the area of land comprising 866 Hectares of the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Airport in Mattala – marked in the map to be a Managed Elephant Reserve for the purposes of the aforesaid Ordinance.

The gazette further declares that the relevant Managed Elephant Reserve shall be called and known as the ‘Hambantota Managed Elephant Reserve’.

The area of land marked for this purpose comprises 23746.55 hectares, excluding the area of land comprising 866 hectares marked for the Airport.

The designated area lies within the Divisional Secretary’s Divisions of Hambantota, Sooriyawewa, Lunugamwehera, and Thanamalwila in the administrative districts of Hambantota and Monaragala in the Southern Province.

Gazette on establishing ‘Hambantota Managed Elephant Reserve