Rekawa beach area to be Sri Lanka’s first turtle conservation sanctuary

Date: 1/4/2005

Plans are afoot to declare the Rekawa beach area as Sri Lanka’s first Turtle Conservation Sanctuary.

The plans are being formulated by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) in coordination with

the IUCN (World Conservation Union), the Coast Conservation Department and the Turtle Conservation

Project (TCP). The beach stretch is approximately 6 km. in length and consists of estuarine mangrove

systems, gently sloping broad sandy beaches backed by coconut plantations and home gardens and

rocky shores. Turtles visit the Rekawa beach for nesting purposes and the Turtle Conservation Project

has been pioneering conservation of turtles along this beach for several years.