Abstract:
- The Wilpattu National Park (WNP) is the oldest
and largest National Park of the country, Sri Lanka. It
has 60 lakes and tanks spread across 131, 693.7 hectares
in the Northwest coast lowland dry zone in Sri Lanka
(Jayawardana, 2015). In 1905 the area was designated a
sanctuary and in 1938 it was upgraded to the National
Park status (Hettiarachchi, 2010). Archaeologically
important sites at WNP can be divided into five major
categories based on the artifacts (IUCN, 2006). The
overall aim of this study was to identify the devastation
of archaeological resources due to the deforestation at
WNP. Specific objectives were to find out the present
situation at WNP, identify the resettlements and new
constructions, which conducted at WNP and to identify
the existing management system. In order to achieve the
objectives of this study, the required data were collected
both from primary and secondary sources. The study
found that the threat of WNP and the surrounding region
mostly for archaeological resources first arose in 2009.
This was due to the construction of two illegal roads. A
50-acre section of forestland that had been destroyed come
under the Wilpattu North Sanctuary (WNS). Moreover,
there is an important archaeological site at WNS, with
artifacts dating back to the time of the Mohenjo-daro
civilization. Human settlement of the WNP poses a direct
threat to the conservation of all vital archaeological
resources. To conserve these vital resources researcher
identified that Consulting Environmental Organizations,
Civil Society Organizations, Archaeological departments
and coordinating a joint effort to mitigate the damage
is a must. Archaeological Impact Assessment (AIA)
procedures should compulsory for any settlements, which,
are conducted at archaeologically important places. The
surface recognition study was carried out to record the
archaeological sites and their present status.
