Sri Lanka wildlife officials praise India

Berhampur (Odisha), Dec 13: A team of wildlife officials from Sri Lanka which visited the Chilika Lake in Odisha praised India’s effort for conservation of the flora and fauna of the biggest wetland of the country with active participation of the people.

"We are really impressed by the efforts of India to conserve the wildlife with community participation and also protect their livelihood," said H D Ratnayake, Director General, Wildlife Conservation Department, Sri Lanka government here.

Led by Ratnayake, 25 officials of Wildlife department visited India for two weeks from November 29 to gain knowledge of the wildlife conservation as well as how to tackle the men-animal conflict in India. Officials of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) was coordinating their tour.

The team is slated to wind up the tour tomorrow. In Chilika, the team has visited Satapada, Managalajodi and Nalabana, the bird sanctuary area.

"We are really excited to see the dolphin and number of bird species who visited the wetland from far off places in every winter," he said. Divisional Forest Officer, Chilika B P Acharya told the team about the importance of the wetland and the conservation effort taken by his government to protect the millions of birds in the lake.

"The lake is known as the paradise for the migratory birds. The winged guests come to the wetland every year as we provide them suitable habitat including the food and nesting ground," DFO told the team.

PTI