The Department of Wildlife Conservation, in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), commenced the annual migratory waterbird census at Bundala National Park today, September 25, 2026.

As Sri Lanka's first designated Ramsar wetland and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Bundala's coastal mudflats and shallow lagoons have begun welcoming thousands of long-distance waterfowl—including greater flamingos, sandpipers, and plovers—arriving along the Central Asian Flyway. In parallel with ringing and scientific population logging, wildlife rangers deployed targeted scrub-clearing machinery to eradicate invasive Prosopis juliflora shrubs, restoring open feeding corridors and stabilizing seasonal lagoon hydrology.