Hikkaduwa National Park | |
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Location | Southern province, Sri Lanka |
Nearest city | Hikkaduwa |
Coordinates | 6°08′42″N 80°05′33″E / 6.14500°N 80.09250°E |
Area | 101.6 ha |
Established | September 19, 2002 |
Governing body | Department of Wildlife Conservation |
Hikkaduwa National Park is one of the three marine national parks in Sri Lanka. The national park contains a fringing coral reef of high degree of biodiversity. The area was declared a wildlife sanctuary on May 18, 1979, and then on August 14, 1988, upgraded to a nature reserve with extended land area.[1] The growth of the number of visitors in the next 25 years increased the degradation of the coral reef. To reduce the effects to the ecosystem, the reef was declared a national park on September 19, 2002.