Ambewela ( ta, அம்பேவளை, translit=Ampēvaḷai; si, අඹේවෙල, translit=Am̆bēvela) is a village, and a

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

, located in the Nuwara Eliya District of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The area is also sometimes called "Little New Zealand". The town is situated approximately south-east of the district capital

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( si, නුවර එළිය ; ta, நுவரெலியா) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrativ ...

. Ambewela is also a service center to the New Galway tea planting district.

Climate and vegetation

Due to the high altitude of the mean annual temperature in the area is below , while

frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor in an above-freezing atmosphere coming in contact with a solid surface whose temperature is below freezing, and resulting in a phase change from water vapor (a gas) ...

is common during

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures ...

. Ambewela is also popular for of being the highest (in altitude) and widest

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

in Sri Lanka.

Mammals Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

such as the

Sambar Deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe hunting, local ins ...

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

dominate the majority of the

forest cover Forest cover is the amount of forest that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/square miles). Around a third of the world's surface is covered with forest, with closed-canop ...

around the area. Ambewela situated en route to the

Horton Plains National Park Horton Plains National Park ( si, හෝර්ටන් තැන්න ජාතික උද්‍යානය, Hortan Thanna Jathika Udyanaya) is a national park in the central highlands of Sri Lanka that was designated in 1988. It is locate ...

and is famous scenic landscapes, ''

Rhododendron arboreum ''Rhododendron arboreum'', the tree rhododendron, is an evergreen shrub or small tree with a showy display of bright red flowers. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand. It is the national flower ...

'' flowers, and the World's End, which is a deep

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on co ...

. Similar to Horton Plains and

Ohiya Ohiya ( si, ඔහිය) is a rural village located in Badulla District of Uva Province, Sri Lanka. It is much closer to the Horton Plains National Park. The picturesque Colombo -Badulla Railway runs through Ohiya. Ohiya is in the Welimada Div ...

, this site is also one of the

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s of Sri Lanka, making the area a popular location for

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, b ...

as well.

Importance and economic activities

The climatic and economical conditions in Ambewela make it an ideal location for

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

, hence the country's only milk powder factory is situated in this area. The two animal husbandries, Ambewela Farm and New Zealand Farm, have

Ayrshire cattle The Ayrshire (IPA ) is a Scottish breed of dairy cattle. It originates in, and is named for, the county of Ayrshire in south-western Scotland. Ayrshires typically have red and white markings; the red can range from a shade of orange to a dark ...

and Friesian cows respectively.

Potential for wind energy developments

The geographic location and altitude of Ambewela expose the site to strong Southwest Monsoons, with winds occasionally reaching over , making the area a favourable location for

wind farm A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...

s and other

wind energy Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to electricity generation, generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable energy, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller Environmental impact of wi ...

developments. As the site is only used for livestock development and similar activities, the site is also an economical zone for erecting turbines, since cattle usually are not affected by

wind turbines A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

. These factors have attracted many local and international developers. In 2003, the area was studied in a collaborative project between the

Ceylon Electricity Board The Ceylon Electricity Board - CEB ( si, ලංකා විදුලිබල මණ්ඩලය - ලංවිම, Lankā Vidulibala Mandalaya - Lanwima; ta, இலங்கை மின்சார சபை - இமிச), is the largest el ...

and

NREL The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally funded research and d ...

. The study revealed that the wind resource at the site is favourable only during the Southwest Monsoon, which is only a small period per year, and that the Northeast Monsoons does not reach the area due to its extreme altitude. Ambewela Aitken Spence Wind Farm

Transportation of equipment such as wind turbines is also a very significant challenge due to the extreme logistical conditions to access the site. The study revealed that transporting turbines larger than 600 KW to the site would be a near-impossible task. The study also revealed that ignoring this issue and constructing wind farms with turbines smaller than 600KW would be extremely uneconomical to the developer.

Transport

* Located on the intersection of the B512 (

to Horton Plains Road) and the B507 (Ambewela to Rendapola Road) * Ambewela railway station - is the second highest railway station in Sri Lanka, at above sea level. It is located on the

Main Line Mainline, ''Main line'', or ''Main Line'' may refer to: Transportation Railway * Main line (railway), the principal artery of a railway system * Main line railway preservation, the practice of operating preserved trains on an operational railw ...

between the

Nanu Oya Nanu Oya is a long stream in the Central Province of Sri Lanka It originates from Pidurutalagala at an elevation of over and drains into the Kotmale Oya at an elevation of approximately . The Kotmale Oya is a tributary of the Mahaweli River, t ...

and Perakumpura railway stations, in the Nuwara Eliya District, Central Province. * Main Road

References

External links