Adam's Bridge Marine National Park (; ) is a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

surrounding

Adam's Bridge Adam's Bridge, also known as Rama's Bridge or ''Rama Setu'', is a chain of natural limestone shoals between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the northwe ...

(Rama's Bridge) in northern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, approximately north west of

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district ** Mannar Bridge, a bridge conne ...

History

An Integrated Strategic Environmental Assessment of Northern Province produced by the government with the assistance of

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

and

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

and published in October 2014 recommended that a national park with an area of be created on the Sri Lankan section of Adam's Bridge. In May 2015 the government announced that a part of Adam's Bridge, along with Chundikkulam,

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

and Madhu Road would be designated national parks. Adam's Bridge became a national park on 22 June 2015 with an area of . The Indian section of Adam's Bridge is part of the

Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park The Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park is a Protected areas of India, protected area of India consisting of 21 small islands (islets) and adjacent coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar in the Indian Ocean. It lies 1 to 10 km away from the east ...

Flora and fauna

Many migratory birds follow the

Pamban Island Pamban Island (, ''pāmpaṉ tīvu''), also known as Rameswaram Island, is an island located between peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It forms part of the Rameswaram taluk in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is ...

-Adam's Bridge-

Mannar Island Mannar Island ( ; ; ), formerly spelt Manar Island, which lies off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka, is part of Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is linked to the main island of Sri Lanka by a causeway and the Mannar Bridge, which carries th ...

route when flying to/from Sri Lanka. The sand dunes of Adam's Bridge are also used as breeding grounds by birds such as the

brown noddy The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The ...

. Numerous varieties of fish and sea grasses thrive in the shallow waters Adam's Bridge. Sea life found around Adam's Bridge include

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest ...

and

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

References

{{authority control 2015 establishments in Sri Lanka Mannar DS Division National parks of Sri Lanka Protected areas established in 2015 Protected areas in Northern Province, Sri Lanka

History

Flora and fauna

See also

References