Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
1
15
Impact of Socioeconomic
Factors and Environmental
Highlands
Jürgen Breuste
1,
*
and
Lalitha Dissanayake
2
INTRODUCTION
Central Highlands of Sri Lanka occupy a unique position among the main
geographical zones of the country. It is an area elevated 300 m above the mean
sea level occupying about 17% of the country's land area (Wickramagamage
1990). Though it is small in land extent, being located within the country,
this zone has a diverse blend of most of the world's climatic features. The
Central Highland area is also the watershed for 103 main rivers and more
than 1,000 feeder streams joining the main rivers (Madduma Bandara
2000). This area is the heart of the entire country because of its important
ecological conditions and as a driver of the economy for the whole country
(Fig. 15.1). Although a small area of the Sri Lankan Highlands, it is of high
importance for the country regarding both an ecological and an economic
point of view. It has several unique qualities for ecosystem services related
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