Vankalai, in the Mannar district, with its numerous bird species has been declared a sanctuary by the Department of Wild Life Conservation (DWLC), a first in the area since the armed conflict erupted in the north several decades ago.

This sanctuary, partly a Wetland, comprises Puliyantivu island, Tiruketiswaram, Pallimunai, Vankalai and the strips of land on either side of the causeway connecting the island of Mannar to the mainland. Covering about 4,800 hectares, it consists of arid-zone thorn scrubland and pastures, waterholes and tanks, sand dunes, mangroves, salt marshes, lagoons and sea-grass beds and maritime grasslands.The sanctuary declared through a Gazette notification dated September 9, 2008, follows recommendations of the Ceylon Bird Club which has worked tirelessly towards making this a reality.

Many birds including the very rare migrants the Spot-billed Duck, the Comb Duck and the Gadwall; the rare migrant Long-toed Stint and the uncommon migrants the Peregrine Falcon, the Common-ringed Plover, Temminck’s Stint and the Red-necked Phalarope have been spotted at Vankalai, says Ceylon Bird Club Committee Member Udaya Sirivardana as has also the very rarely recorded ‘Eastern’ Black-tailed Godwit