Southern Sri Lanka
More actions
| Southern Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|
| ActiveCannabis last recorded here in 2026 | |
| |
| Tissa Wewa at Tissamaharama in the wet season | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 6.497, 81.143 |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Provinces/States | Uva Province |
| Elevation | 78–101 m |
| Climate | Tropical, dry zone |
| Primary Rivers | Kirindi Oya,Menik Ganga |
| Growing history | |
| Dated accessions | 2024–2026 |
| Dated news reports | 2011–2026 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | 2 documented Field grade: 2 Data deficient 2 not yet assessed |
| Eradication reported | in 6 of the last 10 years (12 news reports, 2015–2026) |
| Building and roads reported | in 5 of the last 10 years (6 news reports, 2011–2026) |
| Holdings | Holdings: 2 Urgent |
| In a population | 8 of 8 accessions |
| Seed lots | 8 (8 Urgent) |
| Priorities | Grow-out priorities |
Southern Sri Lanka is a landrace cannabis growing region in the dry lowlands of south-eastern Sri Lanka, around the protected areas of Udawalawe, Lunugamvehera and Yala. It holds two growing areas, Udawalawe and Yala-Lunugamvehera, in Monaragala District of Uva Province and Hambantota District of the Southern Province. By 2005 cannabis, the only drug grown illicitly in the country, was grown mostly in the dry zones of the Eastern and Southern provinces, in the assessment of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.[1]: 103–104
Geography
The two growing areas lie in the low country of Monaragala District. Their accessions were collected at Kalawelgala, at 78 m, and at Galge, at 98 to 101 m. The plantations destroyed by police and the army since 2015 lay inside the reserves: the Hambegamuwa Forest Reserve east of Udawalawe, the Lunugamwehera Forest Reserve, and Yala National Park.[2][3][4] The Lunugamvehera reserve, now renamed Block VI of Yala, covers about 23,500 ha on both sides of the boundary between Monaragala and Hambantota districts, with the Kirindi Oya as its western boundary.[5]
Climate
The region lies in Sri Lanka's dry zone, where mean annual rainfall is below 1,750 mm and a dry period of about five months brings less than 50 mm a month; Hambantota, on the south-eastern coast, receives 950 mm a year.[6]: 16, 19 Udawalawe National Park, on the region's western edge, lies between the dry and intermediate zones and receives about 1,524 mm.[7]: 23488
Cultivation history
Cannabis, called kansa and ganja, has been used as a medicine in Sri Lanka since at least the early 17th century, and early accounts of its cultivation survive. A Dutch ban on trafficking in narcotics, cannabis among them, dates from 1675, and a British prohibition of its use from 1895.[8]: 44 The Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance forbids anyone to sow, plant or cultivate the hemp plant without the Minister's licence.[9] The Ayurveda Act of 1961 allowed Ayurvedic physicians to obtain cannabis for their medicines,[8]: 44 which by the early 2000s they bought from the Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation as powder processed from seized cannabis.[1]: 112
In 2003 Sri Lanka had an estimated 500 ha under cannabis.[1]: 103 In September 2023 the State Minister for Indigenous Medicine said a new Ayurveda Act would allow hemp to be cultivated for medicine,[10] and in August 2025 a former Commissioner General of Ayurveda said seven foreign investors had been permitted to grow cannabis legally under strict conditions.[11]
Growing Areas
| Growing Area | Terrain |
|---|---|
| Udawalawe | Lowland east of the Udawalawe reservoir and national park, with forest reserves |
| Yala-Lunugamvehera | Gently rolling dry-zone lowland with rock outcrops, under scrub and dry forest |
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Growing area | Locality | Collected |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZOM-SRI-UDA-0320260001 | Thanalmalwila 'Udawalawe' General Population 2026 | Udawalawe | Kalawelgala | |
| ZOM-SRI-UDA-1020240001A | Udawalawe General Population 2023 | Udawalawe | Kalawelgala | |
| ZOM-SRI-UDA-1020240001B | Udawalawe General Population 2023 | Udawalawe | Kalawelgala | |
| ZOM-SRI-UDA-1020240001C | Udawalawe General Population 2023 | Udawalawe | Kalawelgala | |
| ZOM-SRI-YAL-0320260001 | Thanalmalwila 'Yala' General Population 2026 | Yala-Lunugamvehera | Galge | |
| ZOM-SRI-YAL-1020240001A | Yala General Population 2023 | Yala-Lunugamvehera | Galge | |
| ZOM-SRI-YAL-1020240001B | Yala General Population 2023 | Yala-Lunugamvehera | Galge | |
| ZOM-SRI-YAL-1020240001C | Yala General Population 2023 | Yala-Lunugamvehera |
Enforcement
In 2024 there were 1,378 cannabis-related arrests in Monaragala District and 2,629 in Hambantota District, of 75,602 in the country.[12] Police, the Special Task Force and the army have destroyed plantations inside the region's reserves since at least 2015.[3][2] In February 2024 police said the Special Task Force was using drones to find plantations in Yala under the Yukthiya campaign.[13]
Recent news
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 UNODC Regional Office for South Asia (September 2005). Sri Lanka (PDF) (Report). South Asia Regional Profile. New Delhi: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. pp. 102–112.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "STF uses drones to locate ganja plantations inside forest reserve". The Sunday Times. Colombo. 11 June 2024.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jayasinghe, Jayampathy (8 February 2015). "3 caught with 590kg ganja, 50,000 ganja plants inside forest reserve". The Sunday Times. Colombo.
- ↑ "Two arrested for cultivating cannabis inside Yala National Park; 150,000 plants destroyed". The Morning. 6 February 2021.
- ↑ Mendis, H. M. Chryshane (2024). "Report on the archaeology of the Lunugamvehera National Park, Sri Lanka". Ancient Lanka. 3. doi:10.29173/anlk805.
- ↑ Ministry of Environment (Sri Lanka) (September 2020). National Drought Plan for Sri Lanka (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ Hemachandra, I. V. Dinithi; Wijayarathna, C. Dilrukshi; Dayawansa, P. Nihal (26 July 2023). "Proximate nutrients of selected forage and the diet composition of adult elephants in Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka, a preliminary study". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 15 (7): 23487–23498. doi:10.11609/jott.8416.15.7.23487-23498.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Kalpani, K. L. M.; Arunakumara, K. K. I. U.; Fernando, K. M. C.; Walpola, B. C. (2022). "Prospects of cannabis and its cultivation in Sri Lanka". Sri Lankan Journal of Agriculture and Ecosystems. 4 (1): 29–56. doi:10.4038/sljae.v4i1.67.
- ↑ "Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs Ordinance" (PDF). National Dangerous Drugs Control Board. ch. III. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ "New Ayurveda Act will allow 'medicinal cannabis' cultivation - State Minister". Ada Derana. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ Aravinda, Indika Sri (13 August 2025). "Sri Lanka approves first legal cannabis cultivation by foreign investors". Daily Mirror. Colombo. Retrieved 17 October 2026.
- ↑ National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (2025). Handbook of Drug Abuse Information in Sri Lanka 2025 (PDF). Rajagiriya: Research Division, National Dangerous Drugs Control Board. p. 1; map 3, p. 54. ISBN 978-624-6011-11-6.
- ↑ Warakapitiya, K. (25 February 2024). "Parts of Yala at risk from illicit ganja growers, poachers, and bushmeat trade". The Sunday Times. Colombo.