Big Picture
Colombo is not only home to 2 million people but also hundreds of species of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and invertebrates.
We are so lucky to have a city with so much nature! Colombo is lined with wetlands and lakes where a large number of wildlife can be found.
Many species have adapted to human development and thrive in urban areas, but they won’t remain there unless the community strives to make the city more accommodating to the wildlife.
It is so important to conserve, protect, restore and enhance the bird habitats and population within an urban development by increasing public awareness and educating city-dwellers regarding Colombo’s wildlife.
With the coexistence of human inhabitation and wildlife becoming deteriorated every minute and a possible ecological crisis at hand, building wildlife-friendly cities have become ever so talked.
Wildlife-friendly cities will not be an option, but an essential, in the future.
The ecological longevity of any ecosystem is primarily based on the interdependency of different levels, subsystems, and layers of the ecosystem. This is equally valid to our urban ecosystems too.
Whenever we think about the wildlife we think about far away.
Forests and rare species have dominated the aspects of nature and our imagination of wildlife.
However, they are the most deeply studied too. In contrast to that, urban cities are the fastest growing and also the most poorly understood ecosystems (predominantly inhabited by people) in the world.
Therefore, a better awareness of our own urban ecosystem could be a big leap towards building wildlife-friendly cities.
Therefore, gathering as much data as possible is the key. High level of technology can be utilized to record data on all kinds of animals at different times of the day, month and year and build a framework to work towards wildlife friendliness.
Apart from the ecological longevity, wildlife-friendly cities can be beneficial in many ways.
Wildlife-friendly cities could be the ultimate structure to facilitate Urban Wildlife Tourism, which is becoming trendy in the travel industry
Appreciate !! it’s time for every Homo sapiens to think about the sustainable city planning. Sri Lankans should be proud of having so much of evergreen forests and wildlife on a small island which can not be seen other part of the world.