Maduru Oya National Park
- Maduru Oya National Park was established in 1983 as part of the Mahaweli Development Programme, one of the largest irrigation and settlement projects in modern Sri Lankan history.
- The park protects the catchment and surrounding forests of the Maduru Oya, an important tributary within the Mahaweli river system.
- At the heart of the park lies the Maduru Oya Reservoir, created as part of the modern Mahaweli irrigation scheme and now an important source of water for people, agriculture and wildlife.
- The landscape combines dry-zone forest, grasslands, rocky areas and wetlands, creating habitats for a remarkable variety of animals.
- Maduru Oya is an important habitat for Sri Lankan elephants, and the park forms part of the wider landscape through which elephants move between feeding and watering areas.
- One of the park's most remarkable historical features is an ancient earthen dam, traditionally attributed to the period of King Parakramabahu I and believed to be more than 1,000 years old.
- The ancient dam is evidence that sophisticated water management existed here long before the modern Mahaweli project, showing the extraordinary engineering skills of Sri Lanka's hydraulic civilization.
- The park also protects archaeological remains and ancient settlements, linking the present wilderness with the people who lived and farmed in this region centuries ago.
- Maduru Oya is therefore a meeting point of two eras of Sri Lankan water engineering – an ancient civilization that mastered irrigation and a modern project that transformed the Mahaweli basin.
