A major action pertaining to the conservation of wetlands in Sri Lanka was the establishment of a National
Policy on Wetlands in 2004. The National Wetlands Steering Committee was also revived in 2003. These
important initiatives were followed up with a draft wetland conservation strategy and action plan, which is
currently being finalized. The Central Environmental Authority (CEA) is in the process of establishing a
Wetland Management Unit (WMU), to facilitate the management of wetlands in Sri Lanka. Considering the
dearth of information related to wetlands, the need to prepare an updated directory of wetlands in Sri Lanka
was initially recognized at the national symposium on conservation of wetlands in Sri Lanka in 2003. The
national policy and draft strategy on conservation of wetlands in Sri Lanka, prepared by the Ministry of
Environment in 2004 further stressed the need to prepare an updated directory of wetlands in the country,
to facilitate the conservation of wetland ecosystems.