PART - I 1. INTRODUCTION The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) of 2011 recommended that “a land use plan for each District in the North and East should be developed with the participation of district and national experts drawn from various relevant disciplines to guide the district administration in land conservation and alienation in order to ensure protection of environment and bio-diversity; sustainable economic development; leisure and recreational standards; religious, cultural and archeological sites with a view to improving the quality of life of the present and future generations”. The preparation of the plans was entrusted to the Land Use Policy Planning Department (LUPPD). The LUPPD started the planning process by establishing two expert groups, one at the National Level and the other at the District Level. Field work was commenced in 2013. Initially the available land use maps were updated to study the current patterns of land use and subsequently major land use issues were identified based on the field investigations. Recommendations to address the land use issues were formulated and these were presented to the Expert Groups and Stakeholders for their views and comments. The plan for the district has been prepared incorporating the views and comments of the Expert Groups and the Stakeholders. The Plan is mainly divided into two parts. Part I provides the background for the plan. Part II gives the land use plan. 2. DISTRICT PROFILE 2.1 Introduction Ampara District located in the South East of Sri Lanka belongs to the Eastern Province. It is bounded by the Polonnaruwa&Batticaloa Districts in the North, the Indian Ocean in the East, HambanthotaDistrictin the South and Monaragala, Badulla&MataleDistirctsin the West (Figure1). The total land area of the District is approximately 4495 square kilometers. 2.2 Administrative Structure The district is subdivided into 20 Divisional Secretary Divisions (DSDs) (Figure 1 and Table 1). Each DSD is subdivided into several Gram Niladari Divisions (GNDs). The total number of GNDs is 503 (see Annex II). Each GND consists of several villages. There are 828 villages in the district. In addition to the above divisions there are several local authorities comprising two Municipal Councils in Kalmunai and Akkaraipaththu, an Urban Council in Ampara and seventeen PradeshiayaSabas . Table 1: DS Divisions and their extents in Ampara District. DS Divisions Number of GNDs Extent (ha) 1 Addalachchenai 32 5696 2 Akkaraipattu 28 6041 3 Alayadiwembu 22 8259 4 Ampara 22 13927 5 Damana 33 44414 6 Dehiattakandiya 13 40131 7 Eragama 12 6665 8 Kalmunai* 58 1966 9 Karativu 17 894 10 Lahugala 12 92330 11 Mahaoya 17 68070 12 Navithanveli 20 6986 13 Ninthavur 25 3630 14 Padiyathalawa 20 38693 15 Pottuvil 27 27183 16 Sainthamarathu 17 303 17 Samanthurai 51 12301 18 Thirukkovil 22 18708 19 Uhana 55 53355 503 449552 * Includes two divisions (Kalmunai Tamil Division and Kalmunai Muslim Division) 2.3Physical Environment 2.3.1 Topography The topography of the district varies fromflat to undulating. The elevation ranges from sea level to 500 m. There are also some erosional remnants that rise up to 700m. 2.3.2 Soils The major soil types and their distribution in the District are shown in the Figure 2. The dominant soil group (approximately 38% of the total extent of land) in the district is the Reddish Brown Earth (RBE) with other soil groups as soil associations mainly in undulating terrain. The next dominant soil group is alluvial soils; it occupies about 16% of the total land area. Rest of the area of the district covers with Regosols, SolodizedSolonetz&Solonchanks, Inselbergs and Rock Knob Plains. The physical and chemical properties of most of the RBE associations are generally suitable for agriculture. However, the major constraint to crop production in the district is the low available water rather than the limitations of the soils. The great soil groups and their approximate extents as a percentage of the total land area of the district are given in the Table 2. Table 2: The Great Soil Groups and their extents as a percentage of the total land area of the district. Great soil group Extent as a percentage (%) Reddish Brown Earth& Low HumicGlay soils in undulating 21 terrain Reddish Brown Earth & Immature Brown Loamin rolling, 06 hilly and steep terrain Reddish Brown Earth &SolodizedSolonetzin undulating 04 terrain Reddish Brown Earth with high amount of gravel in subsoil 01 & Low HumicGlay soil in undulating terrain Reddish Brown Earth, Non calcic Brown soil & Low 06 HumicGlay soil in undulating terrain Alluvial soilof variable drainage and texture in flat terrain 16 Non calcic Brown Soil & Low HumicGlay soil in undulating 09 terrain Non calcic Brown soil on old alluvium &Solonetz in 04 undulating terrain. Regosols on recent beach and dune sands in flat terrain 01 Other land units (Erosional Remnants,Rock Knob Plain) 31 Total 100 Source: Soil Map 2.3.3 Climate Rainfall Ampara district receives a mean annual rainfall of 1750 mm.Much of thisrainfall is received between November and February during the period of the North-East Monsoon (NEM). Most of the agricultural lands including paddy are cultivated during this season referred as “Maha” season. Some rain is also received during the first inter monsoon (FIM)period from March to early May. Temperature The mean annual temperature varies from 25 0 Cto 27 0 C. The maximum temperature is recorded in March/April and the minimum temperature in November/January. Agro-Ecology Based on a combination of the characteristics of climate, soil and relief the district has been subdivided into a number of agro-ecological regions.The two major agro-ecological regions in the district are Low Country Dry Zone (DL) and Low Country Intermediate Zone (IL). DL regionis covering an area of approximately 80% of the district sub divided into five sub regions. These sub regions are DL1b, DL1c, DL2a, DL2b, and DL5. The Low Country Intermediate Zone in the district is categorized as IL2. DL1 region receives comparatively higher amount of rains from NEM over an extended period of time. DL2 region is characteristically having unimodel pattern of rainfall. The IL region is wetter than DL regions. The agro-ecological regions and their extents as a percentage of the total land area of the district are given in the Table 3 and the regions are shown in the Figure 3. Table 3: Agro ecological regions and their extents (%) in the Ampara District Agro -ecological reg ion Extent as a percentage (%) of the total land area DL1b 10 DL1c 11 DL2a 34 DL2b 29 DL5 04 IL2 12 Total 100 2.3.4 Water There are several water bodies including reservoirs, major and minor tanks, lagoons, rivers and streams in the District. Major water bodies are shown in the Figure 4. Some of the main rivers that flow across the district are MaduruOya, MangalaWatawanAru, Gal Oya, HadaOya and KangikadichchiAru. SenanayakaSamudrayathe largest reservoiris located in Monaragala district and its command area is in Ampara district.It supplies water to paddy, sugarcane and field crop cultivation. In addition, it also generates electricity. 2.4 Demographic structure 2.4.1 Population The total population of the district in 2012 was 649,402 of which 314,352 are males and 335,050 are females 1. The lowest population density (i.e. below 150 people per sq.km) is recorded in Mahaoya, Padiyathalawa and Lahugala D.S. Divisions while highest density (i.e. more than 4000 people per sq.km) is recorded in Sainthamaruthu and KalmunaiD.S. Divisions (Figure 5). In the year 2015 midyear population estimate was made. According to the estimate there were 328,000 males and 349,000 females. The composition of population according to religion and ethnic groups are given in Tables 4 and 5. Table 4: Population by religion and sex Sex Buddhist % Hindu % Islam % Roman % Other % Other Total Catholic Christian Male 124,779 40 48,506 15 134,924 43 3,573 1.1 2,559 0.8 11 314,352 Female 126,648 38 54,323 16 147,063 44 4,015 1.1 2,998 0.8 19 335,050 Total 251,427 102,829 281,987 7,588 5,541 30 649,402 Source: Census Report, 2012 Table 5: Population by ethnic group and sex Sex Sinhalese Sri Indian Sri Burgher Malay Sri Other Lankan Tamil Lanka Lanka Tamil Moor Chetty Male 125,243 53,009 324 134,832 489 89 5 361 1Census Report, 2012.Census and Statistical Department. Female 127,215 59,448 522 146,870 547 98 - 350 Total 252,458 112,457 846 281,702 1,036 187 5 711 Source: Census Report, 2012 2.4.2 Labour Force All persons age 15 years and above of either gender are identified as the working age population by the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS). This population comprising 4,50,137persons consists of two groups namely “economically active” and “economically inactive”. The economically active population also referred to as the labour force comprises all persons of working age either “employed”or“unemployed” during the reference period. Economically inactive group includes persons who were neither working nor available or looking forwork. They are classified as “not in the labour force” because they include full time engaged in household work; full – time students; retired; old age; infirmed; disabled; or not interested in workingfor one reason or another. The economically active population comprises 74.6% males and 25.4% females 2. 2.4.3 Occupational Structure The majority of the population (47.8%) is engaged in the service sector.The agricultural sector comprises 33.3% and the industry sector 18.8%.Percentage distribution of employed population by employment status is given in Table 6.