Dry-zone Botanical Gardens, Mirijjawila

Year and Month	2021-April-16
Number of Days	Two
Crew	08+
Accommodation	N/A
Transport	Cars
Activities	Hiking, Photography, Sightseeing, Nature Exploring
Weather	Perfect
Route	Colombo -> Southern Expressway -> Sooriyawewa Exit -> Hambantota Road -> Mirijjawila
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Carry enough water Buy tickets Follow the rules and guidelines Ask the directions from local Do not disturb the villagers Do not litter Leave only footprints
Related Resources	None
Author	Ranshan Fernando
Comments	Discuss this trip report, provide feedback or make suggestions at Lakdasun Forum on the thread Dry-zone Botanical Gardens, Mirijjawila

Mirijjawila Botanical Garden is one of the five botanical gardens in Sri Lanka. The other botanical gardens are Peradeniya Botanical Garden, Hakgala Botanical Garden, Henarathgoda Botanical Garden, and Seetawaka Botanical Garden.

Mirijjawila Botanical Garden is located on the Colombo–Kataragama main road. It has the Mattala International Airport on its left side and the Hambantota Harbour on its right side.

This land was covered with thorny shrubs and abandoned chena lands, when it was allocated for this purpose in 2006. Three water tanks named Kohombagas wewa, Malitthangas wewa and demataththa wewa, are constructed in the garden premises to preserve the moisture of the land. The total area of the botanical garden is about 300 acres.

Purpose of the garden

In summary, the objectives of establishing this botanical garden is.

Ex-situ conservation of dry and arid zone plants of Sri Lanka.
Dry zone landscape improvement.
Ecotourism promotion.
Providing knowledge and training on botany and floriculture.
Promoting medicinal herbs.
Studies on lesser-known and underutilized plants in the dry zone.

The entrance

The view

Tickets

Name board

Walking path

Under the shades

Surrounding

Beautiful nature

Dry Zone Botanic Garden is currently being established at Mirijjawila in the Hambantota District in an area of 300 acres. This is the first Sri Lankan botanical garden developed by local experts for the conservation of dwindling species of trees and shrubs, medicinal herbs and popularizing plants of the dry zone by providing an attractive destination for foreign and local tourists.