Saving paradise — Season 1, Episode 8: Yala National Park — An Eden in Sri Lanka

Episode synopsis

In the south-east of Sri Lanka, in the wildest part as it is the most remote from urban areas, the vast plains planted with trees along the immensity of the beaches of the Indian Ocean are like an Eden preserved from the tumult of civilization. The present Sri Lanka is an island-country of more than 20 million inhabitants who cohabit with a fauna often endemic, remarkable by its diversity and its abundance. Yala Natural Park extends over nearly 1000 km2. Its green swampy savannahs are sprinkled with astonishing rocky outcrops: promontories 10 to 50 meters high made of metamorphic rocks dating from the quaternary period, which evoke the tectonic conflicts between the continents: the Asian plate and that of the Indian Ocean are in permanent conflict, these rocks are a manifestation of it and it is the same titanic friction that created the vertiginous folding of the Himalayas some 2000 km further north.

About Saving paradise

The breathtaking beauty of some natural sites should not obscure their role as unique ecosystems. Within them, animal species and nature live in harmony. Sadly, their wealth makes them a prime target for men’s greed. The fight to protect them is a relentless one, and the people who lead it have become true heroes of our time.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Caño Cristales — The Five-Colored River
• E2Iguazu Falls — Biodiversity Treasure
• E3Lake Kaindy, The Treasure of the Kazakh Mountains
• E4The Lost World of the Galápagos
• E5The Sanctuary of Umphang in Thailand
• E6The Wild Archipelago of the Bissagos Islands
• E7The Chocolate Hills of Bohol
• E9Daintree Rainforest Australia of the Origins
• E10Pantanal — A Biosphere Reserve in Danger
• E11Torres del Paine, Jewel of Patagonia
• E12Canaima and the Venezuelan Tepuis
• E13USA: Grand Canyon — A Heritage to Be Preserved