Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka (Commonwealth Union)_ The very first BIOthlon organized by the European Union in Sri Lanka and the Maldives brought together renowned sports persons, diplomats, youth from local communities, and tourists in a bid to promote sustainable tourism and biodiversity protection via sports. With sports dubbed as being a great unifier, the two-day event held in one of Sri Lanka’s premier kitesurfing destinations on the western coast of Sri Lanka’s Puttalam district, engaged over 35 participants in five sports – running, swimming, cycling, kayaking, and kitesurfing.
The uniqueness of the event was that each of the five sporting activities was located in biodiversity hotspots in Kalpitiya, in a bid to celebrate Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity and create awareness about the actual location of Kalpitiya which has immense touristic value for water sports, history, birdlife and mangrove conservation. The BIOthlon convened under the spirit of ‘Team Europe’, is a crucial element to the EU’s efforts designed to promote regenerative sustainable tourism in Sri Lanka while turning a spotlight on the rich biodiversity and tourism hotspots of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka is one of 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world with the highest biodiversity per unit area of land in Asia. The wet zone rainforests house nearly all of Sri Lanka’s woody endemic plants and 75 percent of endemic animals plus 3,000 varieties of rice grown throughout history.
A peninsula comprising fourteen islands replete with mangroves and waterbirds, Kalpitiya is believed to have derived its name from the Tamil name Kalputti coined from the words for stone and elevation and during colonial rule as Calpentyn.
A hotspot for maritime trade, Kalpitiya was first colonized by the Portuguese in the early 17th century but it was the Dutch who developed it into a military garrison and a naval outpost for trade supplies to the mainland. As a result, Kalpitiya has a well-preserved Dutch Fort (with a church from the Portuguese era) as well as a Dutch Church.
Olympians, medalists, mountaineers, cricketers, swimmers, and other renowned athletes making up the Team Europe BIOthlon included Sriyani Kulawansa, Sugath Thilakaratne, Nimmi de Zoysa, Julian Bolling, Haris Omar, Jayanthi Kuru-Utumpala, Praneeth Udumalagala, Jehan Mubarak and Dilsiri Welikala. For Olympic swimmer Julian Bolling, the experience was truly unique, participating in a non-competitive atmosphere but also seeing the potential for sports tourism in Sri Lanka. The participants also visited the Wilpattu National Park renowned for its high density of leopards in this part of the world.
