Udawattkele Forest Reserve

 Udawattakele Forest Reserve 

Udawattakele Forest Reserve commonly spelled UdawattaKele, is a prominent forest on a hill in the city of Kandy. It is 104 hectares (257 acres) in size. During the days of the Kandyan kingdom, Udawattakele was known as "Uda Wasala Watta" in Sinhalese which means "the garden above the king's palace". The temple is famous for its large number of birds. The reserve also has many different types of plants, especially lianas, shrubs and small trees. There are many large lianas. Most of the small and medium sized parrots living in Sri Lanka can be seen here. Many species of snakes and other animals can be seen. Udawattakele was designated as a forest in 1856, and became a temple in 1938.

The Ministry of Forestry of Sri Lanka has two offices in the reserve, one (in the south-east) has a center for nature education and exhibitions of pictures, posters, stuffed animals, etc. the forest has a great educational and recreational value. Groups of students and students regularly visit the forest and the training center. The forest is also popular with foreign tourists, especially bird watchers. Natural science research was carried out in the forest by researchers. The forest is of great religious importance as there are three Buddhist meditation centers and three rock shelters for Buddhist monks.

History

It is recorded that a brahmin named Senkanda, from whose name was the original name of the city Senkandagalapura, lived in a cave in this forest. teeth and can be visited. The Senkandagala-that fell under the ground in 2012. It is said that a brahmin brought a sapling of Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi here and planted it in this place of Natha Devala. It was used as a pleasure garden by the Kandyan king. The forest was reserved for the Royal family, and the lake in the forest was used for bathing.

During the colonial period, some land near the Temple of the Tooth was used to build the Kandy garrison cemetery. In 1834 governor Horton built a road, Lady Horton's drive, in the forest to commemorate his wife. Henry W. Cave said the road was about three miles long. Lady McCarthy's drive, Lady Torrington's lane, Lady Gordon's lane, Lady Anderson's lane, Gregory's lane, Russell's lane, and Byrde lane are other walks named after the forest. Some have been abandoned for a long time and are overgrown with forest.

On the two hilltops in the southeast of the forest can be found the remains of a guard post from the first British rule in the Kandyan Kingdom. It is located in the forest on the high ground to the east and west of the nature education center. Barriers and moats can still be seen in the forest. On 24 June 1803 the army of King Sri Wickrama Rajasingha attacked this post where the British army was stationed in Kandy and made prisoners (mostly including Malays and 'Gun Lascar' or Sepoys mercenaries) prisoners. Most of the British were later killed.

Features

Udawattakele is located on the hill that stretches between the Temple of the Tooth and the Uplands-Aruppola house. The highest point of the ridge (7°17'55.41"N, 80°38'40.04"E) is 635 meters above sea level and 115 meters above the nearby Kandy Lake. Cittavisuddhi This is a one of the three caves in the forest temple are three Buddhist forest monasteries, that is, Forest Hermitage, Senanayakaramaya and Tapovanaya, and three cave houses for Buddhist monks, that is, Cittavisuddhi-lena, Maitri-lena and Senkadandagala-lena . The reservoir serves as a catchment area for water supply to the city of Kandy.

Flora

The wilderness of the park includes dense forest, many abandoned farms and secondary formations. According to Hitanayake, probably based on himself in Karunaratne (1986, Appendix XIII) 460 species of trees grew in the forest, 135 trees and shrub species and 11 of lianas. These include 9 restricted species.

In 2013, a survey identified 58 species of plants (7 endemic), 61 shrubs and small trees (7 endemic), 31 herbs (3 endemic) of which 12 are orchids, and 57 lianas, flowers and vines (4). complete. Due to the thickness of the upper layer, the lower layer is not present everywhere, especially in the areas where there are Peruvian balsam, (Myroxylon balsamum), Mahogany trees, (Swietenia macrophylla) and the Devil's Ivy.

The temple is home to many types of non-flowering plants, pteridophytes, such as many types of ferns that grow on the steep banks on the shady road to the east of the mountain mountain to remove species of fern, some of which are rare and not recorded elsewhere in Sri Lanka.

About half of the forest, mostly in the southwest, is heavily invaded by exotic plants and reptiles. In these areas very few plants and fauna can live; see Threats section below. A total of 16 species of plants grow in the forest (7 of which are invasive), as well as 6 species of trees (one, Coffea, of invasive), 6 types of vines and creepers (three of which are invasive), and 6. exotic plants (one of which is invasive).

Fauna

Udawattakele is a popular bird watching spot. About 80 species of birds have been recorded in the temple.[20] Bird species include Layard's parakeet, yellow-fronted barbet, brown babbler and Sri Lankan hanging hawk. The rare three-toed kingfisher Ceyx erythacus is often observed in the lake. Commonly seen are the common mountain myna, the golden-fronted bird, the blue-winged bird, the spotted dove, the emerald dove, the Tickell's blue flycatcher, the white shama, the red-headed front, the brown headed snake, the snake eagle, and the brown owl. heard in the forest.

Although the forest is completely surrounded by Kandy and its suburbs, there are many species of mammals, most of which are nocturnal. Mammals that live in the reserve include the toque macaque (Macaca sinica aurifrons), the golden palm, mouse deer (Moschiola meminna), the long loris, and the palm squirrel. Other mammals are the Indian muntjac, Indian boar, porcupine (Hysterix indica), Asian palm civet, small Indian civet, muddy mongoose, Indian giant flying squirrel, big bandicoot rat, Indian pangolin, great false vampire bat, and Indian flying-fox.

There are many species of reptiles and amphibians, including exotic animals, that live in the forest. There are snakes like the python (Hypnale hypnale), green grape snake (Ahaetulla nasuta), green python (Trimeresurus trigonocephalus), banded kukri (Oligodon arnensis), Boie's rattlesnake (Aspidura brachyorrhos) Lanka cat snake (Boiga ceylonensis), Oriental ratsnake (Ptyas mucosus) and eyed lobster (Naja naja). The lizards that can be seen include the green forest lizard (Calotes calotes), the Sri Lankan kangaroo-lizard (Otocryptis wiegmanni) and the banded lizard (Calotes liolepis). Many species of lizards, geckos, frogs and toads also live in the forest.

Some Sri Lanka wet zone butterflies present.Other invertebrates include large grass scorpions Heterometrus spp., spiders such as tarantula ornamental Sri Lanka poisonous (Poecilotheria fasciata), fireflies, beetles, stone bugs, bees and wasps. There are at least nine species of ground squirrels such as Acavus superbus that live in the forest.

Threats

Udawattakele Forest Reserve has suffered from vandalism and land grabbing by nearby landowners in the past. However, the natural environment of the forest is under serious threat. increase the plants and trees and the animals and insects that live on them. Creeping plants and creepers have no natural enemies such as disease or insects and the animals that feed on them and therefore grow larger and multiply faster than their own place. About half of the forest has been completely invaded or completely conquered by invasive plants and creepers.

The areas of the forest between the Temple of the Tooth, the forest office at the west gate, and the eastern slope of the king's lake are severely damaged. A few patches of unspoiled forest, with many species of trees and shrubs, remain in the northern and eastern parts of the forest. There is a patch of native forest, near the forest department office in the southeast.

Although the forest is of great educational, scientific, environmental, historical and cultural value, the Ministry of Forestry does not have a management plan to maintain biodiversity and remove invasive species to restore and protect natural trees. The necessary control measures are the removal of seeds, the collection and compaction of seeds, and the removal of young plants and flowers.

Visiting

Udawattakele Forest Reserve has suffered from vandalism and land grabbing by nearby landowners in the past. However, the natural environment of the forest is under threat. increase the trees and plants and animals and insects that live there. Creeping and creeping plants have no natural enemies such as disease or insects and animals to feed on and therefore grow larger and multiply faster than in their natural habitat. About half of the forest has been completely invaded or completely conquered by invasive plants and flowers.

The areas of the forest between the Temple of the Tooth, the forest office at the west gate, and the east side of the king's lake have been severely damaged. A few parts of the forest that have not been destroyed, with many types of trees and shrubs, still remain in the north and east of the forest. There is a patch of native forest, near the forest department office in the southeast.

Although the forest is of great educational, scientific, environmental, historical and cultural value, the Ministry of Forestry has no plan to maintain biodiversity and remove invasive species to restore and protect natural vegetation. Appropriate control measures are seed removal, seed collection and packaging, and removal of young plants and flowers.

Location