Sinharaja Forest

The Sinharaja Forest is a forest and biodiversity in Sri Lanka. It is of international importance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Sinharaja is the last remaining rainforest in the country. More than 60% of the plants are extinct and most of them are rare. 50% of species are in Sri Lanka (especially butterflies, amphibians, birds, snakes and fish species). The house is 95% birds.

The mountain virgin forest, a part of Sri Lanka's forests, was saved from the worst commercial use due to its inaccessibility, and was named a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and the Site of World Heritage in 1988.

Because of the dense vegetation, it is not easy to see wildlife like in dry national parks like Yala. There are about 3 elephants, and 15 or more leopards. The most common mammal is the purple-faced langur.

The birds often travel in mixed feeding flocks, often led by the Sri Lankan crested drongo and the noisy orange hawk. Of the 26 birds of Sri Lanka, 20 forest species are all found here, including the red-faced malkoha, the green coucal and the Sri Lankan blue magpie.

Reptiles include green snakes and snakes, and many species of amphibians, especially tree frogs. Invertebrates include butterflies and leeches of Sri Lanka.

Location

The Sinharaja Forest covers most of the Kalu Ganga and a small part of the northern part of the Gin Ganga. Most of the forest (60%) is within the boundaries of Rathnapura District. Other areas include Galle District with 20% and Kaluthara District with 20%.

Nature

The forest was probably formed during the Jurassic period (from 200 million years to 145 million years ago). This forest covers 36,000 hectares (88,960 acres/360 km²). The reserve is only 21 km (13 mi) from east to west, and a height of 7 km (4.3 mi) from north to south, but it is a treasure of rock types. i, including plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. The dense forest of Sinharaja has about 240,000 trees per hectare, the densest forest in Asia.

History

The forest was shrouded in deep legends and mysteries. The word Sinharaja means, lion (sinha) the king (raja) and the popular belief of the history of the Sinhala people in Sri Lanka is from the heir of the union of the lion king who once lived in the forest with a princess. The Sinharaja Forest is one of the most intact and unique forests left in Sri Lanka.

Sinharaja covers an area of approximately 11187 hectares. From east to west length of the forest is about 21 km. And its width from north to south will be 3.7 km. The Sinharaja forest was first declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve (MAB) in 1978, a member of the Tropical Humid Evergreen Forest ecosystem in Sri Lanka.

It was later declared a National Wilderness Area, under the National Heritage Wilderness Area Act, in 1988 and more recently a World Conservation Area in 1989. Sri Lanka's first natural resource was discovered this respect. This forest is located in the southwestern Wet Zone of the country at latitudes 6 21- 6 26 and longitudes 80 21- 80-34. It is seen over the administrative districts of Ratnapura, Galle and Matara.

Sinharaja forest has a series of continuous ridges, aligned roughly in an east-west direction and lies between the river of the Kalu Ganga in the north and the Gin Ganga in thesouth.There are four roads topic of access to Sinharaja.The Kalawana- Weddagala road from the northwest, the Rakwana-Morning estate road from the northeast, the Hiniduma-Neluwa road from the southwest and the Deniyaya-Pallegama road from the southeast. Among these routes the Kalawana-Weddagala route is shorter and more convenient for visitors from Colombo.

Flora

The forest of Sinharaja can be described as a small forest or forest.Some of the amazing characteristics of the forest are the height of the trees, the straightness of their trunks, the abundance of regeneration and the diversity of species.The height of the tree varies between 35m - 40m. Some people reach 50m.The trees of Sinharaja are like moist evergreen forest species with high endemism.In fact, some families such as Dipterocarpaceae show endemism of more than 90%.

The genetic strength of the Sinharaja plant is very high. Of the 211 trees and lianas identified in the reserve, 139 (66%) are endemic.Similarly, the same is said to be true for lower plants such as ferns, as well as epiphytes.Of the 25 endemic genera in Sri Lanka 13 are represented in Sinharaja.The number of trees, including plants, trees, plants and seeds is about 240,000 individuals per hectare, of which 95% are trees. individuals under 1m tall.

Most of the trees, lianas with more than 30 cm girth in the chest, there are between 600 - 700 individuals per hectare but the number of sellers of trees is lying above 150 cm between 45-55 people per hectare.

Fauna

Studies on the fauna of Sinharaja have shown that there is a high rate of disease in birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals of more than 50%.

There were reports of seeing a few animals in the eastern part of the Secter. The common deer species of the Sambhur The Monk deer and Barking deer are also found in the reserve.

Leopards are rarely seen, but their presence is often confirmed by other signs. Badger Mongoose and Golden Palm Civet were seen occasionally.

Of the birds recorded in the western part of the reserve, 72% were unaffected and 13% were migrants. One of the most interesting and colorful sights to be found in Sinharaja is the presence of mixed species of herds, something that is often found in the forest, a total of 100 such herds were carefully observed, and research has shown that some. the herd has 48 species including 12 endemic species.

The rare birds found in Sinharaja are the Red-faced Malkoha, the Sri Lanka Blue Magpie, the Ashy-headed Barbbler, and the White-headed Starling and the Green - billed Coucal is the rarest bird of Sri Lanka. .

Agamids are the most diverse group of animals, the most common of which is the Green Garden Lizard. It is important to note that Calotes Liolepis is an arboreal species, the most remote of all agamids found on the island.

The only turtle recorded in the reserve is the Hard-sheed Terrapin, but of the skinned species, the skin is often seen. Among the snakes The Green Pit Viper and the Hump-nosed Viper are often found in this forest and are present in Sri Lanka.

In many rivers and marshes, the Wrinkled Frog and the Sri Lankan Reed frog are also found in Sinharaja. Ramanella palmata is a rare species and the only microhylid recorded so far while the yellow-banded Caecilian was the only apodan recorded.

You, the forest visitor, should be aware of the need to save forests like Sinharaja. Apart from the hustle and bustle that exists in the cities, it is in the forests that the best of life is shown.

Also one finds peace and tranquility in the forest. Take the time to wander through this green cathedral of nature and enjoy its beauty and majesty whether you are a photographer, artist, scientist or nature lover.

Saving

The Sinharaja forest consists of the Core zone and the Buffer zone. The main zone consists of Tropical rain forest which means wet forest. But the fall zone shows different forest types since it extends over a large area of ​​land.

The Sinharaja forest extends to the southwest of the central mountains. Therefore, the intermediate zone between the two zones consists of humid forests, Lowland Montanez. Save Sinharaja's current position in a satisfactory manner.

Personal Identification

The reserve is well integrated with the local population living in many villages near the border. There are many villages in the south but there are also large fields in the north with very few villages. Villagers are collecting medicines, fruits, nuts, mushrooms, other non-plants of the forest including honey and sugar cane collected from palm trees of the Caryota genus. The juice turns into sugar, a sweetener and vinegar. The people of the village walk in the forest to gather the things mentioned above when they are not busy with their other agricultural pursuits. In addition, the clear water that comes from many rivers is the main source of water for all the people living in the reserve. For generations, local people have walked through the forest from south to north to make their annual pilgrimage to Adams Peak.

In 2013, UNESCO requested to stop the expansion of the ancient road connecting the area of ​​Lankagama to Deniyaya over a 1-km forest within the protected area after a complaint from the Center for the Environment and Nature Studies of Sri Lanka. Construction resumed on August 10, 2020 after a lengthy petition by the villagers to the Sri Lankan Government. A group of environmentalists made a mass media campaign and asked the Ministry of Forestry of Sri Lanka, the President, the Ministry of Environment and the Central Environment Authority to stop this but the Government of Sri Lanka decided to go to forward to improve the lives of the poor in the area because only 0.006% will destroy most of the forest land.

Mr. Martin Wijesinhe is one of the most important people in Sri Lanka connected with the Sinharaja. He is the unofficial bodyguard of the Sinharaja. He was her protector and guardian from the 1950s until her death in 2021.