Sinharaja Forest Reserve
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SinharajaForest Reserve | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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View from the Blue Magpie Lodge
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Location | Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces, Sri Lanka |
Coordinates | 6°25′00″N 80°30′00″ECoordinates: 6°25′00″N 80°30′00″E |
Area | 88.64 km2 (34.22 sq mi) |
Established | April, 1978 |
Governing body | Department of Forest Conservation |
Type: | Natural |
Criteria: | ix, x |
Designated: | 1988 (12th session) |
Reference No. | 405 |
State Party: | Sri Lanka |
Region: | Asia-Pacific |
The hilly virgin rainforest, part of the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests ecoregion, was saved from the worst of commercial logging by its inaccessibility, and was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988. The reserve's name translates as Kingdom of the Lion.
The reserve is only 21 km (13 mi) from east to west, and a maximum of 7 km (4.3 mi) from north to south, but it is a treasure trove of endemic species, including trees, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Because of the dense vegetation, wildlife is not as easily seen as at dry-zone national parks such as Yala. There are about 3 elephants and the 15 or so leopards are rarely seen. The most common larger mammal is the endemic Purple-faced Langur.
An interesting phenomenon is that birds tend to move in mixed feeding flocks, invariably led by the fearless Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and the noisy Orange-billed Babbler. Of Sri Lanka's 26 endemic birds, the 20 rainforest species all occur here, including the elusive Red-faced Malkoha, Green-billed Coucal and Sri Lanka Blue Magpie.
Reptiles include the endemic Green pit viper and Hump-nosed vipers, and there are a large variety of amphibians, especially tree frogs. Invertebrates include the endemic Common Birdwing butterfly and the inevitable leeches.
Peaks
- Pinipitigala
- Mulawella
- Kudawa entrance - Colombo --> Kalawana --> Kudawa
- Pitadeniya Entrance - Galle or Matara --> Deniyaya --> Pitadeniya
- Morning Side Entrance -- Galle or Matara --> Deniyaya --> Morning Side Estate
Contents
Flora
The vegitation of Sinharaja may be described either as a tropical lowland rain forest or tropical wet evergreen forest. Some striking characteristics of the forest are the loftiness of the dominant trees, the straightness of their bole, the abundance of regeneration and the diversity of species. Average height of the trees varies between 35m – 40m.some individuals rise even up to 50m.The vegetation of Sinharaja is that of humid wet evergreen forest type with a high degree of endemism. In fact some families such as Dipterocarpaceae show an endemism more than 90%. The untapped genetic potential of Sinharaja flora is enormousOut of the 211 woody trees and lianas so far identified within the reserve 139 (66%) are endemic. Similarly, high levels of endemism are perhaps true for the lower plants like ferns, epiphytes as well. Out of 25 genera endemic to Sri Lanka 13 are represent in Sinharaja. The total vegetation density, including trees, shrubs, herbs and seedlings has been estimated to be around 240,000 individuals per hectare, of which 95% comprise individuals of the ground layer below 1m in height. The density of trees, lianas above 30 cm girth at breast height, ranges between 600 – 700 individuals per hectare while the number of merchantable individuals of trees of girth grater than 150 cm ranges between 45-55 individuals per hectare.Fauna
Studies on the fauna of Sinharaja have revealed that there is a high degree of endemism among the butterflies, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are greater than 50%. There have been reports of sightings of a few animals in the eastern Secter.The most common deer species is the Sambhur The Monk deer and Barking deer are also found within the reserve. Leopards are very seldom sighted, but their frequent presence has been confirmed by tracks and other signs. Badger Mongoose and the Golden Palm Civet have been occasionally sighted. The most commonly seen primate is the Purple - faced Leaf Monkey.Although the elephants said to be common in the past, there have not been reports of sightings during the last 15 years. Out of the Birds recorded in the western sector of the reserve, 72% were resident non-endemic and 13% migrants. One of the most interesting and colorful spectacles to be found in the Sinharaja is the presence of mixed species of foraging bird flocks, a phenomenon commonly found in rain forests total of 100 such flocks were systematically observed, and studies have revealed that some flocks contained 48 species including 12 endemic species. The rare endemic birds to be seen 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 the rarest of Sri Lankan birds. The Agamids are the best represented group of reptiles, the most common being the Green Garden Lizard. Of Special significance are the sightings of Calotes Liolepis an arboreal species, the rearest of all agamids found in the island. The only Tortoise recorded in the reserve is the Hard - shelled Terrapin, while of the species of skinks, the spotted skink can be seen often. Among the snakes The Green Pit Viper and Hump-nosed Viper are commonly found in this forest and are endemic to Sri Lanka. The amphibians are fairly well represented in the reserve and nine endemic species have been identified. The endemic Torrent toad and the common house toad. In most streams and marshes, the Wrinkled frog and The Sri Lankan Reed frog is also found in Sinharaja. Ramanella palmata a rare endemic species is the only microhylid recorded so far while the yellow-banded Caecilian is the only apodan recorded. It is desirable that you, who visit the forest, be sensitive to the need to conserve forests such as Sinharaja.Contray to the chaos and congestion prevailing in urban areas, it is in forests that the quality of life is best expressed. In addition man finds peace and tranquillity in forest. Allow yourself sufficient time to roam about within this nature’s green cathedral and enjoy its beauty and majesty whether you be a photographer, artist, scientist or a nature lover.Gallery
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Xenochrophis asperrimus Taken by: Gunnar Pettersson(Wildlife Artist) at Sinharaja, Sri Lanka on 2008-02-19.
See also
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sinharaja Forest Reserve. |
Sinharaja Forest Reserve
- 'Sinharaja Forest Reserve website
- Official UNESCO website entry - Sinharaja Forest
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre: Sinharaja Forest
- Sarisara.com: Sinharaja Information
Sri Lanka and conservation
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Categories:
- IUCN Category II
- World Heritage Sites in Sri Lanka
- Forests of Sri Lanka
- Biosphere reserves of Sri Lanka
- National reserves of Sri Lanka
- Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
- Indomalaya ecozone
- Important Bird Areas of Sri Lanka
architecture, history and travel of Sri Lanka
Sinharaja Tropical Rain Forest
Sinharaja Forest
The World Heritage Virgin Rain Forest Cover in Sri Lanka
Also referred as Sinharaja Forest Reserve, the location of the Sinharaja Rain Forest is in the South Western part of the island and covers an area of 11,187 ha (Hectares). Sinharaja Forest Reserve is bordering three districts of the island, namely Galle, Matara and Ratnapura districts. The Rakwana Massif with its mountain ranges are part of the area covered by Sinharaja rain forest.
There are few interesting facts on the formation of the Sinharaja Rain Forest in Sri Lanka and how it came in to being. The present rain forests in the world are being an evolution of the earlier rain forests dating back to 150 - 200 million years. There had been three strips of large rain forest lands called Amazon, African and Far Eastern at that time. However these large extents of rain forest areas were later became less in area content and were confined to smaller areas. Then about 140 million years back, during the Paleosoic era, a part of land from the Southern hemisphere called Gondwana land , where present day India and Sri Lanka also were situated, started its slow process of separating from the main land. About 55 million years back during Cretaceous era that land mass called Decan plate , where Sri Lanka and India were located separated from the Southern hemisphere , started drifting towards the equator and joined with the Northern hemisphere called Laurussia.
Fig.1 Separation of India and Sri Lanka from the Southern Hemisphere
Due to this new environment , the Plant and Animal life of that land mass started to undergo changes to evolve its own characteristics making way to unique botanical and biological species. Later around 20 million years back, Sri Lanka separated from the Decan plate due to changes of the Sea water level and sinkage. Today the Rain Forests in Sri Lanka are confined to the Southern part of the Sri Lanka nearest to the equator. Forests in the the other parts of the island differs much with Sinharaja Forest cover. It is a noticeable fact that the animal and plant lives are having similarities in Sinharaja rain forest and the other rain forests found in Madagascar, Andeman Islands, Mascarene Islands , African and South Eastern islands.
Tropical rain forests need to have three main factors in common. First, there should be bright sunlight, secondly there needs to be a high rainfall, distributed all along the year and also a high temperature.This makes the region very humid. Only Sinharaja and few other scattered forest cover of lesser extent in land area in the Southern Western part of Sri Lanka fulfils the above criteria. There is also a good reason for Sinharaja to be a virgin forest but not for the forests in the Northern parts of the Island. Sri Lanka was an agricultural country since 4th Century BC and much of the land in the North Central part of the country, where there are forest covers now, had been under the plough (with rice cultivation ) till around 10th Century AD. so the age of the forest cover there dates back only for around thousand years or so.
Sinharaja forest cover receives between 3000-6000 mm of rain throughout the year and have a minimum rainfall of over 200 mm even during non monsoon periods. The mean temperature is between 18-27 degrees Celsius with a humidity of 75% - 90%. Only a faint sunshine reaches the ground layer of the forest which ranges from 5% - 15% of the total sun light. The land coverage of the Sinharaja Forest is 21 kM lengthwise, with a minimum width of 3 kM and a maximum width of 7 kM throughout that land extent. The location of Sinharaja rain Forest is between 6 D 21 M and 6 D 27 M , North and 80 D 25 M and 80 D 34 M, East. Gin Ganga and Kalu Ganga [ Rivers Gin and Kalu] gets its water flow from this forest land. The highest elevated mountain peak found at Sinharaja is 1170 Mts and has eight peaks over 600 Mts.
The Sinharaja Forest is considered to be a Tropical Rain Forest in the areas below 1000 Mts. elevation and Sub Montane Forest above 1000 Mts. elevation. The Plant density inside the forest is 240,000 plants per hectare and also there are 340 timber species. Out of these 192 are endemic to sri Lanka and 19 out of those endemic species are found only with in Sinharaja Forest.
To visit Sinharaja Forest Reserve, the most used and accessible route is Veddagala- Kudawa route. It is also the most convenient route and can be reached coming along from Colombo, passing Avissawella, Ratnapura, turning off from Tiruwanaketiya and passing Nivitigala, Kalawana, Deldoda, Veddagala and reaching Kudawa.
The other route to Kudawa is through Matugama,Agalawatta, Bellana, Baduraliya, Kukulegama then as above passing Kalawana, Delgoda, Veddagala and reaching Kudawa.
The Morningside Route can be accessed either from Ratnapura, Pelmadulla, Kahawatta, Madampe, Rakwana, Suriyakanda and to Morning Side or from Akuressa, Morawaka, Deniyaya and reaching Morning Side before going to Suriyakanda.
Rainfall figure Charts for Deniyaya and SinharajaClick on Thumbnail Photos to see full size imageMonthly Rainfall graphs created by obtaining generalized values for Deniyaya and SinharajaCarbon SequestrationCarbon Sequestration is a natural phenomena taking place during the photosynthesis in Plants which absorbs Carbon from the atmosphere for this process. The Plant leaves, branches, trunks and roots stores these Carbon and the soil also gets deposited with Carbon. Emissions of Carbon Dioxide causes Global climatic changes, mainly the green house effect that raises the global temperature and Carbon sequestration helps to offset this effectively.Sinharaja Forest's contribution to the World's Humankind becomes more and more prominent with the advancement of the Earth Sciences and the role it does on Carbon Sequestration is priceless as to the new findings. According to a CRS Report for Congress,(1) the Biome of Tropical Forests sequestrates one of the highest percentages of Carbon which totals upto 109 tons per acre. Thus Sinharaja Rain Forest effectively sequestrates (1 hectare = 2.47105381 acres) around 3,013,160 tons of Carbon among its vegetation and the soil.One must not forget the sister rain forests of Kanneliya(5108 ha), Dediyagala(3305 ha) and Nakiyadeniya(1300 ha) totaling upto 9714 ha which is known as the KDN complex that lies about 35 kM to the North West of Galle, which contributes to the Carbon Sequestration and to the Island's bio diversity.
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Travelling to Sinharaja Forest Reserve.
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The Veddagala - Kudawa access access road , Kudawa Conservation Centre Area and the beginning of the trail.The Plant Life at SinharajaClick on Thumbnail Photos to see full size image and the photo description.
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On the trail to Mulawella View Point
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The Flora in the Tropical Rain Forest
Click on Thumbnail Photos to see full size image and the photo description.Plant species and a wild fowl on the gravel path.
Click on Thumbnail Photos to see full size image and the photo description.The landscape approaching the forest.Page Up
Reaching the beginning of Mulawella Trail
Click on Thumbnail Photos to see full size image and the photo description.Mulawella trek climb starts here.
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Reaching the Summit of Moulawella View point
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Click on Thumbnail Photos to see full size image and the photo description.Descend from Moulawella PeakBack tracking to Kudawa Information CentreLeaving Sinharaja along Veddagala
ReferenceForest Department Publication- " Sinharaja World Heritage "
CRS Report for Congress
Author Contact Information
Ross W. Gorte
Specialist in Natural Resources Policy
rgorte@crs.loc.gov, 7-7266