Sinharaja Rain Forest

Sinharaja is a lowland tropical rainforest of global importance showing certain affinities with the rainforests of South and North-East India, Indonesia and Malaysia. As a result of long isolation in the shelter of the central mountains of Sri Lanka, as well as being separated by oceans from other regional rainforests, Sinharaja displays high level of endemism in the composition of both its flora and fauna. As such it warrants special protection. Indeed, the bulk of Sri Lanka's remarkable bio-diversity is concentrated in rainforests such as Sinharaja, along with those of the Peak Wilderness and the Knuckles Range. 22,000 acres in extent, the Sinharaja Rainforest amounts to only 10 percent of the remaining forest cover of the wet zone of Sri Lanka. Saved from a government sponsored logging operation in the mid-1970s, the rainforest was recognized as an international Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1978 and declared a national wilderness area in 1988. The protection of Sinharaja was further strengthened by the subsequent inclusion of the rainforest in UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.

Sinharaja displays a unique floristic composition. By 1990, 211 species belonging to 119 genera and 43 families had been described. Around 64% - 75% of the total number of trees and liana species in the Sinharaja is known to be endemics. Additionally, of the 23 genera of plants endemic to Sri Lanka, 13 are represented in the Sinharaja. The vegetation of this rainforest can be classified from top to bottom into canopy species, sub-canopy species, under-story, tree lets and shrubs, root climbers and ground herbs.

Many of the canopy giants bloom far above an observer on the forest floor. However, it is possible to see these trees in bloom from vantage points such as Sinhagala that overlook the forest. Another significant feature of the rainforest is that only a little direct sunlight reaches the forest floor in many areas. This creates a perpetual gloom, in which birds and other animals below the canopy are frequently heard long before they are seen. The forest also has a profusion of large woody climbers, rattans, and epiphytes. Among the latter are many colourful orchids most of which are endemic to the forest. The leopard is the top carnivore in the Sinharaja, but is rarely seen due to the dense nature of its rainforest habitat and the suspected low density of the leopard population.

A visit to this unique eco-system is bound to prove rewarding and memorable, provided the visitor can stop obsessing about the persistent leeches (Hirudinya sp.) and look around for other species!