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Sinharaja Forest Reserve
| Site number: | 405 |
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| Type of site: | Natural | |
| Date: | - | |
| Date of Inscription: | 1982 | |
| Location: | Asia, Sri Lanka, Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces | |
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| Description: | Sinharaja, situated in south-west Sri Lanka, is the last viable region of primary tropical rainforest in the country. Over 60% of the trees are endemic and lots of of them are deemed rare. The site holds a great deal of endemic wildlife, particularly birds, but it is also houses more than 50% of Sri Lanka's endemic mammal and butterfly species, in addition to numerous types of insects, reptiles and uncommon amphibians. --WHMNet paraphrase from the description at WHC Site, where additional information is available. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here. | |
| Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a national park in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO. 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 from east to west, and a maximum of 7 km 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 no elephants, and the 15 or so leopards are rarely seen. The commonest 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 (suranganet), 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. --Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. For 360 degree imaging of this site, click here. | ||
| Rights of Image: | www.World-Heritage-Tour.org | |
| Source: | http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/405 | |
| Reference: | 1. UNESCO World Heritage Center, Site Page. | |