Sinhale – සිංහරාජ වැසි වනාන්තරය [シンハラジャ熱帯雨林]
The name Sinharaja believes to have derived from a great Lion King who lived in this thick rainforest a long time ago. Folklore insists that the Lion had been stoned to death by villages to free be from its tragic attacks. The cave found higher in the forest believes is where the lion dwelled. However, there is no evidence yet to prove this story except the name itself Sinharaja (Lion King), but some lion fossils have been found in a gem pit in Kuruvita village approximately 100,000 years old.
Also had found fossils of a tiger and a Gaur from Batadhomba dating back about 13000 – 17000 years old. Tigers’ favorite prey Gaur’s last sight was in 1815 in Sri Lanka. It is believed that a large number of these beautiful huge bulls was roaming within the premises of Sinharaja till the 19th century
Human settlement and activities have been threatening its lives for the last few centuries. To protect this rainforest central government designated this forest as World Biosphere Reserved in 1978. A foreign plywood factory had to close down and withdraw its activities after the new law. 10 years later UNESCO designated the forest as a World Heritage Rain forest in 1988.
The size of the forest; from East to West is 21km (13 miles) in length, and from North to South at the longest point 7km (4.3 miles) in width. The rainforest consists of three peaks namely Siharaja, Mulawella, and Hinipitigala and the highest point elevation is 1100 meters above sea level. To access this forest there are 2 entrances,
♦ Entrance 1 – Kudawa entrance from Kalawana ♦ Entrance 2 – Pitadeniya entrance from Deniyaya
Sinharaja has its’ own habitats consisting of a very high number of endemics both the flora and fauna making it a very rich biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka.
FLORA
The vegetation of the forest is described as tropical lowland rainforest or tropical wet evergreen forest. The forest has its striking characteristics such as the loftiness of the dominant trees, the straightness of their bole, the abundance of regeneration, and the diversity of species. The average height of the trees varies from 35m to 40m making a canopy of the forest at that height. Some individuals rise even up to 50m making them self-higher than the canopy. Humid wet evergreen forest type covered with its species making very high endemism. Some tree families like Dipterocarpaceae (හොර) show endemism of more than 90%. It seems like the untapped genetic potential of Sinharaja flora is enormous out of 211 woody trees. 139 species of Lianas identified within the reserve so far, out of the 66% are endemic species. Similarly, plants at the lower level like ferns, and epiphytes endemism are very rich within the forest, out of 25 endemic genera found in Sri Lanka 13 exist in Sinharaja. The total vegetation density has been estimated at 240,000 individuals per hectare which include trees, shrubs, herbs, and seedlings where, 95% of them are at a lower level about 1 meter in height, well below the canopy of the forest. The density of some trees like liana over 30cm girth at breast height ranges between 600-700 individuals per hectare while merchantable trees with greater girth over 150cm range between 45-55 individuals per hectare.
Some of the endemic trees of the forest;
♣ Semicarpus – (Sinhala Language = බදුල්ල ගස / Badulla Gasa)
♣ Mesua nagassarium na tree – ( Sinhala Language = නා / Na)
♣ Artocarpus – (Sinhala Language = වල් දෙල් /Wal Del)
FAUNA
The very rich composition of fauna in the forest reserve increases its, endemism to a very high degree in Butterflies, Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Birds. Many mammals of Sri Lanka can be seen here but some of them are very rare sights like Leopards and Elephants in recent years. Some of the mammals that could be seen easily are; Sambar Deer, Barking Deer, Badger, Mongoose, Golden Palm Civet, Purple face leaf monkey,
Bird species are more interesting in Sinharaja where almost all 26 (present confirmed number of endemic but 7 more to confirmed) endemic birds could be seen in Sinharaja. Interestingly some feeding bird flocks are recorded consisting of 48 species and 12 endemics. Some of the endemic birds are; Blue Magpie, Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon, Sri Lanka Red Faced Malkoha, Sri Lanka Green Billed Coucal, Sri Lanka Spot-winged Thrush, and Sri Lanka Scaly Thrush are few of them.
Lizards are the best-represented group of reptiles, most common is the Kangaroo Lizard and the special significance is the sighting of Karunaratne’s Horn Lizard rarest of all lizards found in Sri Lanka. Some of the Lizards can be seen are; Lion Head Lizard – Endemic – ගැට හොඩු කටුස්සා, Rough Horn Lizard.
There are only one tortoise species recorded in the reserve the Hard-Shelled Terrapin. The spotted skink is commonly seen out of the Skink species. Among the snake species, Green Pit Viper and Hump Nosed Viper are common although they are endemic to the country.
Amphibians are fairly well represented in the forest reserve where more than 20 endemic species have been identified some of them are Wrinkled Frog, Sri Lanka Reed Frog, etc.
Fish species are rich in higher endemism in the Sinharaja rain forest, some of them can be seen; Comb tail paradise fish – Endemic, Stone sucker – Endemic.
By: Eranga Suneth Jayasinghe