Sinharaja Rain Forest

 Sinharaja Rain Forest

Snapshot

Moist and muggy, murky and mysterious; an experience of Sinharaja is like nothing else in Sri Lanka. Trekking through this magnificent jungle, the last surviving stretch of virgin rainforest on the island is a treat; through a bewildering land of exotic colours and wonderful sounds is an truly enriching experience. From top to bottom the forest is teeming with life, colour and sound; gushing waterfalls, gurgling streams, ants marching, leaves rustling, leeches waiting, crickets creaking and fluttering butterflies combine to stir the senses. Sinharaja is a UNESCO International Man and Biosphere Reserve.

Stats in Brief Stratification: Tropical Lowland Forest or Wet Evergreen Forest Size: 11187 hectares Status: World Heritage Site, 1988. Altitude: 90m – 1170m (Hinipitigala Peak) Temperature: 19 – 34 (degrees C) Annual Rainfall: 3500mm – 5500mm Best time of year to visit: December - April; August and September. Optimum duration of stay: 3 - 4 days. Accommodation Options: Martin’s Place, Blue Magpie, Boulder Gardens, Rainforest Edge Strengths: Birds, Butterflies, Dragonflies, Jungle treks.

Overview Located in the southwest corner of Sri Lanka, 40km inland from the historic city of Galle, the Sinharaja rain forest straddles a series of mountains and ridges in the country’s wet zone, containing a number of streams, waterfalls and fresh-water springs which flow into the Gin Ganga (‘Ganga’ means ‘River’) on the southern boundary and Kalu Ganga to the north. The Sinharaja region has long played an important role in the cultural heritage of Sri Lanka. For folklorists, the name of the forest, which literally means ‘lion king’, suggests its significance as the primary home of the legendary lion of Sri Lanka. Other less romantic historians believe that the name refers to Sinharaja’s role as the ‘king-sized’ or ‘royal’ forest of the Sinhalese people, at a time when over 100,000 hectares of wet evergreen jungle covered the South Western hills and lowlands of Sri Lanka. Since that time, with much of the land having been cultivated by both colonial settlers and local inhabitants for tea estates and other forms of enterprise, the thin sliver of forest (21km long and 3.7km wide) that remains, is but a glimpse of its former glory. Only relatively recently was the urgency of conserving this precious segment of land was seriously recognised when it was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1976. In 1989 UNESCO seconded this move and made it a World Heritage Site in 1989. The forest not only offers a window into in Sri Lanka’s distant past but is also houses an incredible array of flora and fauna (including a sum total of 73 endemic species of birds, butterflies, fish, mammals, reptiles and amphibians) making a world famous hotspot for biodiversity.