Sinharaja Forest Reserve
Sri Lanka's Sinharaja Forest Reserve is both a forest reserve and a hotspot for biodiversity. It has been named a Biosphere Reserve and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO due to its importance on a global scale.
The last remaining primary tropical rainforest in the nation is located in Sinharaja, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The majority of the trees—more than 60%—are endemic, and many of them are rare. 50% of the animal species in Sri Lanka are endemic (especially butterflies, amphibians, birds, snakes, and fish species). 95% of the birds there are endemic.
A World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1988, the hilly virgin rainforest, which is a part of the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests ecoregion, was spared from the worst of commercial logging by its accessibility.
Animals can't be seen as quickly as they can in national parks in dry zones, like Yala, because of the dense vegetation. There are approximately 3 elephants and [vague] 15 or so leopards. The endemic purple-faced langur is the most prevalent giant mammal.
Fearless Sri Lanka crested drongo and the obnoxious orange-billed babbler are always in charge of flocks of birds moving in mixed feeding formations. Twenty of Sri Lanka's 26 endemic bird species, including the elusive red-faced malkoha, green-billed coucal, and Sri Lanka blue magpie, are found in the rainforest.
The endemic green pit viper and hump-nosed vipers are reptiles, and there are many different amphibians, particularly tree frogs. Leeches and the endemic Sri Lankan birdwing butterfly are examples of invertebrates.
| Area | 88.64 km2 (34.22 sq mi |
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