𝗥𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗜𝗻 𝗦𝗿𝗶 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗸𝗮.

 

                            

Today, rainforests continue to be fragmented and cut-down due to increasing human activity in surrounding areas. Encroachment and deforestation for tea & rubber plantations inside rainforest habitat due to lack of buffer-zones is currently one of the major issues. The cleared areas give easy access for poachers to setup traps and kill wildlife for the illegal bush meat trade. Extremely rare endangered animals such as the Sri Lanka Black Leopard which only live in the rainforest, were found poached in the boundaries of Sinharaja recently.

Many buffer-zone rainforest lands are still privately owned. Increasingly these lands are being sold and forests cut down for monoculture plantations.

Impact of Rainforest Destruction

When rainforests rich in bio-diversity are felled for mono-culture tea and rubber plantations, the eco-system immediately collapses. The ground dwelling reptiles and mammals quickly lose their habitat and get trapped by poachers. The birds and butterflies lose important food sources, roosting and nesting sites. Freshwater fish and crabs die off as water streams dry up and get polluted by chemical runoff. Before long, these endangered species are lost forever.

The headwaters of our major rivers originate from the Rainforests. As rainforests are cleared and streams run dry, the rivers and waterfalls carry less freshwater downstream. With less freshwater originating from catchment areas coupled with longer droughts resulting from climate change, Sri Lanka will face severe catastrophic conditions in the near future unless action is taken now.

In hilly areas, rainforests play a major role in prevention of landslides. When barren land is exposed to flash floods, the result is landslides, which unfortunately affect many of the poor families living in the hill country.

Deforestation of Rainforests also has a direct negative impact to the economy. The growing eco-tourism industry ranging from eco-lodges, nature tours including bird-watching, adventure tours such as hiking, mountain-biking and white-water rafting directly benefit from rainforests. Therefore, deforestation affects the tourism industry, economy and surrounding communities.

Burning down rainforests for agriculture and settlements is directly fueling the Climate crisis. The Earth has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celcius since the 19th century. It is leading to rising sea levels and severe weather patterns including frequent droughts and floods. The UN Climate Report notes that ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica will likely continue to melt through the end of the century due to damage already done to the environment. Global sea levels will rise somewhat for the next 2,000 years.

𝙈𝙖𝙥 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙧𝙞 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙖.

The southwest region and the central hills of Sri Lanka have the most luxuriant forest cover. They have rain during the southwest monsoon and constitutes the lowland rain forests up to an elevation about 900 meters. At higher elevations they change to montane rain forests. Both these are very similar to those of India’s Western Ghats.

These forests are characterized by the dense canopy of tree species reaching 30-40 m in height with the emergent rising 45m above the canopy layer. Unlike the other forest types in Sri Lanka, rainforest are characterized by 5 main canopy layers as Emergent layer, Canopy, Mid canopy, Understory and Forest floor. Woody lianas form an intricate network inside the forest area. Trees bears some unique features as rainforest tree species show greater adaptation for long lasting rain falls, the leaves are even and have drip tips that allows excess water to fall off from the leaf surface. Trees are green throughout the year and since there aren’t any significant climatic variations within a year, trees continue to grow all round the year without shedding leaves at a specific time. Root systems of the plants are shallow because majority of the nutrients are present on the surface of the ground soil layer. Many roots become buttress stems to support these trees and prevent them from falling due to the shallow root system. These forests have a relatively sparse undergrowth but are rich in epiphytes and lianas. Epiphytes are those plants that hang on to a big tree, which is its host. It takes its food from the air. On the other hand, a parasite takes its food from the host plant itself. The interior of these forests are dark and dense. They have an understory made of small trees and shrubs and the ground layer consisting of herbs.

Sri Lanka’s lowland rainforests covering 2.1% of the land area harbour many endemic and threatened species. More than 60% of the 306 tree species that are endemic to Sri Lanka are found only in the lowland rainforests and some more are shared with montane and dry zone forests. Of the twelve endemic genera of flora of the island, eleven are confined to rainforests. The best known tropical rainforest in Sri Lanka is Sinharaja, internationally recognized as a world heritage site.

Kanneliya.

Kaneliya, Dedugala, Nakiyadeniya complex known as the KDN forest, Bambarabotuwa, Morapitiya Runakanda, Gilimale and Eratne are some of the other reserves. The diverse vegetation of Sinharaja provides habitats to a wide array of fauna. Thiniya, (Shorea congestifolia) Duna (Shorea stipularis), Duna (Shorea zeylanica) are some of the emergents found in Sinharaja. Hora (Dipterocarpus zeylanicus), Honda Beraliya, (Shorea megistophylla)and Batu Naa (Mesua nagasarium)are some of the species that make the canopy. Thapassara bulath (Apama siliquosa) beru (Agrostistachys spp), Galkaranda (Humboldtia spp) are commonly found in the sub canopy. Herbs like Goniva (Acrotrema) Sandaraja (Anoectochilus setaceus), Lianas such as Calamus – Rattan palms, Entada pusaetha – Pus wel (Entada pusaetha), Coscinium – veniwel contribute to the variety of the forest.

Pus wel (Entada pusaetha)

The vertebrate animals of Sinharaja consists of about 50% of native inland animals of which 30% are endemic. Mammals like the Leopard (Panthera pardus), Purple faced Leaf Monkey (Semnopithecus vetulus)(endemic), Black naped Hare (Lepus nigricollus), Fishing Cat (Prionailurus Viverrinus) and Rusty Spotted Cat (Prionarilurus rubiginosus) are found together with numerous amphibian and reptile species. The vegetation dwelling tree frogs (Genus Philautus), who lay eggs in crevices and leaves and hatch out as tiny adults, are commonly found. All rainforests such as Sinharaja are famous for the colurful array of bird life. Sinharaja has four endemics the Blue Magpie (Cissa oronata), Green billed Coucal (Centrophus chlororhynchus), Sri Lanka Spurfowl (Galloperdix bicalcarta) and Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl (Gallus lafayetti). Mixed foraging bird flocks, that is a group of different bird species of birds moving together through the forest, is something that should not be missed. A mixed flock consists of an average of 40 individuals from more than 12 species.

When observing the climate of the rainforests, it does provide the ideal conditions for tropical evergreen forest tree species. An average temperature is approximately 23.6’C and annually receives more than 2500mm rainfall to the forest lands during the binaural monsoons. Most of the soil groups that can be found from rainforest is Red Yellow Podzolic Soils with clearly distinguishable horizons that vary with the soil depth. Little accumulation of Organic matter can be observed in the soil. Rainforest soil is a poor nutrient pool as many of the nutrients are attracted to the plant which has a greater demand for faster growth.