Kanneliya rainrainforest .❤️

 

      Sri Lanka is a country rich in biodiversity.  This country is also known as the Bio-diversity hot spot where the highest biodiversity can be found on a small plot of land.  That's it.  The 10,857-hectare Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya (KDN) Forest Complex, named by UNESCO in 2004 as the Man & Biosphere Reserve, is the largest (5,305.9 hectare) and the most visited area by tourists.

 Kanneliya Forest is located 1.5 km from the Kanneliya Road on the B 429 B 429 from Udugama to Hiniduma in the Galle District.  This is a lowland wet zone tropical rainforest which is mainly fed by the southwest monsoon rains between May and September.  Annual rainfall is between 3500 - 4500 mm.  It has been found that there are more than 110 small canals that supply water to the Gin and Nilwala rivers, the two main rivers in the Southern Province.

       

  

   This forest, which is second only to the Sinharaja forest among the rainforests of Sri Lanka, was depleted of Kanneliya primary forest due to timber supply to the Gintota plywood factory until the late 1960s-70s.  However, it can be said that the importance of this forest has been preserved due to the high level of secondary forest in the last forty years.

 The value of the Kanneliya forest is reflected in the fact that it was declared a protected forest in 1934, a protected forest in 1990 and an international biosphere reserve in 2004 under the UNESCO's Man and Biosphere Program.

 This forest is considered to be one of the most important forests in South Asia in terms of plant diversity.  It is estimated that there are over 300 species of plants here.  About 52% of them are endemic to Sri Lanka.  26 species are endangered in our country and 15 are endangered worldwide. 

       

   About 120 species of birds are found here, including 14 of the 23 endemic bird species.  Sri Lankan spur fowl Sri Lankan jungle fowl Sri Lankan gray hornbill Red faced Mal koha Orange-billed babbler  (Blue Magpie) Ceylon Billed coucal Green-faced starling White-faced starling Chestnut backed owlet, Layred's parakeet etc.    

        The people living in these areas are also contributing to the protection of the reserve in line with the objectives of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve concept and have taken steps for their economic and social development.  Accordingly, several traditional activities such as procuring raw materials for the products of the locals and maintaining three forest monasteries have been permitted without harming the forest.  The protection of the forest is also inherent as the people who act as guides in the forest and are engaged in many duties are the ones who know the importance of the forest.