Sinharaja is a national park located in the southwestern part of Sri Lanka . It is the only rainforest in the country. Sinharaja forest was included in the world network of biosphere reserves in 1978 and included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 [1] . Flora and fauna is rich in endemic taxa, many of which are listed in the Red Book .
| Sinharaja | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IUCN Category II ( National Park ) | |
| basic information | |
| Square | 88.64 km² |
| Established | |
| Location | |
| A country |
|
 World Heritage Site | |
| Sinharaja forest reserve (Sinharaja Biosphere Reserve) | |
| Link | No. 405 on the World Heritage List |
| Criteria | ix, x |
| Region | Countries of Asia and the Pacific |
| Turning on | 1988 ( 12th session ) |
The area of the park is 88.64 km². The landscape is a series of valleys and ranges. 60% of tree species are endemic and many of them are rare species. There are 2 types of forests in this area:
- Plants of the genus Dipterocarpus and a secondary forest grown after slash-and-burn agriculture grow in the valleys and lower slopes of the ranges
- the second type of forest dominates the park - these are plants of the genus Mesua and Doona .
Sinharaja is home to many rare birds, butterflies , reptiles and mammals. Among them are the Indian elephant , leopard , Ceylon azure magpie , Ceylon starling , python and others. In the Sinharaja National Park, there are 21 species of endemic birds and several rare insects, reptiles and amphibians.
The name of the park literally means “lion” ( Sinha ) and “king” ( Raja ), which is possibly a reference to the legendary race of lion people or to the house of the legendary lion of Sri Lanka [1] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Sinharaja Forest Reserve on UNESCO.org
See also
- Sinharaja Forest Reserve website
- World Conservation Monitoring Center: Sinharaja Forest (Link not available) . Date of treatment November 20, 2011. Archived February 22, 2007.