Chethana Janith, Jadetimes Staff
C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter and sub-editor covering science and geopolitics.
It is early morning in the heart of Sinharaja, a resplendent South Asian tropical rainforest in Sri Lanka. I'm mesmerized by the richness of life around me. Towering dipterocarp trees rise from a thicket of lianas, tree ferns, and spiked rattan climbers. The branches drip with epiphytes and the remains of a morning shower. I breathe in the dampness and the rich scent of decomposing leaf litter. A cacophony of a mixed species feeding flock approaches, led by a pair of normally reclusive Red-faced Malkohas (Phaenicophaeus pyrrhocephalus). Just a short while ago, a small group of us was spellbound by a Sri Lanka green pitviper (Trimeresurus trigonocephalus) perched motionless over a rivulet. The deep calls of purple-faced langurs (Semnopithecus vetulus vetulus), recently split from other similar primates, reverberate from the canopy. Yet, none of this was here 50 years ago when the region was being aggressively logged for manufacturing plywood. From a ravaged landscape to a world heritage site and one of Asia’s premier rainforests, this is the remarkable legacy of Sinharaja.
Part of what has made Sinharaja so successful is the need for visitors to forsake ideas of speed and quick gratification. In Sinharaja, a visitor does not rush; for when one does, they miss what makes it special. The beauty of the rainforest must be experienced slowly, on foot, and under one’s own steam. There are few guarantees on what you see, and so each visit offers an opportunity for new personal discovery. Of course, there are nuisances like leeches, frequent rain showers, rough trails, and damp conditions. Serendipity, the idea of unexpected good fortune, associated with the island of Sri Lanka, is modus operandi on the trails of Sinharaja.
Sri Lanka’s three principal mountainous areas – the Knuckles, Central Highlands, and Rakwana Hills – were isolated from destructive land uses until the rise of European colonial rule. Areas in Sri Lanka’s wet zone, located in the southwest of the country, still host relic plants, birds, and animals with very ancient affinities – some even stretching back to Gondwanaland. The biogeography of these species and how they are linked to Madagascar, South India, and Southeast Asia is a fascinating story that is only now being better understood.
Birdwatching at the Fore
There is a long history of visitors from afar being drawn to Taprobane or Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was known earlier. Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, and Mark Twain all wrote glowing descriptions. Just last year, the island was ranked by Lonely Planet as the “World’s #1 travel destination.” Beyond the beaches and ancient cities of the cultural triangle, Sri Lanka has a special pull on wildlife tourists. Generally speaking, these individuals are attracted by the large charismatic species, namely the leopards and herds of elephants in the grand Protected Areas of Yala, Minneriya, and Wilpattu. Those are worthy parks, albeit a bit over-visited and crowded with vehicular traffic. The visitor experience in Sinharaja is quite different, offering a distinct model for conservation.
Creatures with wings have brought Sinharaja into focus among conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts on a national, regional, and now global scale. From a specialized destination that was hard to get to, Sinharaja is now a premier birdwatching site visited by thousands of people spread over 12 months. The growth of Sinharaja as a top birding site has been organic, evolving from a recovering forest to a long-term research site and now a destination for birders and other ecotourists.
Sinharaja’s tourists buy entrance tickets from the Forest Department, and many stay in locally-run homestays in or near the buffer zone. Martin Wijesinghe’s Forest Lodge, on the Kudawa entrance side of Sinharaja, was the first place to cater to birders. With support from friends at Colombo University, Martin has played a pivotal role in promoting birdwatching and ecotourism in Sinharaja. His approach has been mimicked by numerous other places.
Serious birders come to Sinharaja to see, photograph, and tick off as many of Sri Lanka’s 33 endemic bird species as possible. They walk, rather than drive in fossil fuel-powered vehicles, to experience the rainforest. Each group entering the forest from the two principal entrances is required to take a local guide. These men and women are recruited from neighboring villages and undergo training with the Forest Department. While there are veterans with over 20 years of experience among them, Sinharaja’s guides include young, energetic members. The result is that these are highly sought-after positions, and families living near the park entrances have become stakeholders in the success of the Protected Area.
Shared Lessons
Sinharaja and Silent Valley in Kerala share fascinating parallels worth highlighting. Both have recent histories that began in controversy, sparked public support, and ultimately led to their protection. These Protected Areas exemplify effective management strategies. Silent Valley boasts a team of enthusiastic and committed personnel who love what they do, from top-level officials often in the field to forest guards at remote posts. The Kerala Wildlife Department runs a tight operation, and during a visit a few years ago, I was impressed by their commitment and love for the rainforest. In Sinharaja, a similar pride is evident in the forest guides who take tourists along trails at the Kudawa and Deniyaya entrances. Their livelihoods are closely connected to the protected forest. Ecological succession is occurring in both places, and the recovery of the rainforest is remarkable. While important studies have been conducted on this recovery and other aspects of these forests, there are opportunities for deeper exploration. Both case studies demonstrate the power of protecting South Asian rainforests for ecological, aesthetic, and economic reasons.
Exploitation, Awareness & Protection
Sinharaja’s status as a Protected Area has mythological origins, but the modern site was born from controversy and exploitation. The lore associated with the forest dates back to a time before recorded history, with stories of a lion king living in the forest. The name Sinharaja evokes great pride among the Sinhalese. In the 19th and 20th centuries, much of Sri Lanka’s mountainous areas were converted into plantation agriculture, and human populations surged southwest of the island. The Rakwana Hills and the area known as the Sinharaja Adiviya were exceptions, enjoying natural protection due to their rugged topography. However, in the 1960s, roads were built into the heart of Sinharaja, and mechanical logging began to feed a large plywood mill in Avissawella. At the time, such projects were praised for promoting “development.” Ecological awareness – concepts like biodiversity, deforestation, ecosystem services, and watershed management – were not part of the public discourse. Sinharaja’s living creatures, barely catalogued at this stage, seemed destined for destruction.
The 1970s were a time of political and economic turmoil in Sri Lanka and globally. The nationalization of private estates, the JVP insurrection, its forceful suppression, and the simmering conflict with Tamils set the stage for uncertain times and tensions. Amidst all this, nascent environmental movements began to emerge. Groups of citizens, university professors, and students started raising awareness about deforestation and the need to protect Sinharaja. The March for Conservation group was a key player in raising public awareness. They recognized the area as one of exceptional biodiversity (a term not widely used then). The issue became politicized, and Julius Jayewardene’s 1977 election led to the cessation of logging. Sinharaja was protected first as a sanctuary in 1978 and then as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. Responsibility for its protection was assigned to the Forest Department rather than the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Since then, Sinharaja has become one of the most studied rainforests in Asia. The Smithsonian Institute and Yale University collaborated with Peradeniya University to launch a forest dynamics plot study, examining 25 hectares of Sinharaja’s lowland rainforest in great detail over several decades. Numerous studies of bird species have been published in reputable scientific journals. Colombo University’s Zoology Department, Professor Sarath Kotagama, and the affiliated Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL) were key players in this effort.
Recovery & Restoration
Interestingly, the logged areas at the heart of Sinharaja experienced very little formal restoration efforts. Instead, the area was left alone, allowing neighboring species to successfully recolonize the degraded slopes and valleys. Cleared forest areas are often vulnerable to invasion by fast-growing non-native species. This occurred to some extent, but native species were more successful in recolonization. Visitors experience these areas as the “secondary forests” that line the old logging road, now a broken track difficult to walk on and impossible to drive on. When I first started visiting Sinharaja in 1999, the secondary forests were easy to identify with their thickets of growth and tall Calamus vines reaching up to the canopy. Today, the girth of the trees has increased, the Calamus is dying back, and ecological succession processes have brought these areas closer to climax vegetation. Nearby primary forest - areas that were never logged - are still distinguished by their climax species, including large buttressed trees like "Shorea trapezifoli" and "Mesua nagassarium", and a relatively less-crowded understory due to limited light reaching the forest floor.
The boundary of Sinharaja had originally been cleared, and the Forest Department planted fast-growing "Pinus caribaea" (originally from Central America) to create a clear demarcation. The species is used in other areas in the Rakwana Hills for timber plantation purposes. In recent years, as ecologists realized the problems of reduced biodiversity and water retention in non-native plantations, efforts have been made to restore these zones with native plantations. Some natural succession was slowly taking place in these plantations, but it was slow. A study by Nimal and Savitri Gunatilleke (Peradeniya) and Mark Ashton (Yale) showed that with careful thinning of the plantation and the planting of site-appropriate species, ecological succession processes could be accelerated. Today, most of this pine forest near the Kudawa entrance is on its last legs, and a secondary forest dominated by native species is on its way to taking over.
What We Can Learn from Sinharaja
Citizen-based movements that push for protecting areas of ecological value are crucial initiators of authentic conservation success.
Long-term scientific studies are essential to understanding the full value of tropical rainforest systems; there's still a great deal we don’t know.
Low-impact ecotourism can provide livelihoods for families living in the buffer zone of a Protected Area through employment as guides (both under the Forest Department or as private guides) and providers of services, including homestays.
Ecotourism on foot, rather than in jeeps, offers a low-impact way to experience biodiversity beyond large charismatic species.
Former tropical rainforest ecosystems that have been cleared and badly damaged by human activity are resilient and have the ability to recover largely on their own, though active restoration efforts can accelerate the process.
Western Ghats Sri Lanka Biodiversity Hotspot Differences
A defining aspect of the Conservation International-designated Western Ghats Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot is its heterogeneity. This applies to the landscapes and abiotic factors that determine the life forms and biomes/ecosystems supported in each of its zones. The hotspot stretches 1,800 km from the basaltic Sahyadris, through Goa and western Karnataka, to the granite horsts of the southern Western Ghats. Sri Lanka, with its dry, intermediate, and wet zones, is included in its entirety. The southwestern belt of Sri Lanka, where Sinharaja is located, is distinguished by its high rainfall. It’s not just that the wet zone has high rainfall but that it is a wet biome throughout the entire year. Some of the wettest areas in the Western Ghats may have equal or higher rainfall (think of Agumbe), but it is seasonal, falling for a few months, while the remaining months are relatively dry. Rohan Pethiyagoda and other researchers have highlighted this feature as a defining aspect contributing to the high levels of endemism in plants and animals in Sri Lanka’s wet zone. While there are other factors, Sinharaja straddles a key, relatively undisturbed area of this biodiverse wet zone.
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