Sinharaja Forest Reserve

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**Sinharaja Forest Reserve**¹
**UNESCO World Heritage Site**

State Party	Sri Lanka
Type	Natural
Criteria	ix, x
Identification	#405
Region²	Asia-Pacific
Inscription History
Formal Inscription:	1988 10th WH Committee Session
WH link:	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/405
1 Name as officially inscribed on the WH List 2 As classified officially by UNESCO

Sinharaja Forest Reserve
IUCN Category II (National Park)
View from the Blue Magpie Lodge
Location:	Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces, Sri Lanka
Coordinates:	6°25′″N, 80°30′″E
Area:	88.64 km²
Established:	April, 1978

Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a national park in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Rainforest vegetation

Common Birdwing

The hilly virgin rainforest, part of the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests ecoregion, was saved from the worst of commercial logging by its inaccessibility, and was designated a World Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and a World Heritage Site in 1889. The reserve's name translates as Kingdom of the Lion.

The reserve is only 21 km from east to west, and a maximum of 7 km from north to south, but it is a treasure trove of endemic species, including trees, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.

Because of the dense vegetation, wildlife is not as easily seen as at dry-zone national parks such as Yala. There are no elephants, and the 15 or so leopards are rarely seen. The commonest larger mammal is the endemic Purple-faced Langur.

An interesting phenomenon is that birds tend to move in mixed feeding flocks, invariably led by the fearless Greater Racket-tailed Drongo and the noisy Orange-billed Babbler. Of Sri Lanka's 26 endemic birdssuranganet, the 20 rainforest species all occur here, including the elusive Red-faced Malkoha, Green-billed Coucal and Sri Lanka Blue Magpie.

Reptiles include the endemic Green pit viper and Hump-nosed Vipers, and there are a large variety of amphibians, especially tree frogs.

Invertebrates include the endemic Common Birdwing butterfly and the inevitable leeches.