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Make Knuckles a world heritage

by Florence Wickramage

The Green Politicians Movement has made representations to UNESCO to declare the Knuckles Range as a World Heritage site.

This range is also known as the " Mini Alps".

The Knuckles Range spreading around 20,000 ha. of land is a veritable storehouse of a rich biodiversity and a host of indigenous flora and fauna. Moreover climatic conditions of five regions is found spread over a 62 mile radius in the Knuckles Range.

The Knucles mountain range consists of five peaks which look like the knuckles of a clenched fist.

The highest point is Gombaniya 6248ft. The five peaks which could be seen from the West to South East is Kirigalpotta 5405ft, Gambaniya 6248ft, Knuckles roughly in the centre of the range is 6122ft, Kobonillagala 5198ft and Dohilugala 5161ft.

An urgent reason highlighted for successive governments to conserve the Knuckles Range of Forests is that although the total forest cover of Sri Lanka is now about 30% of the land area of the country, the forest cover in the vital upper catchment area of the Mahaveli is only about 6% of that area.

In supporting the request for the declaration of the Knuckles Range as a World Heritage site, the Asian Regional Representative of the movement Matale District MP Sanjeeva Kaviratne has stated that the Knuckles Range has come under heavy attack by encroachers of land adjoining the range and those bent on pirating its indigenous plant species.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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