Sri Lanka’s unique hotspot Sinharaja, the lion’s kingdom, does not merely provide shelter for many scientists at home and abroad, but it has also become the most extensively and well studied rainforest in the world. Sachitra Mahendra has details.

Sinharaja tells you an intriguing historical account of a hard-fought kingdom of nature tracked as far back as 1970s when it was just another state owned plot of land used for commercial logging. Bull dozer and Timber Jack were a common sight to the villagers.

The sands of time however witnessed all fronts standing against the gradual razing. Politics interfered in halting the commercial logging. Political decisions can be rolled back; hence it did not satisfy Sinharaja’s lovers at all. They urged for something more positive to be installed; they needed to see Sinharaja as conservation.

Prof. Sarath Kotagama, one living witness and now the first Sri Lankan professor of ornithology, recalls his experience.

“The Government appointed a committee to probe whether this rainforest was appropriate to be designated conservation. The committee concluded that the scientific evidence is inadequate to make Sinharaja conservation. Scientific research was the need of the hour, so we needed resources.

Scientists need a place to stay. They have other needs too. The Government provided all our physical resources. By then hardly any researcher was concerned on the animal life in Sinharaja. So we formed a unit consisted of scientists from Colombo University to study animal behaviour.”

The Colombo University team had three features to discover: the animal diversity in the forest, the way they are affected by logging and whether the model Pinus forest has affected them.

“The research was at the top gear. We discovered many amazing things about the forest. One discovery is magnet diversity. It was totally news to the world. Your compass does not show directions properly because of the magnet diversity. And we further discovered that the forest is the habitat for many endemic flora and fauna. Finally we ended up with more than enough evidence to influence the Government to go ahead.”

Nature Club of Royal College, Polonnaruwa

The team worked day and night for months. Many university students got involved in the projects. It did not end becoming just conservation; 1978 saw it being designated as International Man and Bio-Sphere Reserve, and Sinharaja reached its pinnacle when it was declared as UNESCO World Heritage site in 1989. Sinharaja is surrounded by 22 villages, and the residents used to take whatever they want from the forest.

With World Heritage site declaration, their opportunity became illegal. A World Heritage site might go unattended, and sometimes gets damaged by the natural force - man. Villagers alone can harm the forest. Prof. Kotagama and the team had another hurdle: make villagers aware of their own asset.

“We employed many youngsters from the village for many conservation tasks. We made them feel the priceless value of this asset.”

People started getting interested in visiting this World Heritage site, mostly for the picnic purpose.

They don’t care - they rather don’t know - the damage they do to the nature by littering. Not only the villagers, then, the whole mass had to be made aware of the value of this asset; something you can’t achieve overnight.

“We prepared an action plan on how to make people aware. Seminars work out a very little. People mug up what lecturers say, leave, and nothing happens afterwards.

So we thought about giving them hands on experience. We thought it’s practical to start with school-goers.”

Prof. Kotagama and his team at Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL) started conducting awareness programmes nearly every weekend. School-goers and the teachers experience a three-day stay; they visit specific areas of the forest, collect data and analyse them back at the place of stay. Indika Wimalachandra, a science teacher at Royal College, Polonnaruwa said this is a fresh experience for both students and teachers.

“All these participants are members of the school’s Nature Club. They were all so willing to join this expedition. And they have many things to tell their peers when they leave.”

Indeed so, as some didn’t even care when leeches, a common sight in the wet wilderness, getting into their feet; they were immersed in collecting data of myriad species. Sri Lanka Telecom made things easy for FOGSL by funding the awareness programmes.

One amazing feature at Sinharaja is ‘feeding flock’. Birds of different varieties flock together in their quest to meals. This protection net is meant to give a wide berth to any outside danger.

The early bird watcher cannot miss this marvellous scene that makes the silent wilderness fully echoing.

The rainforest is a treasure trove of trees, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The remarkable features of the silent wilderness include the endemic Green pit viper, a large variety of tree frogs and butterflies, and above all, the inescapable tough feel of leeches.

Once just a state-owned land used for commercial logging, Sinharaja is now a world recognised reserve. It certainly deserves your visit, but not your litter and noise please.

Feel the Mother Nature’s warmth, and let others have that privilege too. Have an ear to her whisper, simple, yet divine.