Colombo: Environmentalists yesterday expressed worry over a government road construction project which they said will destroy the Sinharaja rainforest, a World Heritage site.
On September 9, around 300 people were deployed to clear the jungle for three kilometers to build the road, they said.
The road is being built to Suriyakanda from Ilumbakanda in Kalawana. The environmentalists said that an alternative road can be used without building a new road.
They pointed out that the new road will damage the flora and fauna, risks the wildlife and unnecessarily exposes the World Heritage rainforest.
The hilly virgin rainforest of Sinharaja, part of the Sri Lanka lowland rainforests 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 1988. The reserve’s name translates as Kingdom of the Lion.
The reserve is only 21 kilometre from east to west, and a maximum of 7 kilometre 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 about 3 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 birds, 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.
Source:http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/s.-asia/philippines/164783-environmentalists-worried-over-road-construction-in-sri-lanka.html
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