SINHARAJA

UNESCO Heritage Rain Forest

Sinharaja Rainforest has been designated as a UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site, UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and also a Biodiversity Hotspot by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). All these titles are highlighting the importance of the forest reserve in terms of its exceptional biodiversity as well as its fragility. Birding in Sinharaja is particularly interesting since it is home to 95% of the endemic birds of Sri Lanka!
Named as a world heritage site in 1989, this lowland evergreen rain forest is steeped in deep legend and mystery. In English ‘Sinharaja’ translates to Lion (Sinha) King (Raja) alluding to a popular belief according to which the origin of the Sinhala people is from the union between a princess and the lion king who once lived in this forest.