Sinharaja Forest Reserve

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Sinharaja Forest Reserve
View of Sinharaja Forest Reserve with tea garden
Location	Sabaragamuwa and Southern Provinces, Sri Lanka
Nearest city	Rakwana
Coordinates	6°25′00″N 80°30′00″E / 6.41667°N 80.50000°E / 6.41667; 80.50000
Area	88.64 km2 (34.22 sq mi)
Established	April, 1978
Governing body	Department of Forest Conservation
UNESCO World Heritage Site
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Criteria	Natural: ix, x
Reference	405
Inscription	1988 (12th Session)

Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a forest reserve and a biodiversity hotspot in Sri Lanka. It is of international significance and has been designated a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site by UNESCO.^[1]

According to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Sinharaja is the country's last viable area of primary tropical rainforest. Over 60% of the trees are endemic, many of them considered rare. 50% of Sri Lankan's endemics species of animals (especially butterfly, amphibians, birds, snakes and fish species)^{[clarification needed]}. It is home to 95% endemic birds.

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 1988.

Because of the dense vegetation, wildlife is not as easily seen as at dry-zone national parks such as Yala. The most common larger mammal is the endemic purple-faced langur. | image=

Birds tend to move in mixed feeding flocks, invariably led by the fearless Sri Lanka 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, and there are a large variety of amphibians, especially tree frogs. Invertebrates include the endemic Sri Lankan birdwing butterfly and leeches.