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It is also the primary threat to the survival of Sri Lanka's biodiversity. [2] Sri Lanka has 751 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles of which 21.7% are endemic, and over 3314 species of vascular plants, of which 26.9% are endemic. [4]
The ecoregion covers an area of 48,400 square kilometers (18,700 sq mi), about 75%, of the island of Sri Lanka, with the exception of the islands' southwestern corner and Central Highlands, home to the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests and Sri Lanka montane rain forests ecoregions, respectively, and the northern Jaffna Peninsula, which is part of the Deccan thorn scrub forests ecoregion.
Between 1990 and 2005, Sri Lanka has showed one of the highest deforestation rates of primary forests in the world. [ 9 ] [ 10 ] A survey carried out in 2005 found that 17 of Sri Lanka's frogs have become extinct in the past decade and another 11 species face imminent threat of extinction unless their habitat is secured. [ 10 ]
Deforestation because of a tea plantation in Sri Lanka Due to deforestation in Sri Lanka the size of land covered by natural forests decreased from 80% in 1820 to 43% in 1948. This was partly caused by British colonialism from 1801 to 1948 which increased the amount of tea , coffee and rubber plantations .
In 2019 a total area of 16.5% [2] of Sri Lanka was forested. In 2010, it was 28.8% [3] (and 32.2% in 1995. [4]) 9.0% [5] of Sri Lanka's forests are classified as primary forest (the most biodiverse form of forest and the biggest carbon sinks on Earth). Sri Lanka's forests contain 61 million metric tons of carbon in living forest biomass (in ...
Its mission is to protect and expand Sri Lanka's forests and woodlands. [2] The head of the department is the Conservator General, Dr. K.M.A.Bandara. It comes under the purview of the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Resource Conservation.
Plant diversity and endemism in Sri Lanka are quite high. Of 3,210 flowering plants belonging to 1,052 genera, 916 species and 18 genera are endemic. [3] All but one of Sri Lanka's more than 55 dipterocarp (Sinhalese "Hora") are found nowhere else in the world. Sri Lanka's amphibian diversity is only becoming known now.
The Loris, found only in Sri Lanka and South India, is related to the Lemurs of Madagascar. The connection to India led to a commonality of species, e.g. freshwater fish, the now extinct Sri Lankan Gaur (Bibos sinhaleyus) and the Sri Lankan Lion (Panthera leo sinhaleyus). [5] The island was connected, off and on at least 17 times in the past ...