SAVE THE SINHARAJA RAIN FOREST SRI LANKA

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"Martin Luther King Jr. Brief Description -Located in south-west Sri Lanka, Sinharaja rain forest which is declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site. is the country's last viable area of primary tropical rainforest. More than 60% of the trees are endemic and many of them are considered rare. There is much endemic wildlife, especially birds, but the reserve is also home to over 50% of Sri Lanka's endemic species of mammals and butterflies, as well as many kinds of insects, reptiles and rare amphibians. but dear friends sinharaja Rainforest is a forest under threat, and if we don't act now, this rainforest and its amazing wildlife will be gone in ten years.Ecotourism is an approach to encourage tourist to visit an area of natural beauty combined with esteemed importance on the grounds that what is paid for the experience. Is that put into the preservation of the area? And its species and its local people? It has become very popular and almost stylish for western holiday makers to go on an ecotourism holiday and in general it seems to work out very well for the area being visited. However what if those attempts to preserve an area by encouraging tourisms actually causes degeneration in that area, wouldn’t this be somewhat contradicting? Sinharaja Forest Reserve is visited annually by many people most cases the ecotourism. Is that contributing positively to the conservation of the rainforest and to the species that inhabited it? Sadly however there have been some rumours that construction of an ‘eco-tourist’ hotel has been taking place for some time now within the reservein the Ensalwatte Tea Estate, Viharahena near the (ITV TV transmisson tower deniyaya) Deniyara village As a result of the hotel construction, many trees are being felled both for the actual construction and for resort infrastructure. Recently a contributory to a local river has been dammed causing many species of both flora and fauna to be displaced. The water from the newly dammed river will act as a source of drinking water for the hotel residence. The problem is that the construction of this hotel is being backed by the ‘eco-tourism’ bandwagon and sadly, as yet, concerned local people are not seeing the benefits of the eco-tourism business, that is to say that so far they have had no involvement in the planning or the construction of the hotel and it is widely believed that many species of animal including wild elephant have been killed as a result.DEAR FRIENDS It is inconceivable to us that this situation is unique to the Sinharaja. We believe that if this can be going on in a UNESCO World Heritage Protected Site such as the Sinharaja Forest Reserve practically right underneath their very noses then surely and sadly similiar actions must be going on elsewhere in other protected World Heritage Sites across the globe.This campaign is very much in its infancy and this website, we hope, is only a stepping stone to a much larger development. We hope that by creating awareness of the illicit activities in the Sinharaja and by letting as many people as possible know that even protected areas of the world are Threatened and vulnerable to ‘predation’ themselves, then maybe something will be done to encourage enforcement of regulations.We hope that change can be brought about that will enforce countries to abide by the legislation that is set up to protect areas that need such protection. These areas are for the good of all, not for the pockets of a few.We need your help and the help from everyone who honestly sees this particular shade of ecotourism as contradicting problem rather than an effective and sustainable solution. By voicing your concerns and supporting the Save the Sinharaja Campaign, you are showing your support for all campaigns and for all efforts across the globe in combating such unacceptable and unsustaining activities.This is the first few steps of a very long journey and we need YOU to take these steps alongside us. Together we can make a dif