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SRI LANKA
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Sri Lanka Forest Figures
Forest Cover
Total forest area: 1,933,000 ha
% of land area: 29.9%
Primary forest cover: 167,000 ha
% of land area: 2.6%
% total forest area: 8.6%
Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005
Annual change in forest cover: -29,800 ha
Annual deforestation rate: -1.5%
Change in defor. rate since '90s: 25.5%
Total forest loss since 1990: -417,000 ha
Total forest loss since 1990:-17.7%
Primary or "Old-growth" forests
Annual loss of primary forests: -6000 ha
Annual deforestation rate: -3.0%
Change in deforestation rate since '90s: 30.5%
Primary forest loss since 1990: -30,000 ha
Primary forest loss since 1990:-35.0%
Forest Classification
Public: 92.5%
Private: 7.5%
Other: n/a
Use
Production: 8.8%
Protection: 1%
Conservation: 28.9%
Social services: n/a
Multiple purpose: 61.3%
None or unknown: n/a
Forest Area Breakdown
Total area: 1,933,000 ha
Primary: 167,000 ha
Modified natural: 1,571,000 ha
Semi-natural: n/a
Production plantation: 171,000 ha
Production plantation: 24,000 ha
Plantations
Plantations, 2005: 195,000 ha
% of total forest cover: 10.1%
Annual change rate (00-05): -5,141,000 ha
Carbon storage
Above-ground biomass: 64 M t
Below-ground biomass: 15 M t
Area annually affected by
Fire: n/a
Insects: n/a
Diseases: n/a
Number of tree species in IUCN red list
Number of native tree species: 932
Critically endangered: 78
Endangered: 73
Vulnerable: 129
Wood removal 2005
Industrial roundwood: 763,000 m3 o.b.
Wood fuel: 5,879,000 m3 o.b.
Value of forest products, 2005
Industrial roundwood: $45,796,000
Wood fuel: $35,484,000
Non-wood forest products (NWFPs): n/a
Total Value: $81,280,000
More forest statistics for Sri Lanka
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Sri Lanka has high biodiversity distributed in a range of ecosystems from rainforests to savannas. About 27 percent of
the country's plants are endemic and 22 percent of its amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. In 2005, researchers confirmed the discovery of 35 new frog species in Sri Lanka over the past decade. Sri Lanka is known as a global biodiversity hotspot for its high number of species in a relatively limited area. The island's frog diversity illustrates this point: despite covering only 0.013 percent of the world's land surface, Sri Lanka is home to more than 2 percent percent of the world's known frog and toad species. The island is also home to 3,210 flowering plant species, of which 916 species are endemic.
While Sri Lanka may be known for its biodiversity, this biological wealth is highly threatened—the same survey found that 17 of Sri Lanka's frogs have disappeared in the past decade and another 11 species face imminent extinction unless their habitat is protected. Habitat loss is the leading threat to Sri Lanka's native ecosystems. Conservation International estimates that only around 1.5 percent of the island's original forest remains (FAO figures are more optimistic). Much of this forest was lost under British colonial rule, when large tracts of forest were cleared for rubber, coffee, and tea plantations, but Sri Lanka's forests have also suffered dearly under years of civil war which has led to large-scale forest clearing. During the 1980s and early 1990s, government soldiers cleared the island's rainforests because they served as refuges for rebel forces. At the same time, fighting destroyed homes and displaced small-scale farmers who then sought new lands in forested areas. Government figures show that the army and Tamil rebels felled more than 2.5 million palmyrah trees alone for construction purposes. In the wake of the tsunami which killed some 31,000 people and caused more than $1.5 billion in property damage, reconstruction efforts have only increased the pressure on Sri Lanka's forests.
Over the past 15 years (1990-2005), Sri Lanka has had one of the highest deforestation rates of primary forests in the world. In that period the country lost more than 35 percent of its old-growth forest cover, while total forest cover was diminished by almost 18 percent. Worse, since the close of the 1990s, deforestation rates have increased by more than 25 percent.
Recent articles | Sri Lanka news updates | XML
Sri Lanka's rainforests fast-disappearing but hope remains
(11/6/2006) Sri Lanka, an island off the southern-most point of India, is known as a global biodiversity hotspot for its high number of species in a relatively limited area. However this biological richness is highly threatened by one of the highest deforestation rates of primary forests in the world. In that period, the country lost more than 35 percent of its old-growth forest cover, while total forest cover was diminished by almost 18 percent. Worse, since the close of the 1990s, deforestation rates have increased by more than 25 percent. Dr Ranil Senanayake, chairman of Rainforest Rescue International, a grassroots environmental organization based in Sri Lanka, says that the key to saving the island's last forests is to "reintroduce the concept of sustainable livelihood" to the people living in and around the island's rainforests by establishing "commercially viable projects that explore the social and cultural relationships between people and ecology."
Nigeria has worst deforestation rate, FAO revises figures
(11/17/2005) Nigeria has the world's highest deforestation rate of primary forests according to revised deforestation figures from the the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
US ranks #7 in global forest loss, Cambodia has worst deforestation rate
(11/16/2005) Cambodia has the world's highest deforestation rate, Brazil loses the largest area of forest annually, and Congo consumes more bushmeat than any other tropical country. These are among the findings from mongabay.com's analysis of new deforestation figures from the United Nations.
16% of frogs species in Sri Lanka may be gone, new survey finds
(7/2/2005) In a study published Thursday in Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, researchers confirmed the discovery of 35 new frog species in Sri Lanka over the past decade brining the number of frog species in the island country to 105. However, the survey found that 17 of these species have disappeared and at least another 11 face imminent extinction unless their habitat is protected.
Sri Lanka: Environmental Profile
(2/15/2005) An overview of tropical rainforets found in Sri Lanka. Includes forest cover and deforestation statistics.
Suggested reading - Books
Unless otherwise specified, this article was written by Rhett A. Butler [Bibliographic citation for this page]
Other resources
Contact me if you have suggestions on other rainforest-related environmental sites and resources for this country.
Image from the CIA World Factbook
CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile
World Resources Institute
Last updated: 4 Feb 2006 |
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