{"id":67551,"date":"2021-06-25T10:09:59","date_gmt":"2021-06-25T10:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=67551"},"modified":"2021-06-25T10:09:59","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T10:09:59","slug":"dunumadalawa-forest-reserve-a-habitat-island-in-kandy-city-by-arundathie-abeysinghe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/dunumadalawa-forest-reserve-a-habitat-island-in-kandy-city-by-arundathie-abeysinghe\/","title":{"rendered":"Dunumadalawa Forest Reserve – a habitat island in Kandy City By Arundathie Abeysinghe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dunumadalawa Forest Reserve – a habitat island in Kandy City<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

By Arundathie Abeysinghe<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ms.Dunumadalawa Forest Reserve also known as\u00a0Wakara-watta\u00a0<\/em>(known by locals for decades) or Walker Estate (its former estate name) is a forest cover overlooking Kandy City (part of the forest reserve is within Kandy City) located at a height of approximately 548- 875 meters (1800 -3200 feet) above sea level. Dunumadalawa Forest Reserve is a semi-isolated, hill country wet-zone forest reserve situated in Kandy City.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are 13 endemic bird species, 29 endemic subspecies and 10 restricted range bird species in the forest reserve. As there are endemic as well as restricted species, Dunumadalawa Forest Reserve is considered as a habitat island in the midst of a city. As such, environmentalists are of the view that the forest reserve should be conserved due to its biological significance and unique features.<\/span><\/p>\n

The forest reserve has an area of approximately 480 hectares. The forest reserve encompasses the watershed for Kandy City\u2019s main reservoir fed by the two main streams, Dunumadalawa Oya<\/em> (Oya <\/em>meaning stream) and Roseneath-ela (ela<\/em> meaning canal). The huge tank in the middle of the forest supplies drinking water to Kandy City.<\/span><\/p>\n

Located on the edge of the *Hantana Mountain Range, this forest reserve is a mixed forest reserve extending above *Hillwood College, Kandy and extends through the Hantana Mountain Range towards *Galaha. It is a forest with wild tea bushes, jak trees (jack fruit tree also known as jak tree – Artocarpus heterophyllus<\/em>) and ironwood trees (Olneya tesota<\/em>), some of them indigenous to Sri Lanka.\u00a0 The forest reserve is also home to many animals including barking deer (Muntiacus<\/em> muntjak malabaricus<\/em>), toque macaque (Macaca sinica<\/em>), porcupines (Hystrix indica<\/em>), wild boar (Sus scrofa<\/em>), fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus<\/em>), reptiles, butterflies, insects, frogs, lizards and leopards (Sri Lankan leopard<\/em>\u00a0– Panthera pardus kotiya<\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dunumadalawa<\/p>\n

According to folklore, this forest reserve dates to the Kandyan Kingdom. The name Dunumadalawa in Sinhala refers to the place where bows were hardened using mud. During the British Colonial Era, there had been tea, coffee and cocoa plantations in the forest reserve and deforestation had taken place within the range. As such, this forest reserve is an abandoned tea, coffee and cocoa estate. As there had been a shortage of water in Kandy City due to deforestation and commercial plantations such as tea, rubber and cocoa, in 1910, the British had built two reservoirs in the former forest reserve and planted trees too. As a result, Dunumdalawa Forest Reserve that exists at present is considered as a secondary forest as the majority of trees in the reserve were planted after 1910.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the forest reserve is a paradise for nature lovers and for those who want to relax amidst nature, there are avifauna enthusiasts, nature lovers, undergraduates and researchers who spend many hours studying the fauna and flora.<\/span><\/p>\n

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, *Udawattakele Forest Reserve, *Knuckles Mountain Range, *Hunnasgiriya Mountain Range and Matale Mountain Range can be seen from the forest reserve.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dunumadalawa<\/p>\n

This is the only forest reserve in Sri Lanka maintained by a Municipal Council (Kandy Municipal Council). As the forest reserve is under the purview of Kandy Municipal Council, prior permission is necessary to visit it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Dunumadalawa Forest Reserve is a national treasure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Location:<\/strong>\u00a0 above Kandy City linking Hantana Mountain Range<\/span><\/p>\n

Distance from Kandy City – <\/strong>2.1 kilometers (10 -15 minutes from Kandy City)<\/span><\/p>\n

Directions:<\/strong> Dunumadalawa Forest Reserve can be reached by walking along Rajapihilla Mawatha (situated above Kandy Lake) and turning towards right at the popular lookout point *Arthur\u2019s Seat and walking towards Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe Mawatha (formerly Roseneath Road).<\/span><\/p>\n