I was fortunate for being able to join Rohan & friends from Nikon School for another fabulous photography tour on November 14th, 2021. It was the first time in about 6 months after a long lockdown that we managed to get out in the wilds. It was indeed a sense of relief!
Wikipedia lists "Kanneliya" as a forest complex in Southern Sri Lanka. Dediyagala _ Nakiyadehiya or KDN
Wikipedia lists “Kanneliya” as “Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya or KDN is a forest in a complex in southern Sri Lanka According to folklore, Kanneliya got it’s name from the historical anecdote of a lady who offered her food plate to King Valagamba to eat, while he was hiding in the forest. That’s said, during the recent nature photography tour organized by Nikon, Sri Lanka, the guide tracker who accompanied the group mentioned that the name Kanneliya has been derived from the two Sinhalese words “ Kanya” (virgin lady) and “Liya” (trees) to resonate plenty of giant untouched trees in the forest. As Wikipedia lists, the guide tracker also confirmed that the Kanneliya rainforest is made up of 3 individual forests.
According to the guide tracker who accompanied the Nikon photographers group, the total area of the rainforest is hectare 10,139 (Acres 26,000). From mid-May to September, Kanneliya records annual rainfall of 3750 - 5000 millimeters. From a biodiversity perspective, Kanneliya ranks number 1 in Sri Lanka, even richer when compared to the Sinharaja World Heritage Rainforest. It is also reported as top 20 in the world ranking. Kanneliya has 155 varieties of trees - one more variety ( Stemeni Forest Kanneliy) than the Sinharaja Rainforest. It is reported that “Stemeni Forest Kanneliy) is only available in Sri Lanka.
As for Fauna, some 220 faunal species were recorded from Kanneliya, including 41 endemic species. It has 86 species of mammals - which includes 4 species of shrews, 5 rodents, 1 carnivore, and 2 primates.
