A team of photographers representing Conservation International visited Sri Lanka this week in preparation for the forthcoming World Conservation Congress to be held in Barcelona later this year.

The focus being the Sinharaja Rainforest Reserve where lots of video footage was canned, to be used in a presentation to the WCC 2008 in Barcelona, an event hosted by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Sinharaja is one of the oldest remaining natural rainforest environments left on the planet and due to its high bio-diversity and ecological importance, was declared as a Natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990. The rainforest now urgently needs to be elevated to the status of a protected biosphere.

The forest is a series of mountains and ridges rising abruptly from 90m to 1170m above sea level. It is a vivid landscape in the interior wet zone of the south west of the island.

This is Sri Lanka’s most important rainforest with tall trees growing in close proximity, but winding paths make it easy to walk along the forest floor. It is inhabited by water monitors, torque macaques, leopards, giant squirrels, purple-faced leaf monkeys and lots of leeches.

The Bird life of Sinharaja provides more endemic species than anywhere else on earth and among them are the Ceylon Spurfowl, Ceylon Junglefowl, Ceylon Wood Pigeon, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, Layard’s Parakeet, Red-faced Malkoha, Green-billed Coucal, Chestnut-backed Owlet, Ceylon Grey Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Barbet, Ceylon Small Barbet, Black-capped Bulbul, Spotted-winged Thrush, Brown-capped Babbler, Orange-billed Babbler, Ashy-headed Laughing-Thrush, Ceylon Blue Magpie, Ceylon White-headed Starling, Ceylon Hill Munia, Ceylon Hill Myna, Malabar Trogon, Black Bulbul, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Green Imperial Pigeon, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and Yellow-browned Bulbul.

Vote for Sinharaja: 7 Wonders of Nature