Environment of Sri Lanka

According to the U.N. FAO, 28.8% of Sri Lanka was forested in 2010 (about 1,86 million hectares). In 1995, it was 1.94 million hectares or 32.2%[11] of the land area that was classified as dense forests while the balance 0.47 million hectares or 7% the land area classified as open forests.[12]

9.0% (167,000 hectares[13]) of Sri Lanka's forests are classified as primary forest (the most biodiverse and carbon-dense form of forest).

Sri Lanka's forests contain 61 million metric tons of carbon in living forest biomass (in 2010 [14]).

The southwest portion of the island, where the influence of the moisture-bearing southwest monsoon is strongest, is home to the Sri Lanka lowland rain forests. At higher elevations they make the transition to the Sri Lanka montane rain forests. Both these tropical moist forest ecoregions bear strong affinities to those of India's Western Ghats.

The northern and eastern portions of the island are considerably drier, lying in the rain shadow of the central highlands. The Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion, which, like the neighbouring East Deccan dry evergreen forests of India's Coromandel Coast, is characterised by evergreen trees, rather than the dry-season deciduous trees that predominate in most other tropical dry broadleaf forests.

These forests have been largely cleared for agriculture, timber or grazing, and many of the dry evergreen forests have been degraded to thorn scrub, savanna, or thickets. Several preserves have been established to protect some of Sri Lanka's remaining natural areas. The island has three biosphere reserves, Hurulu (established 1977), Sinharaja (established 1978), and Kanneliya-Dediyagala-Nakiyadeniya (KDN) (established 2004).

The coastal estuaries are home to mangrove habitats, e.g. the Maduganga river.

Offshore are found habitats associated with coral reefs, e.g. the Bar Reef. Also of note are the pearl banks of Mannar, which are also home to Chank, sea cucumbers and sea grasses.