Sri
Lanka's highlands are situated in the south-central part of the island. The
property comprises the Peak Wilderness Protected Area, the Horton Plains
National Park and the Knuckles Conservation Forest. These montane forests,
where the land rises to 2,500 meters above sea-level, are home to an
extraordinary range of flora and fauna, including several endangered species
such as the western-purple-faced langur, the Horton Plains Slender Loris and
the Sri Lankan leopard. The region is considered a super biodiversity hotspot.
Outstanding
Universal Value
The
Central Highlands of Sri Lanka is a serial property comprising three component
parts: Peak Wilderness Protected Area, Horton Plains National Park and Knuckles
Conservation Forest. Its forests are globally important and provide habitat for
an exceptional number of endemic species of flora and fauna. The property
includes the largest and least disturbed remaining areas of the sub montane and
montane rain forests of Sri Lanka, which are a global conservation priority on
many accounts. They include areas of Sri Lankan montane rain forests considered
as a super-hotspot within the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot.
More than half of Sri Lanka’s endemic vertebrates, half of the country’s
endemic flowering plants and more than 34% of its endemic trees, shrubs, and
herbs are restricted to these diverse montane rain forests and adjoining grassland
areas.
The
property includes the largest and least disturbed remaining areas of the sub
montane and montane rain forests of Sri Lanka, which are a global conservation
priority on many accounts. The component parts stretch across the Ceylonese
rain forest and the Ceylonese monsoon forest. In the montane forests
represented by the three serial properties, the fauna elements provide strong
evidence of geological and biological processes in the evolution and
development of taxa. The endemic purple-faced langur of Sri Lanka
(Semnopithecus vetulus) has evolved into several morphologically different
forms recognizable today. The Sri Lankan leopard, the only representative in
the island of the genus Panthera, which diverged from other felids about 1.8
million years ago, is a unique sub-species (Panthera pardus kotiya). All three
nominated properties provide habitat to this subspecies of leopard, endemic to
Sri Lanka. Long isolation and the concomitant evolutionary processes have also
resulted in a Sri Lankan molluscan fauna that is the most distinct in the South
Asian region.
Integrity
The small
size of the components of the nominated property is a result of the limited
extent of the most significant rain forest areas remaining on Sri Lanka.
However, provided the property is effectively protected and managed, these
areas are sufficient, especially since many of the plant and animal species
have highly localized distributions. The boundary of the Peak Wilderness
Protected Area includes a range of protected zones, and this component has a
common boundary with the Horton Plains National Park. Effective arrangements to
protect the properties from the impacts of surrounding land-use, as well as to
address a range of threats are required, including via functioning buffer
zones.
