GAMANA Among many of the rainforests, Kanneliya, situated close to Udugama in Galle District is an extraordinary rainforest due to its high grade of biodiversity. This rain forest can easily be reached from Galle-Udugama main road. It is a two-hour journey from the City of Galle.
The other access road is via Kalutara,Matugama ,Pitigala, Mawita and Neluwa.It is just a 1h 30mins ride. plants, This rain forest with a high endemicity harbors a large number of species of flora and fauna, 220 species of flora and fauna. 86 species of mammals, two species of primates, and 20 species of birds are a few among them. This rainforest is also a protective home for some popular indigenous medicine Such as Venivelgeta, KothalaHimbutu, Maha hadaya, Kuda hadaya, and Rasakinda.
Among the trees, Hora, Na, and Doona are very common species. We can also witness 36 species of snakes,23 species of lizards. This valuable rainforest, which is a catchment area, gives birth to rivers Gin and Nilwala. When we talk about the adjourning areas of the forest, there are a lot of areas that can be mentioned. There are nearly eighty-one villages around the forest of which the livelihood of the people is farming. There are some villages whose livelihood is animal husbandry. This has indirectly affected the existence of the forest. Other than the rivers Gin and Nilwala there are some more minor streams that start from this forest. Some of them are Nanakiththi Dola, Udugama dola, Homadola dola, and Galbandi dola. This place is very much suitable for a day out and it is a paradise for university students and other academics who carry out research on flora and fauna.
