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In 2017, Sri Lanka set a goal to increase its forest cover to 32% by 2030 (Sri Lanka UN‐REDD, 2017). However, on November 4th 2020, the government published circular MWFC/1/2020 revoking the circular 5/2001 of August 10th 2001, one of the country's most crucial forest protection directives. The revocation of the 5/2001 circular could severely hamper this target, posing a threat of deforestation to a variety of ecosystems which are not part of any formally designated protected areas (PA) in Sri Lanka, also known as Other State Forests. This includes forested areas adjoining PAs which are crucial for habitat connectivity and standalone state forest lands. Such a retrograde step could have potentially catastrophic ramifications on Sri Lanka's declining forest cover. It would also severely weaken the country's commitments to inter alia, the UNREDD Programme, Kyoto protocol and CBD. We therefore call on the Government of Sri Lanka to urgently reconsider and reverse this decision.

The “Global Safety Net” shows where nature could be conserved and connected to reverse biodiversity loss and stabilize climate., Global strategies to halt the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are often formulated separately, even though they are interdependent and risk failure if pursued in isolation. The Global Safety Net maps how expanded nature conservation addresses both overarching threats. We identify 50% of the terrestrial realm that, if conserved, would reverse further biodiversity loss, prevent CO2 emissions from land conversion, and enhance natural carbon removal. This framework shows that, beyond the 15.1% land area currently protected, 35.3% of land area is needed to conserve additional sites of particular importance for biodiversity and stabilize the climate. Fifty ecoregions and 20 countries contribute disproportionately to proposed targets. Indigenous lands overlap extensively with the Global Safety Net. Conserving the Global Safety Net could support public health by reducing the potential for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 from emerging in the future.

The Global Deal for Nature sets an ambitious agenda to protect our biosphere through ecosystem conservation and land restoration., The Global Deal for Nature (GDN) is a time-bound, science-driven plan to save the diversity and abundance of life on Earth. Pairing the GDN and the Paris Climate Agreement would avoid catastrophic climate change, conserve species, and secure essential ecosystem services. New findings give urgency to this union: Less than half of the terrestrial realm is intact, yet conserving all native ecosystems—coupled with energy transition measures—will be required to remain below a 1.5°C rise in average global temperature. The GDN targets 30% of Earth to be formally protected and an additional 20% designated as climate stabilization areas, by 2030, to stay below 1.5°C. We highlight the 67% of terrestrial ecoregions that can meet 30% protection, thereby reducing extinction threats and carbon emissions from natural reservoirs. Freshwater and marine targets included here extend the GDN to all realms and provide a pathway to ensuring a more livable biosphere.

This study was conducted in the Knuckles Forest Region in central Sri Lanka, and investigated how termite species richness, abundance and functional group diversity vary in different montane forest types and identified the likely causes of this pattern. Termite diversity declined with increased elevation, with upper montane forests recording a single endemic species, Postelectrotermes militaris Desneux. Transect sampling in lower montane forests yielded 26 species, with a higher number from dry forests (22 species) than from wet forests (15 species). Species specificity also was high in dry forests (11 species) compared with wet forests (four species). Termite abundance did not show a distinct trend in dry and wet forests. Live-wood termites were present only in upper montane and high-altitude lower montane dry forests. Wet forests had a higher relative abundance (78%) but not species richness (40%) of soil and soil–wood interface feeders. In dry forests, both species richness (82%) and abundance (88%) of fungus-growing wood feeders were higher. The study suggests that key drivers of the species distribution pattern are low temperature and differing forest floor conditions. In the upper montane forest floor where earthworms dominate, wet soil and damp, woody litter riddled with beetles are not favourable for termites. In lower montane wet forests, moist, thick decomposing leaf litter and in dry forests, drier, relatively undecomposed leaf litter with many dry sticks and branches support species with specific food habits.

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to investigate the relationships among Polystachya accessions from a group of closely related pantropical tetraploids. Before starting with the fingerprinting analyses, the polyploid accessions were first included in a phylogenetic analysis using low-copy nuclear DNA data to establish their relationships, which confirmed that they belonged to a species group of closely related allotetraploids. Neo- and Palaeotropical polyploid accessions formed two hybrid clades with apparently independent origins. Sampling for the AFLP analyses included single accessions from much of the range of the genus and populations from Costa Rica (CR) and Sri Lanka (SL) to compare population structure and genetic diversity in these two areas in more detail. A splits graph of the complete AFLP data showed three major clusters corresponding to three sources of population sampling (P. concreta, SL; P. foliosa ,C R;P. masayensis, CR), with individual accessions from Africa and Indian Ocean islands showing a closer relationship to P. concreta from SL than to the two CR species. Individual accessions from the Neotropics occurred in more isolated positions in the splits network, with little resolution. Some P. foliosa accessions clustered with P. masayensis, suggesting some hybridization between the two species, and this was confirmed by Bayesian structure analysis. However, the splits network, structure and analyses of molecular variance indicated a generally high level of genetic divergence between the two CR species, despite their recent hybrid origin, occurrence in largely the same localities and occasional hybridization. Polystachya foliosa from CR had a higher degree of population-level genetic structure (FST = 0.291) than P. masayensis from CR (FST = 0.161) and P. concreta from SL (FST = 0.138), possibly because of its occurrence within a larger and more environmentally diverse continuous range than the other two species. Genetic divergence between Neo- and Palaeotropical members of the pantropical tetraploid group of Polystachya and the nonmonophyly of P. concreta suggested that P. concreta s.l. should be split and the use of this epithet should be confined to the Neotropics (the type is from Martinique). Other names should be used in Africa and the Asian tropics. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 165, 235–250.

Phalaenopsis mysorensis Saldanha, an orchid species endemic to South India has recently been recorded in Sri Lanka from a few isolated hill forests in the northern and eastern dry lowlands. The minute habit, small white flowers and short unbranched peduncle distinguishes P. mysorensis from its congener P. deliciosa, the only recorded Phalaenopsis in Sri Lanka. The habit and habitat of the species are described based on recent observations and collections. Key words: Orchid, Kingidium , isolated hills, Sri Lanka, India doi: 10.4038/cjsbs.v37i2.503 Cey. J. Sci. (Bio. Sci.) 37 (2): 163-166, 2008

A new species of rock dwelling gecko belonging to the genus Cnemaspis is described from Sri Lanka based on a suite of morphological features. The species is the largest of its genus described from Sri Lanka so far (snout-vent length 52-54 mm) and is the second largest of the Western Ghats-Sri Lanka Biodiversity Hotspot. It may be diagnosed in details of both scalation (ventrals186-207; mid-subcaudals large; absence of precloacal pores; 15 femoral pores on each side; 22-23 and 23-25 subdigital lamellae on finger IV and on toe IV, respectively; smooth scales on tail dorsum) and colouration (five prominent trilobate shaped cream markings pointing towards head and extending from neck to vent).The species is found in a unique habitat in the Rammalakanda Forest, where it is threatened by deforestation.

Using a complete inventory method to analyze the species distribution of a rainforest is a daunting task due to the extensive area to be sampled. The answer for this problem is to find the most suitable sampling plot size, which realistically represents the entire species population distribution. In this study, optimal plot size, which contains the highest number of species cover per unit area for the Sinharaja rainforest was determined using multivariate methods, namely, cluster analysis, correspondence analysis, non-metric multidimensional scaling and procrustean analysis. Plot sizes selected for the study were 5 × 5, 5 × 10, 10 × 10, 10 × 20, 20 × 20 and 20 × 40 m2. It was revealed that the average linkage method is the most robust hierarchical clustering method according to the cophenetic correlation coefficient. The cluster solution was verified graphically using the four ordination techniques, correspondence analysis (CA), detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and non-metric multidimentional scaling (NMS), and the solutions were then compared using procrustean analysis. According to the procrustean rotations CA and NMS pair had the highest correlation, and procrustes sum of squares of pairwise rotations showed that NMS has the lowest sum of squares with CA. Since the ordination plots drawn by using NMS show clear differences among all 25 sites, it suggests that the NMS method is the most robust ordination method for forest data analyses. By assuming that the time for sampling work is constant for six plot sizes, it was noted that the 20 × 40 m2 plot contains the highest species cover per unit area. Mantel test indicates that the species of 20 × 40 m2 plots are highly correlated with 20 × 20 m2 plots, and the result was verified using the average linkage method and NMS ordination. These results suggest that 20 × 40 m2 is the most suitable rectangular shaped plot, and 20 × 20 m2 is the most suitable square shaped plot, which contain the highest number of species cover per unit area compared to the other selected plot sizes. J.Natn.Sci.Foundation Sri Lanka 2015 43 (1):91-98

The paper describes a new frog of the genus Nannophrys from Sri Lanka. The new species is distinguished from all other Nannophrys species by the following combination of morphological characters; distal subarticular tubercle and penultimate subarticular tubercles of 4th toe are well separated (vs. these two tubercles close in all other species of the genus). Supernumerary tubercle absent or smaller than penultimate subarticular tubercle on 4th toe. A hard sharp narrow symphysial knob and close pair of sharp apophyses on anterior edge of mandible and symphysial knob lower than two apophyses (vs. all other species with a blunt wider symphysial knob and wider pair of apophyes on anterior edge of mandible, and symphysial knob of same height or higher than two apophyses. Palmar tubercles comparatively smaller, inner palmar tubercle separated from outer palmar tubercle (vs. other relatives possess palmar tubercles comparatively large, inner palmar tubercle connected with outer palmar tubercle). Ecological and distributional notes for the new species are given.