TREKKING TO KNUCKLES MOUNTAIN

The Knuckles Mountain Range lies in central Sri Lanka, in the Districts of Matale and Kandy. The range takes its name from a series of recumbent folds and peaks in the west of the massif which resembles the knuckles of clenched fist when viewed from certain locations in the Kandy District. Whilst this name was assigned by early British surveyors, the Sinhalese residents have traditionally referred to the area as Dumbara Kanduvetiya meaning mist-laden mountain range.

Knuckles Mountain Forest Range covering an area of approximately 21,000 ha is a part of the Central Highlands World Heritage site, declared in 2010. Though it is a part of Central Highlands it is well separated by Mahaweli river valley from the sides of South and east and Matale valley from the west.

Knuckles Mountain Forest Range consists of a range of vegetation types that have resulted from diverse climatic and topographic conditions. Among these are the humid tropical lowland semi evergreen forest, tropical sub-montane humid evergreen forest, montane grassland (patana) and pygmy forest. The complexity brought to the area with vegetation types is further increased by range of modifications made to the landscape by people since the British colonization.

Knuckles Mountain Forest Range supports a rich biological diversity with 128 species of birds, 20 species of amphibians, 53 species of reptiles, 15 fresh water species and 31 mammal species. All species are not equally distributed throughout the range. Their distribution depends on multiple factors such as food availability, availability of nesting sites etc. that vary with climate, elevation and land cover.