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Saturday, October 10 2026
Saturday, October 10 2026
MONETABRIEF – Opposition legislator Harsha de Silva brought a private members motion to make a 50 acre remaining forest patch with rate Loris and many endemic fauna a protected area under Sri Lanka's nature protection laws.
The Diyagama Forest was once a 250 acre land under Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation until 2005 which was later taken over by the government and cut down for various projects including the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex.
The land was now under the district secretariat but it should be gazetted as a protected area he said, though the current Sports Minister has given as verbal assurance that the forest will not be cut down for further construction.
The Diyagama Forest was the last remaining urban lowland rain forest patches near Colombo.
Young people in the area, conservationists, and the WildLife and Nature Protection Society have been pressing to make the small forest patch a protected area, de Silva said.
The Diygama Fores was home to 220 species of including endangered Red Slender Loris.
"Tourists are paying 30 dollars an hour to see Loris," de Silva said.
The forest patch also had the fishing cat, and was a a critical biodiversity hotspot serving as a last refuge for approximately 12.6 percent endemic flora and 11.58 percent, endemic fauna, many of which are increasingly threatened by urban expansion.
Ruling party legislator Aruna Panagoda said it the forest patch was even smaller about 5 to 10 acres and the Sports Ministry which was administering the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Ground was taking many steps to protect it.
Deputy Minister of Environment Anton Jayakody said the forest patch appears to have built up over recent years, with some animals that were displaced from other areas taking refuge there.
Steps will be taken to protect it, he said.
De Silva said the Sports Ministry still appears to be trying to built a National High Performance Centre there.
"There are enough land to build sport complexes, but no fores patches with Red Slender Loris," he pointed out.
De Silva said the forest patch was not 5 to 10 acres, but there were two blocks involving a larger area and the forest patch was not new.
The Sports Ministry cannot look after forest patches and he called on the land to be brought under the Department of Wild Life. (Colombo/Oct09/2026) (Colombo/Oct09/2026)
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