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Countries Appendix
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Sri Lanka has high biodiversity distributed in a range of ecosystems from rainforests to savannas. About 23% of the country's plants are endemic. Sri Lanka's rainforests have suffered dearly for the years of civil war. The forests serve as refuges for rebel forces, so the government readily cleared them during the 1980s and early 1990s. Fighting in the 1980s caused widespread destruction of residences causing peasants to seek out new lands in forested regions. Government figures show that the army and Tamil rebels have felled more than 2.5 million palmyrah trees alone for construction purposes. These areas have been since deforested and now the areas surrounding the settlements are being decimated for fuelwood and building material collection. Tremendous population pressures are no help. . . . . . For current information I highly recommend trying the CIA and FAO links below. CIA-World Factbook Profile FAO-Forestry Profile |
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