Sinharaja Rainforest Group IV science trip

Our goal for this project, as the first students involved in the data collection of the reforestation of the Sinharaja Rainforest, was to supplement the data already collected from Professor Nimal Gunatillike, who spoke to us about his extensive research and how we could support those fields. He taught us that pine trees are very effective at creating an environment that is favorable for growth beneath them and that for the past 25 years, efforts have been made to restore native tree species in forest reserves throughout South Asia, to have a complete restoration of the area within the next 50 years. 

Some of the important data that we collected were:

The name of the species, the measurements of the base of the tree to determine its girth, the number of leaves in which the tree was less than one centimetre tall, to determine the canopy level using the app “Canopeo”, to find the pH of the soil, write down the direction of the plot, the measurement of the air and soil temperatures , the daytime brightness (lux), the land cover type, measurements of the humidity level and the nitrate content. 

This experience for me was very new because it was the first opportunity in which I was able to share with my colleagues in another environment, this means that not only did I contribute with an innovative project but I was also able to get to know my colleagues better and share this experience with them, apart from the data collection we did some activities like a night walk in search of animals like frogs and insects which ended suddenly due to the amount of rain that was falling, it also was the first time in which I had to learn to remove leeches, which are very unpleasant and my favorite part was the the hike we did on the last day to the top of the mountain where we had an impressive view of the eastern rainforest, it was a very great moment of learning in which I realized that I want to know more places of this country where I am living.