IFS Popham Arboretum-Sri Lanka
Exploring a bit of fascinating natural wealth is part of every Sri Lanka trip. As a tour operator, we included many places such as IFS Popham Arboretum-Sri Lanka, rain forests, national parks, and botanical gardens in our Sri Lanka vacation itineraries. However, IFS Popham Arboretum-Sri Lanka is rarely coming in Sri Lanka land tour packages, may because it is a bit far from Colombo and other popular tourist places. IFS Popham Arboretum-Sri Lanka is not offered as a standalone trip from Colombo, However, few guests opt to visit it on their way to the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka.
IFS Popham arboretum is a forest managed by the Organization of Ruk Rakaganno (protectors of trees). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of these two words is ‘A place devoted to the cultivation and exhibition of the rare tree; a botanical tree garden. Popham arboretum is a classic example of forest regeneration on the island.
Where is IFS Popham Arboretum, Sri Lanka?
The forest is located in the heart of the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka; it is just less than an hour’s drive from Dambulla Cate temple. IFS Popham arboretum is a forest of valuable hardwood species in the country.
Why is it worth visiting?
It has collection specimens such as ebony (Diospyros ebenum), satinwood (Chloroxylon swietenia), tamarind (Tamarindus indica), Ceylon oak (Diospyros chloroxylon), Jack tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Ironwood (Mesua nagassarium). This valuable forest provides a tranquil and peaceful surrounding amidst valuable tropical trees.
Drive to IFS Popham Arboretum
One can easily reach this forest along the wide road from the world heritage sites of Dambulla and Sigiriya. The cultural triangle of Sri Lanka is popular for the number of historical sites and natural wealth in the region is largely forgotten. It is very rare one visit important places such as IFS Popham arboretum or ironwood forest. The visitor centre of IFS Popham Arboretum was designed by the popular architect of Jeffrey Bawa, The internationally acclaimed Sri Lanka architect.
The entrance to this valuable site costs a fraction of the money that one spends for the entrance to nearby cultural sites. Even though the cultural triangle attracts hundreds of thousands of people every month, very few people were visiting this valuable secondary forest.
According to the information the trend is changed during the past few years, suggesting that people are becoming more enthusiastic about nature. With the illegal timber harvesting, some of the valuable hardwood species such as ebony have become extremely rare in the environment. But fortunately, places like IFS Popham Arboretum come in handy to see the living specimen of these rare trees.
Fauna of IFS Popham Arboretum
The forest harbours around seventy different species of trees. The forest has created a very attractive environment for a large number of animal species. It harbours many species of wild and rare creatures. It is inhabited by animals such as White-spotted mouse-deer (Moshiola meeminna), dry zone slender loris (Loris tardigradus tardigradus), and Sri Lankan giant squirrel (Rtufa macroura). Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus), Blue Tailed Bee Eater (Merops philippinus), and Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostrifs) are the most common birds here.
History of IFS Popham Arboretum
The area where it is situated in the dry zone was covered with thick jungle about 50 years back. But due to the demand for wood and expanding human settlement, the forest cover was reduced to thorn shrubs. IFS Popham arboretum was initiated by Sam Popham, a Second World War sailor and a tea planter. He was graduated from Cambridge, he was a nature lover and highly interested in the beautiful forests of Sri Lanka. He started to develop this secondary forest, as an experiment known as ‘Popham method’ in 1963.
The method he followed was simple but proved to be successful. The shrubs were removed in the initial stage and the forest was allowed to grow its own. But the saplings of trees were procured from the outside. The native species of trees grew well even in the dry weather that prevailed in the area and needed minor supervision. Human intervention was needed only in a situation such as a wildfire or destruction caused by an animal such as cattle. It has developed into a fully grown secondary evergreen dry zone forest within a short period of time.
After about fifty years and all the hard work, Popham returned to his native country (England), due to ill health. His ecological treasure was handed over to IFS (Institute of Fundamental Studies); it was further expanded under their supervision before being handed over to the society of Ruk Rakaganno in 2005. According to the naturalist, it is very hard to find a collection of valuable trees like here and it is a very significant ecological achievement of Mr Popham.
