Humanization of Natural Space through Forest-based Lifeways and Forest Lore: A Study Based on the Northwestern Slope Region of the Sinharaja Rainforest

Abstract

The Sinharaja site, or the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest, is more renowned for its biodiversity. However, it is also a cultural heritage that has been intricately humanized over a long period by human communities living on the forest periphery. The objectives of this research are to identify the relationship between the forest and humans that is constructed through the forest-based lifeways of a rainforest fringe community, and to understand the process by which this relationship humanizes natural space through their cultural idiom. The study area comprises the villages of Weddagala, Kuduwa, Ketapathpala, Pitakale, Pethiyaganda, and Wawagama, located on the northwestern slope of the Sinharaja World Heritage Forest. This research is a qualitative study. Qualitative methods have been used for data collection, analysis, and presentation. Findings are presented along five main themes, and the discussion is developed with examples from forest lore under the themes of the forest, highlands, rivers, villages, and intangible human relationships. The Sinharaja forest periphery community has maintained a relationship with the forest for their survival over a long period, and this is their lifeway. Through their lifeways, they have inscribed and imbued with meaning their cultural heritage upon the natural environmental features of the forest. This is the process of humanizing natural space. What is represented through forest lore is their cultural identity, which is also continually nourished through lived lifeways. The Sinharaja forest is not merely a forest; it is also the result of an elaborate human carving, achieved over a long period through the process of humanizing natural space.