Popham's Arboretum — Attraction in Central Province

An arboretum is a place where trees are grown for study and display as a tree garden. The IFS – Popham Arboretum, Sri Lanka’s only dry zone arboretum was established over five decades ago on 7.5 acres of thorny scrub jungle and abandoned ‘Chena’ land in Dambulla which is in the geographical center of our island, where history and culture merge amidst a natural landscape of water and mountains. The founder Mr. F.H. (Sam) Popham was born on the 29thof February 1923. He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College Cambridge, where he graduated in History. He first came to Sri Lanka as a young British Naval Officer during the Second World War. Based in Trincomalee, he would often travel through Dambulla admiring the forest vegetation on either side of the Dambulla – Bakamuna road. Back home in England after the war, Sam became a schoolmaster for a while, before returning to Sri Lanka a few years later as a Tea Planter. His love for trees, made him give up planting tea and assume responsibility as the Smithsonian Institute’s Principal Field Officer in the ‘Flora of Ceylon’ project. In 1963, he bought seven and a half acres of scrub jungle (abandoned ‘Chena’ land) in Dambulla and commenced his life’s most important work – returning wasteland to nature – conserving the unique biological diversity of the ‘dry zone’ of Sri Lanka. In 1989, Sam Popham decided to gift his labour of love “the Popham Arboretum” to the Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS) in Kandy to be used for Conservation, Research and Education. Through the initiative of Prof. Cyril Ponnamperuma (former IFS Director) a further 27 acres were acquired and added onto the arboretum the same year. In 1994, Mr. J. Amarasinghe was appointed by the Ceylon Tobacco Company to assist Mr. Popham to manage the arboretum. Due to his commitment and passionate work, the arboretum was handed over to Mr. Jayantha and appointed him as the Curator when Mr. Popham left the country in 1999. From that year onwards he had been instrumental in managing the place with limited resources and much difficulty. In year 2005 May the Tree Society of Sri Lanka (Ruk Rakaganno) took over the management of the arboretum from IFS. During the past 50 years, Arboretum received sponsorship from many organizations for its general upkeep and projects. To name a few, Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS) 1989 – 1991 and 1994 to date HSBC and the British High Commission 1993 – 1995 Ceylon Tobacco Company 1994 May – Appointing Mr. J. Amarasinghe to assist Mr. Popham to manage the Arboretum UNDP through the Tree Society of Sri Lanka (Ruk Rakaganno) 2005 to date International Dendrologist Society – Trees and plants identification name board project What you can see at the Arboretum, Timber Trees: 102 species Medicinal Plants: 72 species Flowering Plants: 20 species Mammals including bats: 25 species Birdlife: 83 species with migrants Butterflies: 77 species Dragonflies: 12 species Contact details, IFS Popham Arboretum, Kandalama road, Dambulla, Sri Lanka Manager: Mr. J. Amarasinghe, +94777267951 Opening hours: Daily 8 am till late in the night The Popham Arboretum is run for educational purpose for our future generations. Your valuable donations/contribution for its upkeep is welcome ! IFS

This is a must visit place if you are travelling around Dambulla. Highly...

Calm and quite place. Tickets are priced at Rs. 250 per person. There is a car park. Four paths available ranging from 900m to 2kms, if I'm not mistaken. There are night tours as well.

[Update from their leaflet]: This unique site was owned by an Englishman, Mr. F. H. (Sam) Popham, who gifted it to the NIFS (then IFS) in 1989 to carry out research and educational activities. The original site bought by Popham in 1963 was a 7.5-acre-scrub jungle. Popham allowed the indigenous tree saplings in the site to emerge and establish themselves by removing the 'weedy' shrubs around them. Consequently, the scrub jungle was transformed into a dry zone woodland with a closed canopy. After taking over the land in 1989, NIFS acquired another 27 acres of adjoining scrubland to expand the Arboretum. Popham's method of "Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR)" was practised to convert the newly acquired land into dense woodland as well. On account of its signifcance as a benchmark site for ANR, many forest ecologists and btanists use NIFS-SPA as a research site. In addition to being a benchmark site for ANR, it is also a popular tourist destination owing to the presence of unique fauna with rich bird life and some unique animals such as the Slender Loris and Pangolin.

Activities and Facilities include, Day safaris - Walk through four nature trails that are colour coded as Green (900m in length with three bridges), Blue (1.2km in length with one bridge and few steps to climb up the rock and climb down along the rock), Pink (1.4km in length with 1 bridge and 1 causeway) and Yellow (2.3 km in length with 2 bridges). Open daily from 8am to 6pm.

Night safaris - The guided Lois Safaris beign at 7pm and end at 9pm during which visitors may be able to see nocturnal animals such as the Gray Slender Loris, Night Jars, Pangolin, Civet and Fishing Cats.

Accommodation and Camping - A camping site is available for interested parties through prior reservations. Three rooms with basic facilities are available for overnight stays.

Educational Programmes and Research - are conducted on request. Research on dry zone vegetation, restoration ecology, animal behaviour, microorganisms, carbon sequencing and taxonomic studies on flora are encouraged in the Arboretum after prior...

An arboretum, in a general sense is a collection composed exclusively of living trees. Arboreta are usually developed by planting trees, but the NIFS Sam Popham's arboretum has been developed using a method known as Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR).

ANR is one of the important methods used in restoration ecology. NIFS Sam Popham's Arboretum (NIFS-SPA) is a benchmark site in Sri Lanka for ANR. This method is a relatively simple, low-cost technique where growth of natural forest seedlings is assisted and encouraged. This method controls grasses and excludes creepers and thorny shrubs to promote natural seedling growth. Removal of epiphytes, dead branches and pruning in competitively dense canopies are done as routine activities to promote the growth of natural forest seedlings.

The NIFS-Popham Arboretum was founded by Mr. F H (Sam) Popham in 1963. He bought a seven and half acre-land of scrub jungle to initiate the arboretum. This arboretum was gifted to the Institute of Fundamental Studies (IFS), Kandy In 1989. The arboretum now has 34.5 acres with the addition of 27 acres in 1989, through the initiative of Prof Cyril Ponnamperuma, a former...