1. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Assessment  of anthropogenic threats to the Montane Slender Loris in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka.
Mahanayakage, C. A.1, Gamage, S. N.1, Hettiarachchi, C. J.1 and Padmalal, U. K. G. K.2
1Land Owners Restore Rainforests in Sri Lanka
2Department of Zoology, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Nawala, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

2. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Introduction
Montane slender loris is a restricted range species only observed in montain region of Nuwara Eliya
It is an endangered (IUCN 2014) species and previously ( ) listed as one of the top 25 endangered primates in the world
Gamage et al identified degradation of habitat due to anthropogenic activities is one of the great threat to this primate
Recent studies by Gamage et al., (2014) suggested the subspecies should evaluate as Critically Endangered
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

3. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Methodology
Seven villages which were situated in the Montane slender loris distribution range were selected as the study sites.
Surveys were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. Interviews were carried out using the participatory approach model. To ensure the reliability of the data, each interview was conducted separately.
The survey was conducted in May–June 2012.
Further, assessed the attitudes of people towards primates in the aforementioned villages.
The analysis focused on those people that encountered knowledge of primates, socioeconomic and other aspects.
Mini 14 software was used for the regression analysis.
A total of 259 respondents were interviewed during the study period
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

4. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Sturdy Area
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

5. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Results
Most of the people (90%) in the area had permanent lands
the main occupation is agriculture (57%) and the rest of the people doing farming as secondary income source.
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

6. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Distance to forest
Over 64.09% of lands are situated at within 200m from the forest buffer zone.
All farmers heavily using agro chemical and pesticides for their farm lands.
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

7. Uses and services for the people from the nearest forest
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

9. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Firewood consumption
The majority of the people used fire wood as the main fuel source 88.28%
And 85.36% of the firewood come from the nearest forest patch.
About 38.24% of the people collect firewood once a week (four times per month). The rest of the people (61.76%) collect firewood less than four times per Month.
Within the seven villages (surveyed 259 families; 1295 people), the total collected amount of firewood per month is as 68.75m3.
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

10. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Firewood consumption
Estimated firewood requirement in the study area as m3 per month (Total population of the area 11,382).
According to the central bank (2012) report, 86% of people of Nuwara Eliya district use firewood for their main energy requirement. About 82% of the firewood in the study area comes from natives forest trees (Kele dara).
These findings emphasize the degree of threats available to the montane forest ecosystems in the area.
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

11. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Relationship between firewood collection and Occupation
Destroyed Natural Forest
The results indicate that the two-way interactions between the distance to the forest and the amount of firewood collection are not significant (p = 0.937) at a a-level of 0.05 (p = 0.937). Also the results indicate that the two-way interactions between the distance to the forest and the usage of gas are significant (p = 0.02) at a-level of 0.05 (p = 0.02).
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

12. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Identified threats
The overall findings of the study indicate the effect of firewood collection for domestic fuel requirement as directly influencing the forest degradation of the area.
Current agricultural practices may effect to insect population in the area. Slender loris is primary an insectivore’s primate (Gamage et al. 2010) hence it may badly affect to it’s food chain.
Peoples knowledge primates in the area is very poor.
Peoples have very poor knowledge about the importance of natural forest in the area (ex: no any timber value from the montane forests only think it as a firewood source).
Encroachment of farm lands were observed in many locations
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

13. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Recommendations
Increase the awareness about the montane forest and its values.
Manage the over exploitation of firewood from the forests, through increase the efficiency of the stoves,
Introduced alternative firewood sources from other area.
Grow alternative firewood sources in the farm lands or degraded government lands.
Introduce proper agriculture practices to minimize the agro-chemicals and pesticides usage.
Continue long term monitoring programs to asses the threats and out come of the conservation measures
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.

14. APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.
Acknowledgement
APS 2016, Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka.