Mahogany is a large deciduous tree with an umbrella-shaped
crown, frequently reaching height of over 30m and diameter at breast height of
over 1.5m. This species is able to tolerate a wide range of environmental
conditions.
Like teak, mahogany too have a long history in Sri Lanka. In
1840, mahogany was first planted in Sri Lanka in Jaffna as an avenue tree. At
present about 4,500 ha of mahogany were maintained by the Forest Department
mainly in the intermediate zone and low country wet zone in Sri Lanka.
Realising the timber value of mahogany, recently private sectors has also
started creating mahogany plantations at commercial level.
Most of the mahogany plantations established by the government
become semi-natural forests due to the ignorance of management activities. The
reason was that those plantations were established with other species such as
jak which is not recommended for felling and the possible environmental
problems that can be arisen due to felling.