Vateria copallifera
Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC) via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vateria_copallifera
Overview
A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.
Vateria copallifera faces severe pressure from commercial logging operations targeting its valuable resin-producing timber, which is highly sought after for construction and traditional medicine. Rapid agricultural expansion, particularly for palm oil plantations and rice cultivation, has fragmented its remaining lowland forest habitat across Sri Lanka and southwestern India. Mining activities and urban development have further reduced available habitat, while climate change threatens the species' narrow altitudinal range in tropical wet forests.
Habitat
Vateria copallifera inhabits tropical wet evergreen forests and semi-evergreen forests in lowland and lower montane regions up to 1,000 meters elevation. The species thrives in areas with high rainfall and humid conditions, typically found in primary forest canopies and forest edges with well-drained soils.
