Restricting human traffic, both of the local villager and the outside, and controlling exploitation ultimately depends on successful management. Perhaps the most promising omen for the future well-being if the Reserve is the Conservation Plan for the Sinharaja Forest formulated in 1985. Funded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), this plan includes one of the most basic requirments of conserving a protected area i.e. defining clear objectives and a strategy of action based on available knowledge. Worked out by state department officials, research scientists, and non-governmental personnel, the plan is a realistic evaluation of the constraints while have negated conservation efforts so far. While proposing workable solutions, it has also identified priority areas needing immediate attention.

                         The case made for centralizing the administration of the MAB Reserve, and for vesting a single officer with administrative powers over the whole area has already been implemented. Since 1988 IUCN has funded a Project Officer for Sinharaja. The plan also reiterates the need to provide the officers with suitable accommodation, vehicles, firearms, firefighting equipment and communication facilities. While the Management Plan would help provide the administrative framework for future conservation of the forest, attention should also be paid to suggestions advocating the extension of the boundaries of the Reserve on the North-Eastern side to include the plateaux of Handapan Ella plains and Tangamali plains. This area includes still largely undisturbed forest and grassland. Opportunities such as this, to create or expand protected areas, are becoming increasingly rare and plans should be drawn up for such an expansion as soon as possible.