The Knuckles Mountain Range lies in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka in the districts of Matale and Kandy. The range takes its name from a series of recumbent folds and peaks in the west of the massif, which resembles the knuckles of a clenched fist when viewed from certain locations in the Kandy district. The Knuckles Conservation Forest Area spans approximately 31,305 hectares. As of 2010, the Knuckles Conservation Forest (KCF) has formed a part of the designated Central Highlands of Sri Lanka World Heritage Property, including the Peak Wilderness Protected Area and the Horton Plains National Park.

The Small Grants Programme (SGP) and the Upgraded Country Programmes (UCPs) of the UNDP implemented a community-based landscape approach as their core programming framework for the Sixth Operational Phase (OP6) of the Global Environment Facility. The Knuckles Conservation Forest and the buffer zone were identified as one of the three landscapes to enable community-based organizations to take collective actions for adaptive landscape management for socio-economic resilience.