Lakekamu River basin, Papua New Guinea Photograph by John P. Dumbacher   Southeastern Asia: Southern New Guinea Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   38,600 square miles (99,900 square kilometers) -- about the size of Maine and Massachusetts combined Relatively Stable/Intact

· Wildlife in the Wetlands
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Wildlife in the Wetlands

The freshwater swamps of southern New Guinea are an amazing refuge for wildlife. These wetlands are home to waterfowl that are year-round residents and those that migrate to and from Australia. Many other birds and mammals also live in these vast swamp forests.

Special Features

This ecoregion contains some of the largest swamp forests in the world. Several different tropical habitats can be found here, including grass swamps, savannas, woodlands, and swamp forests. River systems drain into these forests from the highlands of New Guinea. As a result, this ecoregion contains alluvial plains and fans that have built up as a result of sand and clay deposited by the rivers. In seasonally flooded areas, Melaleuca trees dominate, forming an even forest canopy. Sago palms fill woodlands where there are influxes of fresh water, with Pandanus species more common in areas where the water is saltier.

	The lowland tree kangaroo, like other tree kangaroo species, has stronger front limbs than other kangaroos, shorter hind legs, and rough-soled feet that provide a good grip on tree branches. Despite these features, the kangaroo still moves awkwardly in trees.

Wild Side

The birds here are colorful and varied. The greater bird-of-paradise, for example, has a glittering emerald-green forehead and throat, a golden-yellow head, and maroon wings and tail. Other birds that are near-endemic to this ecoregion have names as colorful as their plumage--including the striated lorikeet, painted quail-thrush, olive-yellow robin, and white-bellied pitohui. Six of this ecoregion’s 50 mammals are endemic or have most of their ranges within these freshwater swamp forests. These include the lowland tree-kangaroo, both the egg-laying Arfak and Papuan long-beaked echidnas (spiny anteaters), the Fly River horseshoe bat, and the gray dorcopsis.

Cause for Concern

About 80 percent of this ecoregion is still intact because human populations are low and forests are used only for subsistence. Still, a number of areas in this ecoregion have been damaged. The main culprit is the large Ok Tedi copper and gold mine, which discharges toxic waste into the ecoregion’s river systems. Although the mine is scheduled to close within two decades, it may take many decades more for these areas to recover.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.