Kikori Basin, Papua New Guinea Photograph by Don Henry   Southeastern Asia: Southern central New Guinea Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   47,500 square miles (122,900 square kilometers) -- about the size of New York Critical/Endangered

· Tropical Wilderness
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

Tropical Wilderness

Bats and kangaroos--many of which are found nowhere else on the planet--help make up the mosaic of wildlife in these tropical rain forests, considered the largest tropical wilderness area in Australasia.

Special Features

The lowland rain forests of this ecoregion are associated with the great Fly River watershed, the largest river system in Papua New Guinea. Lake Kutubu, the largest lake in Papua New Guinea, is located in this ecoregion as well. In the lowland alluvial forests, trees are irregular in height and encircled by a variety of climbers, epiphytes, and ferns. Palms are common in the shrub layer. In the lowland hill forests, the canopy is lower and palms are less common. Dense stands of primitive Araucaria, the tallest tropical tree in the world, can be found in scattered locations. Southern cassowary birds move through the forest understory looking for fruits and small animals.

	Male cassowary birds guard their eggs and can be quite dangerous because of their kicks.

Wild Side

This ecoregion contains 69 mammals, 13 of which are either endemic or near-endemic. The lowland tree kangaroo, the brown and the gray dorcopsis, the dusky pademelon, the Fly River horseshoe bat, and the Papuan mastiff bat can all be found in the lowland rain forests. Birds include Wallace’s fruit-dove, the striated lorikeet, painted quail-thrush, olive-yellow robin, and white-bellied pitohui.

Cause for Concern

Although this ecoregion does not face many immediate threats, potential problems include logging, traditional agriculture, oil and gas development, and the expansion of subsistence coffee areas. The Raggiana bird of paradise is hunted for sale and trade as well. No analysis has been conducted to determine whether the ecoregion’s existing protected areas adequately cover all of its important habitats. Lake Kutubu, with its unique fish community, could be threatened by oil spills from growing development nearby.

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