Ambrym Island, Vanuatu Photograph by David Olson   Island group northeast of Australia Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   5,100 square miles (13,200 square kilometers) -- about half the size of Maryland Critical/Endangered

· In the Path of Cyclones
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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In the Path of Cyclones

More than 80 islands make up the Vanuatu Rain Forests--and they are strongholds of survival. Destructive cyclones are a regular event here, but many plant and animal species manage to thrive.

Special Features

The island nation of Vanuatu and the Santa Cruz Islands (part of the Solomons Islands) form this tropical wet ecoregion. These islands contain active volcanoes, a reminder of a complex geologic history. Natural vegetation is varied, ranging from lowland rain forests of tropical hardwood trees, including species of Calophyllum, to a complex understory of dense lianas and scrub. This lowland rainforest is the most widespread on the northern islands because it takes over areas disturbed by cyclones. Moving up the volcanic mountainsides the vegetation slowly shifts to montane forests of kauri, a hardwood from the beech tree family, and pine tree species from the Podocarpus family. Seasonal forests, scrub, and grasslands are often found on the leeward side of the islands (the side not facing the prevailing winds), and mangroves dominate the coasts.

	The eyes of birds with "white-eye" in their name are not actually white. Rather, the songbirds get their names from the circle of white feathers that surrounds the eyes in most species.

Wild Side

The only mammals in this ecoregion are bats, but you can find 12 species of them. Six of these are endemic to the ecoregion and include the Vanuatu flying fox and Temotu flying-fox. Birds are more diverse, including 15 endemic species. These include the Vanuatu scrubfowl, palm lorikeet, and chestnut-bellied kingfisher, as well as three species of pigeons, three species of white-eyes, and three species of starlings.

Cause for Concern

Threats to this ecoregion come from nature and humans alike. Cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes are all regular natural events here, but their effects can be worsened by the human disturbance of native habitats. Ninety percent of the population of this ecoregion is involved in subsistence farming in rural areas, and remaining forests are under pressure from logging companies and larger scale plantation farms as well. This ecoregion contains no formally protected areas.

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