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North and east of Palau lie a series of small, tropical islands known as the Yap Islands. With gently rolling green hills and abundant marine life, the Yap Islands are a popular tourist destination. They're also home to a number of endemic plants and birds.
If you visit the Yap Islands between January and March, you'll understand why tourists flock to the region. Temperatures are mild year-round, and these months are relatively rain-free. Between May and November, however, heavy rains are frequent, nourishing the abundant plant growth on the islands. Typhoons are also common. Although this island group contains many islands, Yap Proper, also called "Wa'ab," consists of just four islands separated by narrow channels. Roads connect three of these, and the fourth is accessible only by boat.
Scientists speculate that the islands of Yap were once covered with broadleaf deciduous trees. Today you'll find only remnants of native broadleaf forests, along with mangrove forests in sheltered areas along the coast and some areas of swamp. Living in these forests are a number of threatened or near-threatened birds, including the Yap monarch, the plain white-eye, the Yap cicadabird, the white-throated ground-dove, and the Yap olive white-eye.
Early inhabitants of the Yap Islands grew crops such as yams, clearing forest until much of it became savanna. Today, the native vegetation is widely replaced by tree gardens and by crops such as coconut palm, breadfruit, betel nut, papaya, bananas, cassava, taro, and a variety of medicinal and ornamental species. And all the native bird species on the island are threatened by introduced species such as the tree sparrow, which may carry diseases. The brown tree snake from Guam could also spell disaster if introduced since native birds have no natural defense against snakes, which eat their eggs. For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report. All text by World Wildlife Fund © 2001
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