Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torres ...
in
Morobe Province
Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands ...
, eastern
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. It is named after
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
explorer
Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec
Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec (12 September 1748 – 6 May 1793) was a French Navy officer. He took part in voyages of exploration in the Pacific Ocean under Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, looking for the lost expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse ...
. The peninsula is dominated by the steep
Saruwaged and
Finisterre and
Cromwell Mountains
The Cromwell Mountains is a mountain range on the Huon Peninsula in north-eastern Papua New Guinea.
The range is part of the Huon Peninsula montane rain forests. The character and species composition of the forests varies with elevation. Specie ...
. The nearest large town is the Morobe provincial capital
Lae to the south, while settlements on the north coast include the former German town of
Finschhafen, the district capital of
Wasu,
Malalamai and
Saidor with its World War II era
Saidor Airport.
The area was the site of the
Huon Peninsula campaign of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, in 1943-44 as Japanese troops retreating from Lae fought their way over the Finisterre Mountains to
Madang
Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century.
Histo ...
on the north coast.
Flora and fauna
The rainforests that cover these remote mountains provide habitats for many birds and animals and have been designated the
Huon Peninsula montane rain forests
The Huon Peninsula montane rain forests is a tropical moist forest ecoregion in New Guinea. The ecoregion covers the mountains of northeastern New Guinea's Huon Peninsula.
Geography
The ecoregion is made up of montane rain forests on the Huon Pen ...
ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...
. The rainforest of the hillsides consists of shorter trees and more herbs than you would find in lowland rainforests around the world, with predominant species of tree including ''
Pometia'', ''
Canarium
''Canarium'' is a genus of about 100 species of tropical and subtropical trees, in the family Burseraceae. They grow naturally across tropical Africa, south and southeast Asia, Indochina, Malesia, Australia and western Pacific Islands; includi ...
'', ''
Anisoptera
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...
'', ''
Cryptocarya'' laurels, and ''
Terminalia'', while the higher slopes have thicker forests of yet smaller trees and the higher slopes of the Cromwell Range in particular hold the best-preserved large forest of ''
Dacrydium'' conifers in the southern hemisphere.
Mammals indigenous to the Huon region include the endangered
Matschie's tree-kangaroo
Matschie's tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus matschiei''), also known as the Huon tree-kangaroo is a tree-kangaroo native to the Huon Peninsula of northeastern New Guinea island, within the nation of Papua New Guinea. Under the IUCN classification, ...
, while the birds include many of typical
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologic ...
n families such as
bowerbird
Bowerbirds () make up the bird family Ptilonorhynchidae. They are renowned for their unique courtship behaviour, where males build a structure and decorate it with sticks and brightly coloured objects in an attempt to attract a mate.
The family ...
s,
Australian robins,
honeyeater
The honeyeaters are a large and diverse family, Meliphagidae, of small to medium-sized birds. The family includes the Australian chats, myzomelas, friarbirds, wattlebirds, miners and melidectes. They are most common in Australia and New G ...
s (including the endemic
spangled honeyeater
The spangled honeyeater (''Melipotes ater'') is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae.
It is endemic to the Huon Peninsula
Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New G ...
) and
birds of paradise
The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. The family has 44 species in 17 genera. The members of ...
(including the endemic
Huon astrapia
The Huon astrapia (''Astrapia rothschildi''), also known as Rothschild's astrapia, Huon bird-of-paradise, or Lord Rothschild's bird-of-paradise, is a species of bird-of-paradise belonging to the genus ''Astrapia''. Like most of its congeners, ''A ...
). There are also endemic butterflies. Although some logging has taken place, the forests of the Huon Peninsula mountains are mostly undisturbed.
[
]
Conservation
The raised beach
A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin, ...
coastal terraces of Huon were added to the UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
World Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
Tentative List on June 6, 2006 in the Mixed (Cultural + Natural) category.
In 2009 the YUS Conservation Area
YUS Conservation Area is a protected area on the Huon Peninsula, Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. It was established in 2009 as Papua New Guinea's first conservation area, and named after the Yopno, Uruwa and Som rivers that flow through it. ...
was established in the northern part of the peninsula. YUS stretches over 760 km² and includes the three rivers, Yopno, Uruwa and Som, for which it was named.Conservation International
retrieved 19 May 2010
See also
*
Huon languages
The Huon languages are a language family, spoken on the Huon Peninsula of Papua New Guinea, that was classified within the original Trans–New Guinea (TNG) proposal, and William A. Foley considers their TNG identity to be established. They ...
References
Further reading
*
{{Coord, 6.416667, S, 147.5, E, display=title
Morobe Province
Peninsulas of Papua New Guinea
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Montane forests
Huon Peninsula montane rain forests