Lorentz National Park is a

national park A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual ...

located in

Central Papua Central Papua, officially the Central Papua Province ( id, Provinsi Papua Tengah) is an Indonesian province located in the central region of Western New Guinea. It was formally established on 11 November 2022 from the former eight western regen ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

, in the southwest of

western New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...

. With an area of 25,056 km² (9,674 mi²), it is the largest

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. In 1999 Lorentz was declared a

World Heritage Site 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 ...

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 ...

. An outstanding example of the

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

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 ...

, Lorentz is one of the most ecologically diverse national parks in the world. It is the only nature reserve in the Asia-Pacific region to contain a full altitudinal array of

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

s ranging through

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

areas,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

s, tidal and

freshwater swamp forest Freshwater swamp forests, or flooded forests, are forests which are inundated with freshwater, either permanently or seasonally. They normally occur along the lower reaches of rivers and around freshwater lakes. Freshwater swamp forests are found ...

, lowland and

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

alpine tundra Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

, and

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

ial

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

. At 4884 meters,

Puncak Jaya Puncak Jaya (; literally "Glorious Peak") or Carstensz Pyramid, Mount Jayawijaya or Mount Carstensz () on the island of New Guinea, with an elevation of , is the highest mountain peak of an island on Earth. The mountain is located in the Sudi ...

(formerly Carstensz Pyramid) is the tallest mountain between the Himalayas and the Andes.

Birdlife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

has called Lorentz Park “probably the single most important reserve in New Guinea”. It contains five of

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

's "

Global 200 The Global 200 is the list of ecoregions identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature ( WWF), the global conservation organization, as priorities for conservation. According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as a "relatively large unit of land or w ...

" ecoregions: Southern New Guinea Lowland Forests; New Guinea Montane Forests; New Guinea Central Range Subalpine Grasslands;

New Guinea Mangroves The New Guinea mangroves is a mangrove ecoregion that covers extensive areas of the coastline New Guinea, the large island in the western Pacific Ocean north of Australia. Location and description The New Guinea mangroves cover an area of , ...

; and New Guinea Rivers and Streams. Lorentz Park contains many unmapped and unexplored areas, and is certain to contain many species of plants and animals as yet unknown to Western science. Local communities'

ethnobotanical Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...

and ethnozoological knowledge of the Lorentz biota is also very poorly documented. The park is named for

Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz (18 September 1871 – 2 September 1944) was a Dutch explorer in New Guinea and diplomat in South Africa. He was born to Theodorus Apolonius Ninus Lorentz, a tobacco grower in East Java who had returned to t ...

, a Dutch explorer who passed through the area on his 1909–10 expedition.

Fauna

Goura scheepmakeri sclaterii 1 Luc Viatour

Lorentz National Park has 630 documented species of bird (around 95% of the total number of bird species in Papua) and 123 mammalian species. Birds include two species of

cassowary Cassowaries ( tpi, muruk, id, kasuari) are flightless birds of the genus ''Casuarius'' in the order Casuariiformes. They are classified as ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bones) and are native to the tropical ...

, 31 dove and

pigeon Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

species, and 60 species of

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

.Ministry of Forestry
, retrieved 14 May 2010 Six bird species are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

Snow Mountains The Sudirman Range, also known as the Snow Mountains,"Sudirman Mountains (Snow Mountains)". Papua Insects Foundation. Accessed 5 August 2021/ref> Dugunduguoo, or Nassau Range is a mountain range in Central Papua province, Indonesia. It is named a ...

including the

Snow Mountain quail The Snow Mountain quail (''Synoicus monorthonyx''), is a large, approximately 28 cm (11 in) long, dark brown quail of alpine grasslands. It was formerly considered the only member of the genus ''Anurophasis'', but phylogenetic analysis ...

and

Snow Mountains robin The Snow Mountains robin (''Petroica archboldi''), also known as the Snow Mountain robin, is a species of bird in the family Petroicidae. It is endemic to West Papua, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a countr ...

, 26 species are endemic to the Central Papuan Ranges while three are endemic to the South Papuan Lowlands. Threatened species include the

southern cassowary The southern cassowary (''Casuarius casuarius''), also known as double-wattled cassowary, Australian cassowary or two-wattled cassowary, is a large flightless black bird. It is one of the three living species of cassowary, alongside the dwarf c ...

Alpine woolly rat The alpine woolly rat (''Mallomys gunung'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in West Papua, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the I ...

southern crowned pigeon Scheepmaker's crowned pigeon (''Goura scheepmakeri'') is a large, terrestrial pigeon confined to the lowland forests of south eastern New Guinea. It has a bluish-grey plumage with elaborate blue lacy crests, red iris and very deep maroon breast. ...

Pesquet's parrot Pesquet's parrot (''Psittrichas fulgidus''), also known as the Dracula parrot or as the vulturine parrot (leading to easy confusion with '' Pyrilia vulturina'' from Brazil), is the only member of its genus. It is endemic to hill and montane rain ...

, Salvadori's teal and Macgregor's giant honeyeater.UNESCO: WHC Nomination Documentation, 1999
retrieved 18 November 2010 The mammal species include the

long-beaked echidna The long-beaked echidnas (genus ''Zaglossus'') make up one of the two extant genera of echidnas, spiny monotremes that live in New Guinea; the other being the short-beaked echidna. There are three living species and one extinct species in this ge ...

short-beaked echidna The short-beaked echidna (''Tachyglossus aculeatus''), also called the short-nosed echidna, is one of four living species of echidna and the only member of the genus ''Tachyglossus''. It is covered in fur and spines and has a distinctive snout ...

, and four species of

cuscus Cuscus ( or ) is the common name generally given to the species within the four genera of Australasian possum of the family Phalangeridae with the most tropical distribution: * ''Ailurops'' * ''Phalanger'' * ''Spilocuscus'' * ''Strigocuscus'' ...

as well as

wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

quoll Quolls (; genus ''Dasyurus'') are carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea. They are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in a den. Of the six species of quoll, four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea. Anoth ...

s and tree-kangaroos. Endemic to the

Sudirman Range The Sudirman Range, also known as the Snow Mountains,"Sudirman Mountains (Snow Mountains)". Papua Insects Foundation. Accessed 5 August 2021/ref> Dugunduguoo, or Nassau Range is a mountain range in Central Papua province, Indonesia. It is named a ...

is the

dingiso The dingiso () (''Dendrolagus mbaiso''), also known as the bondegezou, is an endangered, long-tailed marsupial found only in mountain forests on the west of the island of New Guinea (in Indonesia). It is a species of tree-kangaroo (genus ''Dendro ...

, a tree-kangaroo species only discovered in 1995.

Human habitation and culture

The area of the national park has been inhabited for more than 25,000 years. The forests of Lorentz encompass the traditional lands of eight indigenous ethnic groups, including the Asmat, Amung, Dani, Sempan, and Nduga. Estimates of the current population vary between 6,300 and 10,000. It is widely acknowledged that conservation management strategies for the park will have to incorporate the needs and aspirations of these peoples if the park is to succeed in protecting

. Moreover, cultural diversity is another important measure of success for the park.

Ecological threats

The main threats to the biodiversity of Lorentz are from commercial

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

, forest conversion for plantation

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

smallholder A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

agricultural conversion,

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

/ gas development, illegal road construction, and the illegal species trade.

Global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

also poses a substantial threat. As of 2005, there was no reported commercial logging or other large-scale threats present inside the park. There are no currently active forest conversion projects, and agricultural conversion is minimal. The illegal species trade is known to be a serious problem. The large Freeport gold/copper mining operation has been active for decades to the west and north of the park but is not active inside the park boundaries. Oil exploration inside and to the northeast of the park is ongoing. The overall health of the biodiversity of Lorentz Park is currently excellent. While logging and other threats have yet to materialize, it is likely that this will become a threat in the future. Climate change poses a very real threat, but its specific implications for Lorentz are uncertain.

Conservation

The first formal protection of a 3,000 km² core area of the Lorentz landscape was applied by the Dutch Colonial Government in 1919 with the establishment of the Lorentz Nature Monument. In 1978, the Indonesian Government established a Strict Nature Reserve with an area of 21,500 km². Lorentz National Park was established in 1997, with a total area of 25,056 km², including an eastern extension and coastal and marine areas.UNESCO Data on Lorentz
retrieved 19 May 2010 Lorentz National Park was listed as a natural World Heritage Site in 1999, however an area of about 1,500 km² was excluded from listing due to the presence of mining exploration titles within the park.UNESCO: Reactive Monitoring Mission to the Lorentz World Heritage Site, Indonesia, 2008
retrieved 16 May 2010 As of 2005, there were no park staff or guards assigned to Lorentz. However, the park's success largely depends on local communities' understanding of and support for conservation, rather than external enforcement alone. Several conservation organizations are working in the Lorentz area. In 2006, the Minister of Forestry established a managing structure for Lorentz National Park, the Lorentz National Park Bureau with headquarters in

Wamena Wamena is a town and the capital of the Indonesian province of Highland Papua. It also serves as the seat of Jayawijaya Regency. It is the largest town in Indonesian Papua's highlands, in the Baliem Valley and had a population of 64,967 at the ...

. The Bureau became functional only in 2007, and reached a staffing of 44 in mid-2008. However an UNESCO Monitoring Mission in 2008 acknowledged that the capacity of the Bureau was seriously limited due to lack of funding, equipment and experience.

References

External links

Official website

Lorentz National Park Bureau Blog

UNESCO Data on Lorentz NPIndo-Pacific Conservation Alliance Project — Facilitating Community-Driven Conservation and Strengthening Local Cultural Institutions in the Greater Lorentz Lowlands
{{Tourist attractions in Indonesia National parks in Western New Guinea Geography of Central Papua ASEAN heritage parks Tourist attractions in Western New Guinea World Heritage Sites in Indonesia Protected areas established in 1997 1997 establishments in Indonesia