Manucoco, also referred to as Gunung Manucoco or Mount Manucoco, is a mountain in the
Atauro Island subdistrict of the
Dili District
Dili Municipality (, ) is one of the 14 municipalities, formerly districts, of Timor-Leste, and includes the national capital Dili. The municipality had a population of 277,279 , most of whom live in the capital city. Etymology
Several expl ...
of
East Timor. It stands near the southern end of Atauro Island, at the western end of
Wetar Strait, some north of
Dili
Dili (Portuguese/Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in ...
, the nation's capital. The rugged topography of the island's highlands is a result of the erosion of uplifted, originally submarine, volcanoes from the
Neogene
The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...
period creating narrow, dissected ridges and steep slopes, with Manucoco forming the highest point. The upper levels of the mountain (above an elevation of ) still carry patches of tropical semi-evergreen
mountain forest in sheltered valleys, covering about . The mountain, along with the whole of Atauro Island, has been identified as an
Important Bird Area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
by
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 ...
because it supports populations of several of
Timor’s and
Wetar's restricted-range native bird species.
References
Mountains of East Timor
Important Bird Areas of East Timor
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