New Guinea is an island (with many associated small, peripheral islands) but larger than Texas (309,000 square miles vs 268,600) - directly north of Australia. It is at the center of an extensive archipelago and islands stretching from Indonesia eastward to Polynesia and northward to Micronesia. Much of this is referred to as Malesia. The island of New Guinea is divided into two political halves: the independent Papua New Guinea – the eastern half of the island, and the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua – the western half.
maps: Melanesia, Melanesia2, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea
The largest remaining wilderness area in the Asia-Pacific region is in New Guinea. It includes a rich diversity of ecosystems: glaciers, alpine tundra, savanna, montane and lowland rainforest, mangroves, wetlands, lake and river ecosystems, seagrasses, and coral reefs. New Guinea is the world’s highest island, with mountain peaks reaching 16,000 feet elevation (Mount Jaya, at 4884 meters), and is the only country in the Malesian region with significant areas of tropical vegetation above 2000 meters altitude. Extensive areas of high altitude vegetation contribute to the high diversity of the flora.
About 70% of New Guinea’s forests remain intact and are home to thousands of native plant and animal species, a large portion undescribed by science. Those already known include some of the world’s most spectacular: birds of paradise, tree kangaroos, and a great diversity of orchid species. Logging, conversion of forests into agricultural land, overexploitation of resources, and introduction of exotic species present serious and increasing threats to the biological and cultural diversity.
Internet Links
New Guinea and the Melanesian Islands generate a great deal of interest because of the rich biodiversity and potential for conservation. Interesting and pointed information can be found at the internet links below.
Virtual flyover of Asmat region of New Guinea (Indo-Pacific Conservation Alliance)
Papua New Guinea (Wildlife Conservation Society)
Status of biodiversity in Papua New Guinea (Chapter 6, Miller et al. 1999)
High bio-diversity wilderness areas: New Guinea (Conservation International Priority Area)
Papua New Guinea - A Mega-diversity Hot Spot (World Wildlife Fund)
East Melanesian Islands - Diversity Hot Spot (BiodiversityScience.org - Conservation International )
Biodiversity in the Indo-Pacific Region (Indo-Pacific Conservation Alliance)
A Biodiversity Conservation Plan for PNG Based on Biodiversity Trade-offs Analysis (Biodiversity & Systematics article)
Biodiversity protection efforts in Papua New Guinea (Wikipedia)
New Guinea Insect-plant Ecology and Related Projects (Smithsonian Research)
The New Guinea Tropical Ecology and Biodiversity Digest (newletters, 1995-2003)
