Lorentz National Park

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Lorentz National Park is named after Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz, a Dutch explorer who passed through the area on his 1909–10 expedition. The first formal protection of a 3,000 km² core area 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. The 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. In 2006, the Minister of Forestry established a managing structure for Lorentz National Park, the Lorentz National Park Bureau with headquarters in Wamena. 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.

Reader's Guide

Lorentz National Park is significant as the largest national park in Southeast Asia and one of the most ecologically diverse in the world. Birdlife International has called Lorentz Park 'probably the single most important reserve in New Guinea.' It contains five of World Wildlife Fund's 'Global 200' ecoregions: Southern New Guinea Lowland Forests; New Guinea Montane Forests; New Guinea Central Range Subalpine Grasslands; New Guinea Mangroves; and New Guinea Rivers and Streams. The 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, 31 dove and pigeon species, and 60 species of kingfisher. Six bird species are endemic to the Snow Mountains including the Snow Mountain quail and Snow Mountains robin. The mammal species include the long-beaked echidna, short-beaked echidna, and four species of cuscus as well as wallabies, quolls and tree-kangaroos. The dingiso, a tree-kangaroo species only discovered in 1995, is endemic to the Sudirman Range. The area has been inhabited for more than 25,000 years and encompasses 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. The main threats to biodiversity are from commercial logging, forest conversion for plantation agriculture, smallholder agricultural conversion, mining/oil/gas development, illegal road construction, and the illegal species trade. Global warming also poses a substantial threat. As of 2005, there was no reported commercial logging or other large-scale threats present inside the park, and the overall health of the biodiversity was excellent. The park's success largely depends on local communities' understanding of and support for conservation, rather than external enforcement alone.

Did You Know?

• Lorentz is the only nature reserve in the Asia-Pacific region to contain a full altitudinal array of ecosystems from marine areas to equatorial glaciers.
• At 4,884 metres, Puncak Jaya (formerly Carstensz Pyramid) is the tallest mountain between the Himalayas and the Andes.
• The dingiso, a tree-kangaroo species only discovered in 1995, is endemic to the Sudirman Range.
• An area of about 1,500 km² was excluded from the World Heritage listing due to the presence of mining exploration titles within the park.
• As of 2005, there were no park staff or guards assigned to Lorentz.