Mamberamo Foja Wildlife Reserve

Mamberamo Foja Wildlife Reserve is a large protected area on New Guinea, in Indonesia's Papua Province. It covers an area of 16,610 km²,^[1] and extends along the Mamberamo River and its tributaries from the foothills of the Central Range to the Pacific Ocean.^[2]

Mamberamo River near Kasonaweja

Geography

The southern part of the reserve is in the Lakes Plains region, a landscape of freshwater swamp forests and lowland rain forests south of the Central Range. The eastward-flowing Tariku River and westward-flowing Taritatu River meander through the region forming oxbow lakes and wetlands, and join to form the northward-flowing Mamberamo.^[2]

The reserve follows the eastern bank of the Mamberamo and includes the Foja Mountains, which reach an elevation of 2193 meters. The Foja Mountains are covered in montane rain forests above 1000 meters elevation.

The lower reach of the Mamberamo includes Rombebai Lake, New Guinea's largest. The river delta includes freshwater swamp forests and coastal mangroves.^[2]

Ecology

The reserve encompasses diverse plant communities, including montane rain forests, lowland and hill rain forests, freshwater swamp forests, flooded grasslands and savannas, and mangroves. The majority of the reserve is in the Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests ecoregion, while the portions of the Foja range above 1000 meters elevation are in the Northern New Guinea montane rain forests ecoregion.^[3]

History of the reserve

The reserve was gazetted by the Indonesian government in the 1980s, and later expanded to include the Foja Mountains.^[3] For decades conservation NGOs have proposed that the reserve become a national park.

At a two-day seminar on 7 and 8 November 2014 organized by the Yayasan Lingkungan Hidup, a local NGO, villagers requested that the government convert the wildlife sanctuary to a national park.^[4]

References

1. Yulianto I., Y. Herdiana, M.H. Halim, P. Ningtias, A. Hermansyah, S. Campbell. 2013. Spatial analysis to achieve 20 Million Hectares of Marine Protected Areas for Indonesia by 2020. Wildlife Conservation Society and Marine Protected Areas Governance. Bogor. Indonesia.
2. Petocz, Ronald G. (1989). Conservation and Development in Irian Jaya: A Strategy for Rational Resource Utilization. Brill, 1989.
3. "Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
4. Yomo, Albert (2014). "Local Community Wants Mamberamo Foja Sanctuary to Become National Park". West Papua Daily. Published 11 November 2014. Accessed 6 June 2014. [1]