Wasur National Park | |
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Taman Nasional Wasur | |
Location | South Papua, Indonesia |
Nearest city | Merauke |
Coordinates | 8°36′S140°50′E / 8.600°S 140.833°E |
Area | 4,138 km2 |
Established | 1990 |
Visitors | 2,265(in 2004 [1] ) |
Governing body | Ministry of Environment and Forestry |
Designated | 16 March 2006 |
Reference no. | 1624 [2] |
The Wasur National Park forms part of the largest wetland in Merauke Regency, South Papua, Indonesia and has been one of the least disturbed by human activity. [3] The high value of its biodiversity has led to the park being dubbed the "Serengeti of Papua". [3] The vast open wetland, in particular Rawa Biru Lake, attracts a very rich fauna.
About 70% of the total area of the park consists of savanna (see Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands), while the remaining vegetation is swamp forest, monsoon forest, coastal forest, bamboo forest, grassy plains and large stretches of sago swamp forest. The dominant plants include mangroves, Terminalia, and Melaleuca species. [3]
The park provides habitat for a large variety of up to 358 bird species of which some 80 species are endemic to the island of New Guinea. Fish diversity is also high in the region with some 111 species found in the eco-region and a large number of these are recorded from Wasur. [4] The park's wetland provides habitat for various species of lobster and crab as well.
Common fauna species include the agile wallaby, [5] Pesquet's parrot, southern cassowary, blue crowned pigeon, greater bird-of-paradise, king bird-of-paradise, red bird-of-paradise, New Guinea crocodile, and saltwater crocodile. [3]
Wasur National Park is the habitat for a number of rare and endemic species. Red Listed species known to be present in viable populations are southern crowned pigeon, New Guinea harpy eagle, dusky pademelon, black-necked stork, Fly River grassbird and little curlew. Three trans-Fly endemic bird species have been recorded, including the Fly River grassbird and the grey-crowned munia. [4]
The introduction of the rusa deer to Papua by the Dutch at Merauke in 1928, led to an extensive spread of this species to most of the southern coastlands of the island. According to the indigenous communities of the national park, this led to major changes to the local ecosystem, including: the reduction of tall swamp grasses and consequent ceasing of breeding of the Australian pelican and magpie goose, reduction of the Phragmites reed species, and the extensive spread of Melaleuca onto the open grasslands. [6]
The Wasur area was first designated as a wildlife reserve in 1978 with an area of 2,100 km2. An extended area of 4,138 km2 was later declared a national park in 1990. In 2006 the park has been also recognised as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. Wasur shares a common border with Tonda Wildlife Management Area (WMA), another Ramsar site in neighbouring Papua New Guinea. Wasur National Park has been the site of a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) conservation and development project since 1991. [4] In 1995 a Tri-National Wetlands Program has been initiated by WWF between Wasur NP, Tonda WMA and the Australian Kakadu National Park, which led to a Memorandum of Understanding between the three government conservation agencies in 2002. [7]
There are four groups of indigenous peoples living in the park, belonging to the tribes of Kanum, Marind, Marori Men-Gey and Yei, who rely on the area for food and their daily needs. The total population is estimated to be 2,500 within 14 villages. [8] The name of the park is derived from the Marori language in which Waisol means garden. [9] These local communities consume fish, sago, sweet potato, deer, bandicoot and wallaby. Many aspects of their culture are disappearing although some elements such as festivals, pig feasts, dancing, weaving and traditional cooking remain. There are many sites of spiritual significance including sacred sites. The southern part of the park has large areas of ancient agricultural mounds which are of archaeological importance. [4]
Much of the park's natural flooded grassland systems are threatened by large scale changes to scrub and woodland as well as invasions of alien species such as water hyacinth and mimosa pigra. The New Guinea crocodile habitat is in danger as a consequence of skin trading. [4] As in other parts of Indonesia and New Guinea, illegal logging has been witnessed in Wasur National Park as well. [10]
The Mamberamo is the second-longest river on the island of New Guinea, after Sepik River and the second largest in Oceania by discharge volume after Fly. It is located in the Indonesian province of Papua. It is the second largest river in Indonesia by volume of discharge after Kapuas and also the widest.
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region is also called West Papua.
Western Province is a coastal province in southwestern Papua New Guinea, bordering the Indonesian provinces of Highland Papua and South Papua. The provincial capital is Daru. The largest town in the province is Tabubil. Other major settlements are Kiunga, Ningerum, Olsobip and Balimo.
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The Terai–Duar savanna and grasslands is a narrow lowland ecoregion at the base of the Himalayas, about 25 km (16 mi) wide, and a continuation of the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India, Nepal and Bhutan. It is colloquially called Terai in the Ganges Basin east to Nepal, then Dooars in West Bengal, Bhutan and Assam east to the Brahmaputra River. It harbours the world's tallest grasslands, which are the most threatened and rare worldwide.
The bronze quoll is a species of quoll found only in the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands of Papua New Guinea and South Papua in Indonesia.
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Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park is a national park on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in the province of South East Sulawesi. It was declared in 1989 and has an area of 1,050 km². The park ranges from sea level to an altitude of 981 m. It contains the Aopa peat swamp, the largest in Sulawesi, and is recognised as a wetland of international importance.
The wildlife of Togo is composed of the flora and fauna of Togo, a country in West Africa. Despite its small size the country has a diversity of habitats; there are only remnants of the once more extensive rain forests in the south, there is Sudanian savanna in the north-western part of the country and larger areas of Guinean forest–savanna mosaic in the centre and north-east. The climate is tropical with distinct wet and dry seasons. There are estimated to be over 3000 species of vascular plants in the country, and 196 species of mammals and 676 species of birds have been recorded there.
Assagny National Park or Azagny National Park is a national park in the south of Ivory Coast. It is situated on the coast some 75 km (47 mi) to the west of Abidjan, between the mouth of the Bandama River and the Ébrié Lagoon, and occupies an area of about 17,000 hectares.
New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf, and were united during episodes of low sea level in the Pleistocene glaciations as the combined landmass of Sahul. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The island's name was given by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez during his maritime expedition of 1545 due to the resemblance of the indigenous peoples of the island to those in the African region of Guinea.
The Trans Fly savanna and grasslands are a lowland ecoregion on the south coast of the island of New Guinea in both the Indonesian and Papua New Guinean sides of the island. With their monsoon and dry season climate these grasslands are quite different from the tropical rainforest that covers most of the island and resemble the landscape of northern Australia which lies to the south.
The Tonda Wildlife Management Area is a wetland of international importance and the largest protected area in Papua New Guinea. It is located in the south-western corner of the Western Province and is contiguous with Wasur National Park of Indonesia. It forms part of the Trans Fly savanna and grasslands ecoregion.
Morori is a moribund Papuan language of the Kolopom branch of the Trans–New Guinea family. It is separated from the other Kolopom languages by the intrusive Marind family. All speakers use Papuan Malay or Indonesian as L2, and many know Marind.
South Papua, officially the South Papua Province, is an Indonesian province located in the southern portion of Papua, following the borders of the Papuan customary region of Anim Ha. Formally established on 11 November 2022 and including the four most southern regencies that were previously part of the province of Papua and before 11 December 2002 had comprised a larger Merauke Regency, it covers a land area of 129,715.02 km2, about the same area as Pennsylvania. This area had a population of 513,617 at the 2020 Census, while the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 537,973, making it the least populous province in Indonesia.
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The Morehead River is a river in southwestern Papua New Guinea. It is located just to the east of the Bensbach River, and to the west of the Fly River. The river flows through the Trans-Fly savanna and grasslands.
Kanum people (Kanume) are an ethnic group that inhabits the border area of Merauke Regency in South Papua and Papua New Guinea. The Kanum is considered a subgroup of the Marind, but they have their own language which is the Kanum language that belongs to the Yam language family. This language is closer to the Yei language and other tribes in Papua New Guinea than to the Marind language, which is spoken by the largest ethnic group in Merauke.