New Nationwide Park Protects Birds-of-Paradise Habitat in Indonesian Papua | Dwelling Hen

From the Winter 2025 problem of Dwelling Hen journal. Subscribe now.

The Indonesian Minister of Envi­ronment and Forestry has declared a brand new nationwide park on the western aspect of the island of New Guinea, shield­ing intact rainforest that hosts a few of the highest biodiversity on Earth.

Minister Siti Nurbaya made an announcement concerning the institution of Mamberamo Nationwide Park on Octo­ber 15. The brand new park covers 4 million acres of lowland and mountain rain­forests, freshwater swamp forests, and mangroves, and is dwelling to a number of wild­life species discovered nowhere else—includ­ing the endangered golden-mantled tree-kangaroo and 12 birds-of-paradise species, such because the Bronze Parotia.

The brand new nationwide park space can be dwelling to 35 Indigenous tribes. Accord­ing to Minister Nurbaya, the federal government plans to include the views and information of native tribes within the park’s administration.

“The existence of Mamberamo Nationwide Park is anticipated to assist the group in bettering their lifestyle, each economically and likewise the capability of human assets across the nationwide park, for instance, capability within the fields of forestry, conservation, and tourism,” stated Nurbaya in a narrative printed by the Antara Indonesian information company.

Deforestation charges in Indonesia have declined over the previous decade, partly as a result of forest safety insurance policies. In June the Indonesian authorities introduced a partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund for monetary assist to guard as a lot as 37 million acres of rainforest, includ­ing the institution of recent nationwide parks in high-biodiversity areas.

“Indonesia has carried out one thing actually exceptional,” stated Zac Goldsmith, a member of the Home of Lords within the Brit­ish Parliament, and senior fellow on the Bezos Earth Fund. A former Minister of State in the UK, Goldsmith advises the fund on conservation strat­egy within the Pacific area. “If different nice forest nations had behaved within the method that Indonesia has, then the entire dis­cussion we’re having right here throughout local weather can be very totally different.”