The diverse tropical forests of Indonesia and New Guinea and the nearby archipelagos form the Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific.
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Ancient
forests are in crisis
 What is at stake? |
These predominantly evergreen rainforests include mangrove, coastal and swamp forests as well as lowland rainforests. Other forest types include monsoon and deciduous forests in the drier and more mountainous regions.
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Like other ancient forests, the Paradise Forests shelter regions of unusually high biodiversity, including many plants and animals that are found nowhere else. They support well over 500 species of mammals and more than 1,600 species of birds, not to mention around 30,000 species of higher plants. |
These include biological treasures like Indonesia's giant rafflesia flower that can grow up to one metre across, and more than 2,000 species of orchids.
Of 43 known species of the exotic bird of paradise, 38 occur in New Guinea alone.
Indonesia's remaining ancient forest is a refuge for the last populations of man's fourth closest relative, the orang-utan, and for the Sumatran and Javan rhinoceros that once roamed across much of Southeast Asia.
The cultural diversity of these forests is as astounding as their natural wonders.
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"Generations of my people have
said no to logging. We rely on many different bush materials and
don't want logging to damage them," Simon Okai, Zongo clan chief,
Solomon Islands.
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In New Guinea alone there are more than 800 languages, one third of all the languages spoken on Earth. Many of these cultures depend on these forests for their livelihood, and have done so for generations. Their future and the future the forest are intimately linked. |
© Greenpeace/Solness
Time to act
Indonesia and New Guinea have already lost around 65 percent of their ancient Paradise Forests. The region as a whole has seen a 25 percent increase in timber production in 1996-1998 compared to the previous decade.
Here, illegal logging and corruption within the logging industry remain widespread. Indeed, in Indonesia, it has been estimated that as much as 70 percent of the raw timber supplying the country's wood processing industry is logged illegally. In Papua New Guinea the government has consistently failed to enforce existing forest legislation.
Papua New Guinea has repeatedly broken its own national forestry laws, in order to allow powerful companies access to areas of ancient forest.
A 2001 World Bank report warns that some of the richest areas of forest in this region could disappear within three to 10 years unless government action is taken to halt the rampant illegal logging and habitat destruction.