Lorentz National Park,Indonesia

Geographical Location

Lorantz National Park (04º00’-5º15’S, 137º14’-138º20’E) is a World Heritage Site that lies within the Province of Irian Jaya, and the administrative districts of Jayawijaya, Paniai, Merauke (Southern Division), Fak-fak, Mimika and Enarotali. It stretches for over 150 kilometers (km), from the central cordillera mountains in the north to the Arafura Sea in the south. Access is by air from Jayapura to Wamena and Timika.


Area

Date and History of Establishment

The first protection status was given by the Dutch Colonial Government in 1919 with the establishment of the Lorentz Nature Monument. In 1956, the protected status was abolished due to conflicts with local people over unresolved land ownership.

In 1978, it was established as a Strict Nature Reserve (Cagar Alam) by the Indonesian Government with an area of 2,150,000 hectare (ha). In March 1997 it was declared a national park by the Ministry of Forestry, that includes the eastern extension (Mount Trikora, Mount Rumphius, Lake Habbema area) and coastal and marine areas.The total area is 2,505,600 ha, about 0.6% of Irian Jaya’s total size.
Land tenure

National Park in the Republic of Indonesia.
Altitude

Ranges from sea level to 4,884 meters (m) at the summit of Puncak Jaya, Indonesia’s highest mountain.
Physical Features

The Park can be divided into two very distinct zones: the swampy lowlands and the high mountain area of the central cordillera. The central cordillera itself can be subdivided in the eastern part and the western part on the basis of geology and vegetation types, the north-south line at approximately Kwiyawagi village being the dividing line.

The central mountain ranges are the southern portion of two colliding continental plates, which are causing the mountain range to rise. The lowering and rising of the sea level during the glacial and inter-glacial periods of the Pleistocene, along with continuous activity in the mobile belt which characterizes the contact zone of the two colliding lithospheric plates, has continued to promote the great biodiversity of the island of New Guinea in general, and in the Lorentz area in particular. Large tracts of the mountain range, and especially the area formed by the traditional lands of the Amungme (or Amung) are rich in mineral deposits - especially gold and copper.

The Carstenz/Puncak Jaya section of the Jayawijaya Mountain Range still retains small ice caps. It is one of only three equatorial highlands (Sierra Nevada region in the Andes, and Mount Kenya, Kilimanjaro, Ruwenzori in eastern Africa) that is sufficiently high altitude to retain permanent ice, but note that Lorentz glaciers are receding rapidly. Some 3,300 ha of snowfields remained in 1992. The main snowfields comprise five separate areas of ice on the outer margins of Mount Puncak Jaya. These include two small fields which feed the Meren and Carstenz glaciers, and a small hanging glacier on the Carstenz Pyramid.

Puncak Jaya’s summit consists of several peaks (Jayakesuma/Carstenz Pyramid 4,884 m, Ngga Pulu 4,862 m, Meren 4,808 m) that developed from Tertiary rocks (Miocene). This high area was still covered by wide ice caps (13 square kilometers (km2)) in 1936. These ice caps melted down to an area of just 6.9 km in 1972 and further reduced to 3.3 km2 by 1991. The remaining ice is now divided into three patches the North Wall Firn, the Meren and Carstenz glacier with only 3 km2 of ice left. Based on climatic data, a deficit mass balance will continue as the future trend.

The lowland area is a wide swampy plain, covered with virgin forest and intersected by countless winding rivers and streams, mostly tidal. The largest of these rivers empty into the shallow Arafura Sea, which separates the island of New Guinea from Australia.

The Regional Physical Planning Program for Transmigration recognized 9 physiographic types and regions (beaches, tidal swamps, meander belts, peat swamps, alluvial valleys, alluvial fans, dissected terraces, mountains and alpine summits) with 13 major land systems.
Climate

Lies within the humid tropical climatic zone. Rainfall in the lowland area averages 3,700 millimeters (mm) (3,160-4,100 mm per annum). Western winds prevail between October and March, while the Eastern winds blow from April until September. The period from December until March is usually characterized by high waves in the coastal areas. Daytime temperatures range from 29-32 degrees Celsius (C) in the lowlands, to below freezing above the 4,800 m contour line. Early morning snow on top of the summits of Mont Trikora and Mount Jaya, or even down to 3,800 m, occurs regularly, but permanent snow and ice is only to be found in the Mount Jaya area. In the mountains, the weather conditions are more dependent upon the immediate topography. Rainfall in the higher valleys ranges between 3,500 and 5,000 mm/year.
Flora

Based on physiographic types, five altitudinal vegetation zones have been identified within Lorentz National Park: lowland zone, montane zone, subalpine zone, alpine zone, and nival zone. Some of the zones are further divided into subzones.

The lowland zone comprises the Beach Subzone (0-4 m altitude) covered by a vegetation ranging from pioneer herbaceous communities on the first beach ridge to tall mixed forest inland. The tidal swamp subzone (0-1 m) comprises one land system, the Kajapah land system (KJP) consisting of inter-tidal swamps of mangrove and nipah palm. The muddy south coast of the park supports extensive mangrove communities that are probably the most diverse in the world. Five mangrove communities have been described: Avicennia/Sonneratia community, Rhizophora-dominated community, Bruguiera-dominated forest, Nypa-dominated forests, and Landward mixed mangrove forest. The lowland freshwater swamps (of Peat Swamp subzone, 3-50 m) are very extensive, reaching 50 km inland in the western part and more than 80 km along the eastern boundary. The swamps contain a diversity of vegetation types, including open water, herbaceous vegetation, grass swamps, peat swamps, woodlands and swamp forests. The alluvial Fan Subzone (50-150 m) consists of alluvial fan plains and resembles most closely the theoretical climax vegetation type for the area. Tropical dryland evergreen lowland forest. Dominant families include Annonaceae, Burseraceae, Dipterocarpaceae, Ebenaceae, Fagaceae, Leguminoseae, Meliaceae, Moraceae, Myrtaceae and Stercuilaceae.

The montane altitudinal zone comprises the Kemum Land System, which consists of steep-sided deeply dissected mountain ridges. This altitudinal zone is subdivided into lower montane subzone, mid-montane subzone and upper montane subzone. The lower montane subzone (600-1,500 m) includes the foothills and lower montane slopes. The forest is very distinct from the surrounding zones. It differs from the alluvial forests in being lower and more closed. These forests form the most floristically rich zones of New Guinea and contain more than 80 genera and 1,200 species of trees. The vegetation types of the mid-montane subzone are mixed mid-montane forest, Castanopsis forest, Nothofagus forest, coniferous forest, mid-montane swamp forest, mid-montane sedge-grass swamp, mid-montane Phragmites grass swamps, mid-montane Miscanthus grassland and succession on abandoned gardens. The mid-montane forest in this altitude is referred to as cloud or mossy forest.

The subalpine zone occurs from 3,200 m to 4,170 m. All alpine zones are located above 4,170 m and consist of alpine peaks with bare rocks and residual ice caps. The lower subalpine forest is floristically poor. The forest in this zone has a closed canopy, which reaches to 10 m height, with emergents up to 15 m. Rapanea sp., Dacrycarpus compactus and Papuacedrus papuas tend to be dominant species. Near the forest limit, the forest is dominated by Ericaceae and Epacridacaeae.

The alpine zone lies between 4,170 m and 4,585 m. The alpine vegetation includes all communities growing above the tall shrub limits. These are grassland, heath and tundra. The dominant grasses at 4,200 m are Agrostis reinwardtii, Deyeuxia brassi, Anthoxantium angustum, Monostachya oreoboloides and Poa callosa. The ground is covered by bryophytes and liches and scattered scrubs are common.