Lorientz National Park

Snow on Lorientz National Park

Lorentz National Park is representative of the complete ecosystem for biodiversity in South East Asia and the Pacific. This area is also one of the three regions in the world that have glaciers in the tropics. It stretches from snow-capped mountain peaks (5030 meters above sea level), to stretch out to the coastal waters with mangrove forests and borders of the waters of the Arafura Sea. In this stretch, there is a spectrum of ecological stunning alpine vegetation of the region, sub-alpine, montane, sub-montane, lowland, and wetlands.Besides having a very high biodiversity, there are also some specific and unique presence in the Puncak Jaya glaciers and rivers that disappeared a few kilometers into the ground in the Valley Balliem. 

A total of 34 types of vegetation including swamp forest, river, sago forests, peat forests, coral sand beaches, rain forest land flat / slope, rain forest on the hill, kerangas forests, mountain forests, grasslands, and lichens.The types of vegetation in this park include palm (Nypa fruticans), mangrove (Rhizophora apiculata), Pandanus julianettii, Colocasia esculenta, Avicennia marina, Podocarpus pilgeri, and Nauclea coadunata.

The types of animals that have been identified in the Lorentz National Park as many as 630 species of birds (± 70% of bird in Papua) and 123 species of mammals. Bird species characteristic of this park there are two types of cassowary, four megapodes, 31 types of virgin / pigeons, 30 parrots species, 13 bird species of shrimp, 29 species of birds of honey, and 20 endemic species such as long-tailed paradise (Paradigalla caruneulata) and quail snow (Anurophasis monorthonyx).Mammal fauna recorded, among others, a long snout pig spines (Zaglossus bruijnii), pig snout short spines (Tachyglossus aculeatus), 4 types of cuscus, wallabies, jungle cats, and tree kangaroos.Lorentz National Park designated as a World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO and Natural Heritage of ASEAN by the ASEAN countries.This national park has a high biodiversity and supported an amazing cultural diversity. Estimated age of 30,000 years of culture and is the residence of the tribe Nduga, Western Dani, Amungme, Sempan and Asmat. There's more likelihood of people living in remote wilderness is yet to make contact with modern humans.Famous Asmat sculpture carving skills. According to belief, the tribe is identical to the forest or the trees. The trunk is represented as a human body, its branches as arms, and men as a human head. The tree is considered as a place to live the spirits of their ancestors. Asmat society that respects the system tree, it applies also to rivers, mountains and others.Lorentz was appointed as a national park in 1997, so that the facility / facilities for the convenience of visitors is still very limited, and not all objects and natural tourist attraction in this park have been identified and developed.The best visiting season: August / December each year.How to reach the location:From the northern town of Timika to the use of a pioneering flight to the South and use ship through the Port of Sawa Erma, followed by the path to multiple locations.