Lorenz Park: a unique place to see glaciers, kangaroos and birds of paradise

The island of New Guinea is characterized by an incredible variety of landscapes, a wealth of flora and fauna. It has everything from snow-capped mountain peaks to coastal mangroves. To preserve these unique biocenoses, the Lorenz National Park was created, which is located in the Indonesian part of the island.

Lorenz National Park covers an area of 25,056 square meters. km, which includes all available ecosystems of the island. The territory of the park serves as an excellent demonstration of altitudinal zonation - the change of natural zones as the absolute height of the area increases. On the coast there are mangroves and swamps, which, when moving deeper into the island, are replaced by equatorial forests with an incredible number of different plant species. These forests rise to a height of 700 meters above sea level, where they are gradually replaced by broad-leaved forests with chestnuts and eucalyptus, which are replaced by thickets of shrubs and meadow communities. Starting from a height of 4,000 meters, they are replaced by rocky massifs covered with snow.

The highlight of Lorenz and a truly unique object for the tropics can be called the Maoke Mountains and their highest point - Punchak-Jaya (sometimes just Jaya). The peculiarity of Mount Punchak-Jaya, whose height is 4,884 meters, lies in the fact that its top is decorated with a real glacier! In addition to Jaya, there are other peaks with elevations above 4,000 meters, on which snow can also be observed.

Equatorial and tropical forests have the highest biodiversity among all other ecosystems of the globe, and Lorenz Park is an excellent confirmation of this. All researchers in this unique region are unanimous: there are still many species of animals and plants that are unknown to science.

But most of the territory is still explored by cartographers and biologists. Of those representatives of the fauna that were found here, we can name 630 species of birds. Many different parrots, including more than 30 species of cockatoo, pigeons, birds of paradise, nectaries, are found in the forests of Lorenz Park. There are also rare flightless birds - cassowary. The diversity of mammals is somewhat more modest; at present, about 120 species have been found, but local animals are very specific. The fauna of New Guinea has much in common with nearby Australia, but at the same time it is rich in endemic species formed during the isolation period. Several species of kangaroos live here, including the tree wallaby found only in New Guinea. Other unusual animals are Australian echidnas, prokhidnas, and also marsupial couscous.

But all this wonderful wild world is home to the local population - several Papuan tribes that live on the island. The creation of the park undoubtedly had a beneficial effect on these tribes, postponing the offensive of the ubiquitous civilization indefinitely.