Lorentz National Park

Province of Panial, Irian Jaya, Indonesia.

Snow-capped mountains and glaciers linked with mangroves and tropical seas; the largest single protected area in Southeast Asia; boasts the highest peak east of the Himalayas, Puncak Jaya or Carstensz Pyramid, which is Indonesia’s highest mountain at 4,884 meters above sea level; most inaccessible and least known among the national parks in Indonesia; also a World Heritage Site.

Mangroves in the coast; montane and alpine forests; extensive lowland wetlands; heath forests; snow-capped mountains; there is on-going mountain formation and major sculpting by glaciation and shoreline accretion; five major rivers flow almost directly  to the south slopes of the reserve passing through extensive belts of freshwater and mangrove swamps.

Ant house plant (Myrmecodia sp.); ferns (Lecanopteris mirabilis); and carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes sp.); dipterocarprs, tree genera of Dracontomelon, Pterocarpus, Instia, Dialum, Palaqium, and Pometia; nipa, bakau, Pandanus julianettii, Colocasia esculenta; Pterocarpus pilgeri; and Nauclea coadunate. 

Endemic to snow mountains like the mountain quail, snow mountain robin, and long-tailed paradiagalla (Paragiagalla caruneulata); tree kangaroo (Dendrolagus sp.); tiger cat (Dasyyurusalbo punctatus); short beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus); long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus  bruijinii); and southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).

The spectacular ecosystems and biodiversity resources  in the park; the semi-nomadic, but simple  lifestyle of the various ethnic groups and their traditional agriculture, which evolved in harmony with the environment although controlled by cultural taboos and rituals to prevent over-exploitation of biodiversity; peaks, snowfields  and hanging glaciers of Puncak Jaya; Baliem Gorge, which is one of the straightest, longest and steepest white water river in the world.