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 ForestFocus on Indonesia: Page 2 New Guinea has some of the largest expanses of ancient species of trees in the world, most of which grow in cool climates in highlands and mountains. One species of Agathis kauri from the highlands of Papua New Guinea is considered rare by the 1997 IUCN Red List Plants, as are two more Agathis species in the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the southeast of New Guinea, also bits of Gondwana. The kauri pines (Agathis macrophylla) occur on both the latter island groups but have been logged over. Their close relatives on the island of Borneo are in steep decline from logging and land clearance. In New Guinea, logging and clearance for settlements or agriculture, and even native tribes, are destroying these giant trees. Known as "timber trees" in the IUCN-sponsored Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests. Asia and the Pacific (Collins et al. 1991), the Araucaria pines, relatives of the Monkey Puzzle Tree, grow in groves in parts of New Guinea's highlands, and some tribes venerate them.
Zoologist Tim Flannery (1998) walked among these Araucaria trees near the highland village of Telefolip and reflected: "Around the edge of the grove they were saplings but, further in, the pines were soaring giants, mist swirling through their crowns. Their straight, clean boles carried patches of bright green moss, which contrasted with their walnut-colored bark . . . The most striking thing about the grove was the quality of the sound. It seemed as if, in an instant, we had left the noisy, muddy world of drizzle and people and entered a large, open-air cathedral." The grove was considered so sacred by the local tribe that not a single leaf, not even a mosquito, could be disturbed in it (Flannery 1998). They thought that all life had begun in the grove. In the middle of the grove, Flannery saw a rare bird of paradise displaying. The male Splendid Astrapia (Astrapia splendidissima) has iridescent colors on the breast and head, and long, dramatic tail feathers that are much desired by the native hunters. These birds are usually shy, but generations of Astrapias had learned that they could display in this sacred Araucaria grove without fear that they would be killed (Flannery 1998). Baptist missionaries worked to end what they called pagan beliefs and offered to purchase timber cut from this sacred grove; gradually they succeeded in ending the taboos. When Flannery visited the grove in 1992, a great fallen Araucaria lay near the path, its trunk hewn into segments with a chainsaw.
New Guinea's birds-of-paradise have been called the most spectacular birds in the world. They are confined to this island and its satellite islands, and extreme northern Queensland in Australia. Their dazzling plumage, showy courtship displays and haunting songs have inspired awe in all who see them. “Voices in the Forest,” a BBC film (see Video section, Birds), featuring these spectacular birds dramatically illustrates their conservation problems. Their feathers have been traditionally used for headdresses and costumes by natives, which has threatened some species. Commercial demand from outside the island for feathers, zoo and aviary birds and dried specimens poses additional threats to them. The entire family of these birds, Paradisaeidae, has been placed on CITES Appendix II to prevent illegal trade. Forest cutting poses an even more serious danger to birds-of-paradise populations. The majority of species inhabit primary rainforests, and many have extremely specialized habitat needs. As clearing continues, and logging roads open up more and more of New Guinea's forests, these birds lose their habitats and are more easily hunted. Four species of birds-of-paradise are listed as Vulnerable, and eight more as Near-threatened by BirdLife International; they comprise 28 percent of the 43 members of this avian family (BI 2000).
Less showy, but no less interesting, are New Guinea's bowerbirds. The constructions of bowerbirds are so elaborate that when explorers first encountered them, they were assumed to be man-made. Each species has variations on the construction, some building bowers with pass-through tunnels, others concentrating on accumulating a vast array of objects collected in piles of the same color to attract females. One very rare bowerbird, searched for in the wild on a dozen occasions, was finally found in the remote Foja Mountains by Dr. Jared M. Diamond of the University of California in 1979. This beautiful bird, the Golden-fronted Bowerbird (Amblyornis flavifrons), which may number only about 1,000 birds, is very restricted in range, limited to an area north of the Idenburg River between 1,000 and 2,000 meters (Beehler et al. 1986). The male of this species arranges sticks in a pile around a tree fern or sapling, forming a tower up to 3.5 feet high on a circular moss platform with a raised rim. He clears the adjacent area of debris and places separate piles of blue, green and yellow fruits to attract the female. The blue fruit was also a newly discovered species. Making varied, loud calls even while holding a blue fruit in his beak, which contrasts boldly with his brilliant yellow head and back feathers, the Yellow-fronted Bowerbird perches near his elaborate bower performing for the drabber female.
An even more threatened bowerbird, Archbold's Bowerbird (Archboldia papuensis), ranges in the central mountain ranges of the island. The male has a long, forked tail and constructs a bower made of a large mat of ferns (Beehler et al. 1986). Inhabiting ancient Nothofagus beech forests, mixed with podocarps, bamboo and Pandanus at high altitudes between 2,300 and 2,900 meters, it has declined as a result of logging operations (BI 2000).
New Guinea's marsupials show great biological diversity, ranging from tree-kangaroos, an arboreal relative of the land kangaroos of Australia, to colorful cuscuses, tiny nocturnal possums and bandicoots. These fascinating mammals remained unknown to scientists until very recently as a result of the extremely rugged terrain, native tribes who were often unfriendly to outsiders, and the almost total lack of roads and other means of access. Many of these mammals are also secretive and nocturnal, hiding in the holes of giant trees covered in vines or inhabiting such restricted ranges that many have only recently been discovered after intensive searches in the wild. In 1865, for example, only 15 mammals had been named from New Guinea, and in 1875 that number had grown to 20 (Flannery 1995). By 1906, 126 mammals had been identified, including 50 marsupials and monotremes, but today it is known that at least 212 indigenous mammals inhabit New Guinea, many of which were discovered within the past decade (Flannery 1995). A surprising number of mammals inhabit a relatively small area and are threatened by forest loss and hunting.
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