Foja Mountains

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The Foja Mountains are located west of the port city of Jayapura, the capital of Papua province.

The Foja Mountains or Foja Range (Indonesian: Pegunungan Foja) is located just north of the Mamberamo river basin in Papua, Indonesia. The mountains rise to 2,193 meters (7,195 ft), and contain more than 3,000 square kilometres of old growth tropical rainforest in the interior part of the range. The entire Foja forest tract covers some 9,712 square kilometers, making it the largest essentially pristine tropical forest in Asia. [1]

The mountains are sometimes spelled "Foya", and are located approximately 60 to 70 kilometers south of the coastal town of Sarmi. The Foja mountains are cooler than the lowlands below because of their elevation, but January and July temperatures still average 20 to 30 °C (68 to 86 °F). The rainy season occurs from December to March, but the area can receive rain throughout the year. In a typical year, the range receives more than 2,032 mm (80 in) of precipitation. Relative humidity ranges from 73 to 87%. The nearest villages include: Sragafareh, Jomen, Beggensabah, Aer Mati, and Dabra.

The mountains have no record of visitors prior to 1979 (Stattersfield et al. 1998), and are dominated by Araucaria_cunninghamii, Podocarpus neriifolius, Agathis labillardieri, Calophyllum, and Palaquium at the 1,200 meter level. Much of the area around the Foja Mountains and nearby Van Rees Mountains are too steep for traditional logging, and are considered safe due to their inaccessibility. Some atlases show only the Gauttier Mountains in the area, but the Foja Mountains lie at the eastern edge of that range at about 139° east longitude [2] The mountains in this area are home to Scott's tree kangaroo, Dendrolagus scottae, reported to be the largest mammal in the region. It is believed only 100 of these animals are left in the wild—an Australian couple spent a year searching for them and did not manage to see even one. [3]

[edit] Ecological discovery

In December 2005 scientists from the United States, Indonesia and Australia spent nearly a month in the Foja Range documenting flora and fauna from the lower hills to near the summit of the range. In February 2006 the scientists from Conservation International, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and Cenderawasih University released details of newly discovered species including:

One bird, a honeyeater with scarlet wattles [4]
20 frogs
Four butterflies
Five palms
A rhododendron with a white, scented flower 15 cm across

The scientists also documented the following notable species:

The first photographs of Berlepsch's Six-wired Bird of Paradise and the Golden-fronted Bowerbird (both of which were only known from a minute number of trade skins previously).
A Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo (Dendrolagus pulcherrimus), believed to be near-extinct and never before seen in Indonesia
Western Long-beaked Echidnas that allowed scientists to pick them up, evidence that the area has had no human presence

The human population of the Foja Range is about 300, all of whom live in the 7,500 square kilometres of low-lying forest. The 3,000 square kilometres of mountainous jungle appear to have been untouched by humans until the 2006 scientific expedition. There are no roads in the mountains, so scientists had to travel by helicopter, landing in a boggy lakebed. Six permits were needed before the 11-member team could legally fly in.