Lorentz National Park is an Indonesian national park located in the provinces of Central Papua, Highland Papua, and South Papua, in the southwest of western New Guinea. With an area of 25,056 square kilometers (9,674 square miles), it is the largest national park in Southeast Asia. In 1999, Lorentz was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Lorentz National Park is an outstanding example of the biodiversity of New Guinea. It is one of the most ecologically diverse national parks in the world. It is the only nature reserve in the Asia-Pacific region that includes a full range of ecosystems at different heights, such as marine areas, mangroves, tidal and freshwater swamp forests, lowland and montane rainforests, subalpine shrubs and grasslands, alpine tundra, and equatorial glaciers. Puncak Jaya (formerly Carstensz Pyramid), which is 4,884 meters tall, is the tallest mountain between the Himalayas and the Andes.

BirdLife International has called Lorentz Park "probably the single most important reserve in New Guinea." The park contains five of World Wildlife Fund’s "Global 200" ecoregions: Southern New Guinea Lowland Forests, New Guinea Montane Forests, New Guinea Central Range Subalpine Grasslands, New Guinea Mangroves, and New Guinea Rivers and Streams.

Lorentz National Park has many areas that are not yet mapped or explored. It is certain to contain many plant and animal species that are unknown to Western science. Knowledge about the plants and animals in Lorentz from local communities is also not well documented.

The park is named after Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz, a Dutch explorer who traveled through the area during his 1909–10 expedition.

Birds

Lorentz National Park has 630 recorded bird species (about 95% of all bird species found in Papua) and 123 mammal species. Birds include two types of cassowary, 31 species of dove and pigeon, and 60 species of kingfisher. Six bird species are found only in the Snow Mountains, such as the Snow Mountain quail and Snow Mountains robin. Twenty-six bird species are found only in the Central Papuan Ranges, and three are found only in the South Papuan Lowlands. Threatened species in the park include the southern cassowary, Alpine woolly rat, southern crowned pigeon, Pesquet's parrot, Salvadori's teal, and Macgregor's giant honeyeater.

The mammal species in the park include the long-beaked echidna, short-beaked echidna, four types of cuscus, wallabies, quolls, and tree-kangaroos. The dingiso, a type of tree-kangaroo, is found only in the Sudirman Range and was discovered in 1995.

Human habitation and culture

The national park has been lived in for more than 25,000 years. The forests of Lorentz include the traditional lands of eight indigenous groups, such as the Asmat, Amung, Dani, Sempan, and Nduga. Current population numbers are estimated to be between 6,300 and 10,000.

It is widely understood that plans to protect the park must consider the needs and wishes of these groups to successfully preserve biodiversity. Cultural diversity is also an important way to measure the park's success.

Ecological threats

The main dangers to the biodiversity of Lorentz Park include commercial logging, changing forests into farmland for plantations, small farms altering forest areas, mining or oil and gas projects, illegal road building, and the illegal trade of animals and plants. Global warming also creates a serious risk.

As of 2005, there were no reports of commercial logging or other large-scale threats inside the park. Currently, there are no active projects that change forests into farmland, and farming-related changes are very small. The illegal trade of animals and plants is a major issue. A large gold and copper mining operation called Freeport has been active for many years near the park but does not operate inside the park’s borders. Oil exploration is happening inside the park and to the northeast.

The biodiversity in Lorentz Park is currently in good condition. Although logging and other dangers have not happened yet, they may become problems in the future. Climate change is a real threat, but how it will affect the park is not certain.

The Trans-Papua Highway is expected to build 120 miles (190 km) of roads through the area. Some of these roads will provide easier access to mining areas within the park.

Conservation

In 1919, the Dutch Colonial Government created the first formal protection for a 3,000 km core area of the Lorentz landscape by establishing the Lorentz Nature Monument. In 1978, the Indonesian Government created a Strict Nature Reserve covering 21,500 km. Lorentz National Park was established in 1997, with a total area of 25,056 km, including an eastern extension and coastal and marine areas.

Lorentz National Park was listed as a natural World Heritage Site in 1999. However, an area of about 1,500 km was not included in the listing because mining exploration titles existed within that area.

As of 2005, there were no park staff or guards assigned to Lorentz. The park’s success depends largely on local communities’ understanding of and support for conservation, rather than relying only on external enforcement. Several conservation organizations are active in the Lorentz area.

In 2006, the Minister of Forestry created a managing structure for Lorentz National Park, called the Lorentz National Park Bureau, with its headquarters in Wamena. The Bureau became operational in 2007 and had 44 staff members by mid-2008. However, a UNESCO Monitoring Mission in 2008 noted that the Bureau’s capacity was seriously limited due to a lack of funding, equipment, and experience.