Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The recent finding of new species in virgin forests in Papua province confirmed the country's wealth of biodiversity but threats remain, scientists said.
Scientists warned the swelling population, deforestation and climate change could lead to the loss of precious biodiversity.
Local and international scientists participating in Conservation International's (CI) Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) have found new mammals, a reptile, an amphibian, a dozen insects and a new bird in a remote forest in the Foja Mountains area in Papua.
"We believe many mysteries of biodiversity remain unmasked in Foja Mountain area," Hary Sutrisno, the research leader from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He said that scientists were racing to uncover more new species, including in Papua, and were fighting the threats of climate change and rapid deforestation.
Scientists discovered a bizarre spike-nosed tree frog, an oversized, but notably tame, woolly rat, a gargoyle-like, bent-toed gecko with yellow eyes, an imperial pigeon and a tiny forest wallaby, the smallest documented marsupial in the world.
Other discoveries recorded in the survey included a new blossom bat that feeds on rainforest nectar, a small new tree-mouse, a new black-and-white butterfly related to the common monarch, and a new flowering shrub.
The Foja Mountains encompass an area of more than 300,000 hectares of undeveloped, and undisturbed rainforest.
Hary said virgin forest in Papua was selected to verify whether biodiversity remained intact in the absence of human activity. "It will be hard to find new species in Java or Sumatra since most of their forests have been cleared.
The government should pay more attention to protecting new species that have not been recorded yet," he said.
CI-Indonesia regional vice president Jatna Supriatna said, "Now that we can show how many unique forms live only in these mountain forests, it is easier for us to make the case that the world at large needs to take note and make absolutely certain that these superb forests are conserved for the well-being of the local forest peoples as well as the world at large."
Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu warned of the need to conserve Papua's biodiversity.
"We agree and strongly support the belief that the very high biodiversity areas in Papua should be maintained. Many endemic species in our region are still isolated and difficult to access. They need to be conserved," he said in a statement.
Forestry Ministry director general for forest protection and nature conservation Darori hailed the finding. "We need more details, including estimates of the total number of new species to determine whether to declare it a protected species," he said.
Indonesia claims to have 12 percent (515 species) of the world's mammal species, the second-highest after the Brazil, and 17 percent (1,531 species) of total bird species, the fifth-highest in the world.
The government said Indonesia was also home to 15 percent (270 species) of amphibians and reptile species, 31,746 species of vascular plants and 37 percent of the world's species of fish.
Darori predicted that more than half the biodiversity remained unrecorded.