The Baiyer River Sanctuary is a nature reserve along the Baiyer River in

Western Highlands Province Western Highlands is a province of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital is Mount Hagen. The province covers an area of 4,299 km2, and there are 362,850 inhabitants (2011 census), making the Western Highlands the most densely populated pro ...

Papua-New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It was opened on 13 January 1968 by the then-Australian administration. It has been expanded to a current area of 740 hectares. The reserve lies at elevations of between 800 and 1200 meters. * Annual rainfall: 259 cm * Bird species: 185, including varieties of

bird-of-paradise The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. The family has 44 species in 17 genera. The members of thi ...

* Mammal species: 8, including

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s and

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

s * Amphibians: '' Litoria oenicolen'' has only been found in the reserve, from only two specimens. * Flora:

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

s are the predominant forest species here. * Address: Superintendent, Baiyer River Sanctuary, P O Box 490, Mt Hagen * Useful other information: The sanctuary is about 40 km outside of Mt Hagen. The road is good to average. The first road section is sealed whilst the latter section remains as a gravel track but navigable by a land vehicle. There are no signs to show directions to the sanctuary. The park does not have any facility inside as what existed before is already destroyed. Some renovation is currently in-progress. The forest cover is good and much remains in virgin state. Sound of birds is abundant. It requires extensive trailing inside the forest to watch birds. However, it is not advisable to visit the reserve for a tourist at this stage. The area of the reserve had been the scene of considerable unrest over years and the main buildings had been burned down.

References

{{Reflist

External links

UNEP/WCMC

Topworld

Tourist attractions in Papua New Guinea Western Highlands Province Nature reserves in Papua New Guinea 1968 establishments in Papua New Guinea