YUS Conservation Area is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

on the

Huon Peninsula Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec. The peninsula is dominated by the steep Saruwaged and Finister ...

Morobe Province Morobe Province is a province on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea. The provincial capital and largest city is Lae. The province covers 33,705 km2, with a population of 674,810 (2011 census), and since the division of Southern Highlands P ...

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 established in 2009 as Papua New Guinea's first conservation area, and named after the Yopno, Uruwa and Som rivers that flow through it. The 760 km² area of tropical forests is stretching from

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s off the northern coast to the 4,000-metre peaks of the western Saruwaged Mountains. It is a critical habitat for the endangered

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Matschie's tree-kangaroo Matschie's tree-kangaroo (''Dendrolagus matschiei''), also known as the Huon tree-kangaroo is a tree-kangaroo native to the Huon Peninsula of northeastern New Guinea island, within the nation of Papua New Guinea. Under the IUCN classification, Ma ...

.Wildlife Extra: Papua New Guinea declares first National Conservation Area to protect tree kangaroos
retrieved 19 May 2010 While the land remains under local customary ownership, villagers from 35 villages have formally committed to prohibit all hunting, logging and mining within the land that has been pledged to the conservation area.

Flora and fauna

The YUS area provides habitat for 268 species of bird, 44 species of mammal and 26 species of frog. Birds include the

palm cockatoo The palm cockatoo (''Probosciger aterrimus''), also known as the goliath cockatoo or great black cockatoo, is a large smoky-grey or black parrot of the cockatoo family native to New Guinea, Aru Islands, and Cape York Peninsula. It has a very l ...

dwarf cassowary The dwarf cassowary (''Casuarius bennetti''), also known as Bennett's cassowary, little cassowary, mountain cassowary or muruk, is the smallest of the three species of cassowaries. Taxonomy The scientific name commemorates the Australian natura ...

Pesquet's parrot Pesquet's parrot (''Psittrichas fulgidus''), also known as the Dracula parrot or as the vulturine parrot (leading to easy confusion with '' Pyrilia vulturina'' from Brazil), is the only member of its genus. It is endemic to hill and montane rai ...

emperor bird-of-paradise The emperor bird-of-paradise (''Paradisaea guilielmi''), also known as emperor of Germany's bird-of-paradise, is a species of bird-of-paradise. The emperor bird-of-paradise is endemic to Papua New Guinea. It is distributed in hill forests of the ...

Wahnes's parotia Wahnes's parotia (''Parotia wahnesi'') is a medium-sized passerine of the bird-of-paradise family (Paradisaeidae). This species is distributed and endemic to the mountain forests of Huon Peninsula and Adelbert Mountains, northeast Papua New Guine ...

and

Huon astrapia The Huon astrapia (''Astrapia rothschildi''), also known as Rothschild's astrapia, Huon bird-of-paradise, or Lord Rothschild's bird-of-paradise, is a species of bird-of-paradise belonging to the genus ''Astrapia''. Like most of its congeners, ''A ...

. Mammals include the

common spotted cuscus The common spotted cuscus (''Spilocuscus maculatus''), also known as the white cuscus, is a cuscus, a marsupial that lives in the Cape York region of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby smaller islands. Names It is known as aklang or gabi in the ...

striped possum The striped possum or common striped possum (''Dactylopsila trivirgata'') is a member of the marsupial family Petauridae. it is found mainly in New Guinea. The species is black with three white stripes running head to tail, and its head has whit ...

small dorcopsis The small dorcopsis or lesser forest wallaby (''Dorcopsulus vanheurni'') is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is found in the mountainous interior of West Papua and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or trop ...

Brown's pademelon Brown's pademelon (''Thylogale browni'') is a species of marsupial in the family Macropodidae. It is found in New Guinea. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtr ...

and

mountain cuscus The mountain cuscus (''Phalanger carmelitae'') is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae found in West Papua, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), ...

Conservation

To establish the YUS Conservation Area,

Woodland Park Zoo Woodland Park Zoo is a wildlife conservation organization and zoological garden located in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the recipient of over 65 awards across multiple categories, and had served appro ...

's Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program (TKCP) has worked with local landowners and the PNG government for more than 12 years. TKCP was supported by

Conservation International Conservation International (CI) is an American nonprofit environmental organization headquartered in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. CI's work focuses on science, policy and partnership with businesses, governments and communities. The organ ...

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

, and BMU (German Ministry for Environment) through

KfW The KfW, which together with its subsidiaries DEG, KfW IPEX-Bank and FuB forms the KfW Bankengruppe ("banking group"), is a German state-owned investment bank, investment and Development finance institution, development bank, based in Frankfurt ...

(German Development Bank) as part of the International Climate Change Initiative. A team of 12 rangers has been established in 2012, that help to map and patrol the area.Woodland Park Zoo
"Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program - Annual Report 2013"
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

Website about YUS
by Woodland Park Zoo
Map of YUS Conservation Area
Protected areas of Papua New Guinea Protected areas established in 2008 Morobe Province

Flora and fauna

Conservation

See also

References

External links