National Parks Botanical Gardens

There are more than 1000 hectares of land dedicated National Parks. While others are provincial Parks, there are sanctuaries serving the purpose of preserving endangered animals and plants. Varirata National Park a popular picnic spot about 45 minutes drive outside Port Moresby, has a significant variety of protected flora and fauna.

Baiyer River and Moitaka Sanctuaries are wildlife areas while Pokili Wild Life area in the Southern Highlands Province and Garu in West New Britain Province are protected sites.

THE RAINFOREST HABITAT

The rugged mountains near Lae are covered in a tangle of rainforest which is home to an assortment of tropical birdlife, butterflies, orchids and creatures which crawl, fly and jump.

The dark and steamy atmosphere of this impenetrable rainforest jungle is recreated at the Rainforest Habitat only nine kilometres from the centre of Lae.

Forest trees, local bananas, tree ferns, flowering orchids and ginger are amongst the 15,000 native and exotic plants found spreading upwards to form a natural protective canopy for the diversity of animals and birdlife below.

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FLORA AND FAUNA

blanket of rainforest - an exotic tangle of vines, creepers, flowers, plants and trees. Wild orchids blaze against a verdant green background of rainforest canopy. Papua New Guinea has a greater number of orchid species than any country in the world.

Bird life is prolific . The most famous is the Bird of Paradise. Of the 43 known species of Birds of Paradise, 38 are found in Papua New Guinea. These brilliantly coloured birds perform bizarre ritualistic and mating dances and were hunted by early traders for their feathers.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA'S BUTTERFLIES

The region of New Guinea is renowned for the beauty, size and variety of its insects and, in particular, its butterflies. Especially well-known among naturalists, entomologists and collectors are the magnificent birdwing butterflies which are only found in this region of the world.

Papua New Guinea is home to more than 700 different species of butterflies. This is more than two times the number of species found in the continent of Europe which is about six times larger than PNG. The reason for this diversity of butterflies and insects in general is the tropical climate and the mountainous topography.

The many mountains valleys and islands not only offer a variety of different habitats but also lead to the evolution of many new species which are peculiar to Papua New Guinea and are sometimes only found in a restricted area. One example are many of the Delias species which are only found on certain mountain peaks, another is the largest butterfly of the world, Queen Alexandra’s birdwing (ornithoptera alexandrae) which is confined to the lowland rainforest of the Popondetta region in Oro Province.

Other spectacular examples of Papua New Guinea’s insect fauna include the Hercules Moth (Coscinocera Hercules) which is the largest moth in the world, or one of the largest stick insects in the world, Eurycnema Goliath.

Please visit http://www.ifta.com.pg for further information on butterflies.