Vegetation mapping in the Geelvink Bay Papua, Indonesia

Building on the strong foundation of botanical exploration and collaboration in this region this project is to map the vegetation of the entire Geelvink Bay region in Papua, Indonesia

Biak Coastal Forest

The Geelvink bay is well known as a hotspot for endemic birds, but little is known of its plants and the full extent of its natural vegetation and carbon content. This project will continue this important work of increasing local capacity with training in vegetation survey as well as mapping the whole region from satellite imagery to produce: i) a baseline vegetation map for future study and ii) a tool for setting conservation priorities in the region.

Pushing forward RBG Kew’s New Guinea program, in collaboration with botany, conservation and forestry scientists from the University of Manokwari (UNIPA), the existing mapping work already completed for the island of Biak will be extended to the entire Geelvink Bay region.

The project will produce maps and report on the extent of vegetation and carbon in the region. Web pages and interactive maps will also be produced.