Mount Jaya Project

The Mt Jaya Project was developed because of access to the plant communities over a well-maintained transect of 120 km stretching from the southern coast of New Guinea to the permanent glaciers which cap Mt Jaya at 498 m altitude. This transect parallels the variation in vegetation types one would find from the Equator to the Poles and is perhaps the most outstanding altitudinal transect anywhere in the world. In addition the flora of New Guinea, specifically Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) is the most poorly collected in the world with less than 20 species per 100 square kilometres.

Funding for the project was provided for a three-year period (ending in February 2001) by Rio Tinto who have made a substantial grant to cover the salary of an assistant and the costs to Jakarta, plus grants to cover publication costs. Local expenses and facilities are covered by Freeport Indonesia Pty Ltd. This includes transport costs from Jakarta to Timika, accommodation and food, local transport, and numerous other field costs. The Mt Jaya Project is limited to the area of the Freeport Indonesia Pty Limited mining concession and collecting is not permitted outside this area.

The major counterpart institutions in Indonesia are Herbarium Bogoriense, the National Herbarium of Indonesia, the Kebun Raya in Bogor, and the Biodiversity Centre at Cenderawasih University in Manokwari. The Environmental Department of Freeport Indonesia in Timika is also actively involved in the expeditions.

The first collections made on Mt Jaya were by C. B. Kloss (Boden Kloss) who worked in the areas in 1914. Small collections were made in 1936 (when the original copper mountain was discovered). The Australian Expedition made some collections (G. Hope - botanist). Small collections were also made by Raynal, Elizabeth Widjaja (from Bogor Herbarium) and other collectors. Gary Shea made extensive collections as part of the Environmental Project at Freeport. The first large-scale expeditions organised by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew started in 1998. So far over 5,000 numbers have been collected, often with 8-10 duplicates of each number. A detailed history of the botanical exploration of Papua (Irian Jaya) is available on the web site:

A detailed paper on the vegetation types in Papua is available.

A bibliography of the important papers on the ecology of New Guinea has also been placed on the web. Any addition to, or comments on these will be welcomed.