The island of New Guinea is located in the Pacific Ocean and is the second largest in the world, with around 700 native languages. It stands out for its great diversity of fauna and flora, and for the cultures and traditions of its tribes.
A study published in Nature, by researchers from the University of Zurich, indicates that this is the world’s most flora-rich island, with more than 20% more species than Madagascar and Borneo. The team of 99 scientists from 56 institutions and 19 countries created the first verified list with 13,634 species of vascular plants of New Guinea and neighboring islands. 1,742 genera and 264 families of plants were cataloged, of which 68% of the species are endemic.
Michael Kessler, one of the authors of the study, states that this number will continue to grow: “We estimate that in the next 50 years, 3000 to 4000 species will be added.”
The specialists note that the difficulty in compiling this catalogue lay mainly in the fact that scientists studied the island’s plants individually and independently.
Rodrigo Cámara-Leret, a researcher and author of the study, explains: “This high richness of endemic species is incomparable in tropical Asia. What this means is that Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, the two states in which the island is divided, have a unique responsibility for the survival of this irreplaceable biodiversity.”
