Halmahera
Uncovering the hidden treasures of Halmahera
WWF and partners conducted a scientific expedition from April 14th through May 11th this year in one of the world's richest centres of marine biodiversity.
The Halmahera area in the Indonesian province of North Maluku is nestled between the islands of Papua and Sulawesi, stretching over an area of 24,500 km2 that includes the main island and surrounding small islands. Halmahera is located in the centre of the Coral Triangle, renowned for its globally-outstanding marine life.Previous analyses indicate that the area between North Sulawesi and the Bird’s Head Seascape in western Papua – including the Raja Ampat archipelago and Halmahera – harbour the highest marine biodiversity on the planet. Rapid assessments conducted over the past decade in Raja Ampat, the Sangir-Talaud Archipelago and the FakFak-Kaimana coastline have uncovered dozens of new species.
While Halmahera's biodiversity is relatively poorly understood, we know it's brimming with life - in a 2005 survey in the south-western part of Halmahera, Dr. Gerry Allen recorded in just 37 hours of diving 803 species of reef fish! The more complete survey of Halmahera will likely reveal new species and unrivalled coral reef biodiversity.
Find out more about Halmahera, the expedition, the team and read notes from the field.
