Lake Kutubu

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Lake Kutubu

  • Country: 
    Papua New Guinea
  • Site number: 
    961
  • Area: 
    4,924 ha
  • Designation date: 
    25-09-1998
  • Coordinates: 
    06°26'S 143°20'E
Materials presented on this website, particularly maps and territorial information, are as-is and as-available based on available data and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Overview

Lake Kutubu. 22/09/98; Southern Highlands; 4,924 ha; 06°25'S 143°20'E. Wildlife Management Area. The second largest lake in PNG. A freshwater lake in limestone karst country in PNG's remote and isolated Southern Highlands at 800m above sea level, the site includes approximately 1,000 hectares of swamp forest. The lake's extraordinary level of endemicity (10 of the 14 fish species found there are endemic to the lake itself) exceeds that of any other lake in the entire New Guinea-Australian region. The development of oil and gas in the region has increased access with the development of road links and regular flights. The villages around the lake rely principally upon sago subsistence agriculture. Probably the first Ramsar site to be listed in the Wetland Type added to the Ramsar Classification System by Resolution VI.5 (1996) on subterranean karst wetlands. Ramsar site no. 961. Most recent RIS information: 1997.

Administrative region: 
Southern Highlands Province

  • National legal designation: 
    • wildlife management area - Lake Kutubu
  • Last publication date: 
    25-09-1998

Downloads

Ramsar Information Sheet (RIS)

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