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Batanta project

Batanta projekt

Batanta projekt

Batanta projekt

Batanta projekt

Batanta projekt

Batanta projekt

Batanta projekt

Batanta projekt

Where is Batanta?

Located in the remote archipelago of Raja Ampat in West Papua, Batanta Island is a stronghold of natural wilderness. As one of Raja Ampat’s largest islands known as the ‘4 Kings’ Batanta covers 453 km². This is about the same size as Andorra and much of the area is covered by undisturbed equatorial rainforest, with only a few small fishing villages dotting the coastal area of the island. There are no roads or permanent paths in the interior and also no usable map of the island.

Batanta Project was founded by 4 Hungarian Zoologists and Biologists who, like their counterparts worldwide, have been racing against time to find, describe and characterise species that have not been found before. With our planet currently experiencing the sixth wave of extinction, tens of thousands of animal and plant species are disappearing, becoming extinct, many of them without us even knowing it. Discovering and cataloguing the wildlife of Batanta Island is their contribution to the cause.

Batanta Island has been self-funded ever since the first expedition in 2014. Your donations help this small team to continue their work on Batanta Island, preserving the integrity of the island by getting to know its natural fauna.

Batanta Island in depth

New Guinea is the second largest island in the world, covering 786,000 km² (eight times the size of Hungary and more than twice the size of Germany). The eastern half of the island is the state of Papua New Guinea and the western half is West Papua, Indonesia.

Batanta Island is tucked away in the westernmost part of New Guinea in the Raja Ampat archipelago. This is a governorate comprising 4 larger islands - Batanta, Misool, Salawati, and Waigeo, as well as hundreds of smaller ones. It takes around 2 hours to reach Batanta from West Papua’s capital city Sorong, or just about 20 minutes from Papua Paradise Eco Resort on Birie Island, Batanta Project’s expedition base.

Much of the mainland is covered by undisturbed equatorial rainforest, while the islands are interspersed with some of the most diverse coral reefs on Earth. Batanta covers 453 km² and has a maximum altitude of 1,184 metres. Mangrove forests and swamps are found on the northern side of the island, but are almost absent on the southern side.

There are a few small fishing villages and a couple of homestays on the coastal area of the island but no roads or permanent paths in the interior of the island. Locals do not roam the interior of the island, and as there are no large prey to hunt, there is no reason to. Fishing is the number one source of sustenance and income.

Expeditions

With no roads, permanent paths, or even animal trails in the interior of the island, it is difficult to travel around Batanta Island. Mangrove forests and swamps cover much of the northern side of the island, so the only way to reach much of the island is by either climbing up the valleys following the waterways or cutting paths through the forest. Still to this day the higher elevations of the island have never been explored.

In the first years the expeditions focused around the waterways of the northern coast of Batanta, on single day field trips. In 2014-2015 local porters were hired for up to 3 days, but the locals were so scared of forest camping that since then the team has been exploring Batanta on their own. However, regular help in exploring the south side of the island is provided by 2 friends (Kristian and Ronnius Sauyai) from Wailebet.

Papua Paradise Eco Resort provides the infrastructure for the expeditions as a place to rest and transport food, and equipment to and from. However, for the days on Batanta Island the team takes only the essentials and sleeps in the forest under a tarp. Collecting equipment including batteries, electric fishing gear, light bulbs, cables, collecting trays, and fishing nets make up the bulk of the pack. Food is kept to a minimum and water is sourced from streams.