Timor-Leste

Asia

189

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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East Timor occupies the eastern half of a dry, mountainous island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, with an interior of ranges rising above two thousand nine hundred metres, eucalyptus and sandalwood woodland and a wetter southern slope. Its great heritage is marine: the Ombai-Wetar strait, a deep channel that separates the island from its neighbours, works as an underwater motorway along which thousands of cetaceans travel every year, among them blue whales, in one of the best documented migration corridors in the Indian Ocean. The island of Atauro, off Dili, holds reefs with an exceptional diversity of fish. Nino Konis Santana park, the country's first, combines tropical forest, coastline and the sacred island of Jaco, uninhabited by tradition.

The nature of Timor-Leste

National animal: The saltwater crocodile, the emblematic animal bound to the country's founding myth

Did you know?

Timorese tradition tells that the island was born from a giant crocodile that carried a boy on its back and, on dying, turned into the mountainous land its inhabitants walk on today. That is why the saltwater crocodile is called grandfather and respected as an ancestor, is not hunted and in some communities receives offerings, a cultural bond that coexists with the fact that the species is the largest and most dangerous reptile on the planet.

Biodiversity profile

Sudeste Asiatico (isla de Timor, hotspot de Wallacea)Dato no disponible con precision en fuentes verificadas consultadas

Climate

•Tropical de sabana (Aw), con estacion seca marcada, mas arido que gran parte del sudeste asiatico insular

Main biomes

•Bosque tropical estacional y de montaña (Mundo Perdido)
•Sabana y bosque seco tropical
•Zonas costeras y arrecifes de coral prístinos
•Arrecife del Triángulo de Coral
•Canal marino profundo
•Bosque tropical seco
•Bosque de eucalipto y sándalo
•Montaña tropical
•Manglar costero
•Isla deshabitada

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Aguas con mas de un tercio de las especies mundiales de cetaceos registradas
•Arrecifes de coral prístinos, aun poco documentados cientificamente

Flagship wildlife

•Ballenas y delfines (alta diversidad de cetaceos migratorios)
•Geco de dedos curvados (nueva especie descrita en 2022)
•Aves endemicas de Wallacea
•Cocodrilo marino
•Ballena azul
•Cachalote
•Delfín girador
•Tortuga carey
•Dugongo
•Cálao de Timor
•Cacatúa de las Molucas
•Manta de arrecife
•Tortuga verde

Notable endemic species

•Parte del hotspot de biodiversidad de Wallacea, zona de transicion biogeografica entre Asia y Oceania con alto endemismo insular
•Nueva especie de geco de dedos curvados descubierta en 2022 en una cueva caliza del Parque Nacional Nino Konis Santana, ilustrando el potencial de descubrimientos aun pendientes
•Zorzal de Timor
•Verderón de Timor
•Lagartija de Timor

Notable threatened species

•Gran parte de la biodiversidad del pais permanece sin explorar cientificamente, por lo que el estatus de amenaza de muchas especies es aun incierto

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional Nino Konis Santana (primer y mayor parque nacional del pais)
•Montaña de Mundo Perdido (area de estudios biologicos preliminares)
•Parque Nacional de Nino Konis Santana
•Isla de Ataúro
•Isla de Jaco
•Estrecho de Ombai-Wetar
•Monte Ramelau
•Lago Ira Lalaro

Main conservation threats

•Deforestacion
•Actividades de extraccion de recursos
•Degradacion del suelo
•Escasez de investigacion cientifica que limita el conocimiento real del estado de conservacion de la biodiversidad del pais

Notable natural phenomena

•Alta diversidad de cetaceos migratorios en sus aguas, con mas de un tercio de las especies mundiales registradas

Conservation

A 2016 study concluded that the waters of Atauro show the highest average diversity of reef fish recorded anywhere in the world per survey site. The country has declared marine protected areas managed under traditional community rules called tara bandu.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The Ombai strait between October and December for blue whales and cetaceans. Atauro year-round for reefs. Nino Konis Santana in the dry season for endemic birds.

Timor Oriental es el pais mas recientemente incorporado a la ASEAN (2025) y uno de los menos estudiados cientificamente del sudeste asiatico; se recomienda una revision dedicada en el futuro a medida que se publiquen mas estudios.

Sources: lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg - Undiscovered Biodiversity of Timor-Leste | Grokipedia - ASEAN Heritage Parks

Savanna Rainforest Mountain Ocean