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  3. Timor-Leste
  4. Nino Konis Santana National Park

Nino Konis Santana National Park

National Park
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East Timor's only national park, combining rainforest, savannah and coral reefs at the eastern tip of the island.

Climate

Tropical, Arid / desert

Plan your visit

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Highlight

Rainforest, savannah and coral reefs

Nino Konis Santana National Park was the first national park in East Timor, declared on 3 August 2007 by decree-law 8/2007. It covers 1,236 km² at the eastern tip of the island, in the municipality of Lautém, and includes some 556 km² of marine area. It is named after Nino Konis Santana, a Falintil commander born in Tutuala, one of the villages that lie within the park's boundaries.

The park brings together in a single area three Important Bird Areas — Lore, Mount Paitchau with Lake Ira Lalaro, and Jaco Island — and its marine section forms part of the Coral Triangle, the region of greatest diversity on the planet in corals and reef fish. On land, lowland rainforest laden with orchids and ferns alternates with monsoon forest with banyans, figs and rosewood, savannah, mangroves and the country's largest freshwater lake.

More than 200 bird species have been recorded, among them endemics and threatened species such as the yellow-crested cockatoo, the Timor green pigeon, the Timor imperial pigeon and the Timor sparrow. Inland there are rusa deer, cuscus and macaques, and five species of marine turtle breed in the park's waters, along with dugongs and cetaceans. The park also has a strong cultural component: the caves of Ile Kére Kére preserve rock paintings, and some 13,900 people from nine villages live within its boundaries. Part of the territory was already protected as a reserve during the Indonesian occupation and was declared a "protected wild area" under UN administration in 2000; in 2018 its boundaries were extended with three more villages to give continuity to the forest corridor.

Location

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Nino Konis Santana National Park: 7 documented species

Mammals4Reptiles2Fish1

Threatened:

Flora and ecosystems

Ecosystems found in Timor-Leste, where Nino Konis Santana National Park lies.

Tropical rainforestSavannahMarine / coastal

Similar parks

Which other parks are like this one?

Same type of protected area: National Park

Same type of protected area: National Park

Same type of protected area: National Park

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Based on what we already know about this park.

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Blue Whale,
Dugong,
Long-tailed Macaque,
Humphead Wrasse,
Green Turtle
Blue WhaleEndangered

Blue Whale

Balaenoptera musculus

Saltwater CrocodileLeast Concern

Saltwater Crocodile

Crocodylus porosus

Bottlenose DolphinLeast Concern

Bottlenose Dolphin

Tursiops truncatus

DugongVulnerable

Dugong

Dugong dugon

Long-tailed MacaqueEndangered

Long-tailed Macaque

Macaca fascicularis

Humphead WrasseEndangered

Humphead Wrasse

Cheilinus undulatus

Green TurtleEndangered

Green Turtle

Chelonia mydas

Same type of protected area: National Park

Timor-Leste
SavannaRainforestOcean
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UNESCO
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Indonesia

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April to October

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Cuba

Cuban trogon (Cuba's national bird) · Cuban hutia

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CountryTimor-Leste
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