FIELD TRIP WITH PATRICK BLANC IN WEST PAPUA - ARFAK MOUNTAINS RAINFOREST

We follow Patrick Blanc in the Indonesian western part of New Guinea, in the Vogelkop or Bird’s Head peninsula. We penetrate the famous Arfak mountains rainforests, already botanically explored by Miss Lilian Gibbs more than one century ago. In these misty mossy forests, at an altitude between 1500 and 1800 m, we discover the high species diversity, mostly among terrestrial, climbing and epiphytic Aroids, Gingers, Orchids, Pandans, Pipers, Gesneriads, Medinillas, Ferns as well as many forest understory Dicotyledonous shrubs. New Guinea is also famous for its gigantic species such as this Musa ingens, the tallest banana of the world. Filmed & Produced by Pascal Héni Paspat 2025 An immersion with Patrick Blanc in the dense, humid mid-mountain forests, between 1500 and 1800 meters altitude, in the Arfak Mountains at the heart of the "Bird's Head" (Vogelkop), in the Indonesian part of western New Guinea, an island boasting the highest plant diversity. We discover the growth patterns of numerous herbaceous, climbing, and epiphytic species belonging to families including Araceae, Zingiberaceae, Orchidaceae, Pandanaceae, Piperaceae, Melastomataceae, Gesneriaceae, and ferns. It is here that we encounter the world's largest banana tree, Musa ingens. Thanks to Hans Mandacan and his son for taking us along their well-preserved forests. We thank André Schuiteman for identifying some orchids. Many thanks to Michael Sundue, Cheng-Wei Chen, Marcus Lehnert and Susan Fawcett for our lengthy discussions to try to know who is this yet mysterious tree fern at minute 11'20: a species of Thelypteridaceae, Osmundaceae or Blechnaceae? And finally, thanks to Gemma Bramley, the small epiphytic Cyrtandra at 1.05.05 has a name: Cyrtandra pulleana. Plant list: Agalmyla brevipes (Gesneriaceae), Agrostophyllum sp. (Orchidaceae), Alpinia arfakensis (Zingiberaceae), Alpinia domatifera (Zingiberaceae), Alsophila albidosquamata (Cyatheaceae), Amydrium zippelianum (Araceae), Asplenium nidus (Aspleniaceae), Asplenium scolopendropsis (Aspleniaceae), Astronia sp. (Melastomataceae), Begonia (sect. Symbegonia) arfakensis (Begoniaceae), Begonia sp. (Begoniaceae), Caryota rumphiana (Arecaceae), Clavulina sp. (Clavulinaceae), Coelogyne beccarii (Orchidaceae), Collabium carinatum (Orchidaceae), Cordyline fruticosa (Asparagaceae), Crepidomanes grande (Hymenophyllaceae), Cypholophus sp. (Urticaceae) (Polypodiaceae), Elatostema integrifolium (Urticaceae), Elatostema macrophyllum (Urticaceae), Ficus variegata (Moraceae), Freycinetia cf. marginata (Pandanaceae), Freycinetia sp. (Pandanaceae), Goodyera sp. (Orchidaceae), Gunnera macrophylla (Gunneraceae), Harpullia ramiflora (Sapindaceae), Homalomena producta (Araceae), Hydriastele pinangoides (Arecaceae), Japanobotrychium lanuginosum (Ophioglossaceae), Lasianthus sp. (Rubiaceae), Loxogram scolopendrioides (Polypodiaceae), Medinilla arfakensis (Melastomataceae), Medinilla cf. lorentziana (Melastomataceae), Medinilla cf. napiformis (Melastomataceae), Medinilla forbesii (Melastomataceae), Mucuna mollissima (Fabaceae), Musa arfakiana (Musaceae), Musa johnsii (Musaceae), Musa ingens (Musaceae), Musa lolodensis (Musaceae), Mussaenda longituba (Rubiaceae), Myrmecodia sp. (Rubiaceae), Myrtaceae sp., Ophioglossum pendulum (Ophioglossaceae), Osmoxylon cf. sessiliflorum (Araliaceae), Pandanus sp. (Pandanaceae), Piper arfakianum (Piperaceae), Piper bosnicanum (Piperaceae), Podocarpus cf. ledermannii (Podocarpaceae), Poikilospermum sp. (Urticaceae), Procris frutescens (Urticacceae), Ptisana melanesica (Marattiaceae), Rhaphidophora schlechteri (Araceae), Rhaphidophora spathacea (Araceae), Saccoloma kingii (Saccolomataceae), Sphaeropteris auriculifera (Cyatheaceae), Syzygium sp. (Myrtaceae), Tapeinochilos beccarii (Costaceae), Tasmannia cf. elongata (Winteraceae), Tecomanthe volubilis (Bignoniaceae), Unknown tree fern, maybe a species of Thelypteridaceae or Osmundaceae, Zingiberaceae sp. According to Osia Gideon, specialist of the genus Tapeinochilos, the species that we name T. beccarii at minute 32'20 is actually a new species that he will soon describe and name. Botany - Botanical exploration - Biodiversity - Plant species - Plant architecture - Adaptations - Evolution - Habitat preservation