The Buru rain forests cover Buru Island, the third-largest of Indonesia's Maluku (Moluccas) Islands, set between the Banda and Seram Seas, where two mountain ranges rise to about 2,700 meters. Dense tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forest blankets much of the island, dominated by tall, straight dipterocarp trees in the genera Hopea, Shorea, and Vatica, with cool, rainy montane forest taking over above roughly 800 to 900 meters and fire-resistant paper-bark (Melaleuca cajuputi) holding the drier ground. The climate is equatorial and monsoonal, with a rainy season running from October to April and the heaviest rain falling in the mountains. The ecoregion is rich in endemic wildlife found nowhere else, including the curve-tusked Buru babirusa, ten Buru-endemic birds such as the Buru racket-tail, and the flagship Buru opalescent birdwing butterfly, though selective logging and swidden farming continue to degrade the forest. Gardeners may recognize native genera with ornamental kin here, including insectivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants on the southwest limestone karst and the aromatic paper-bark Melaleuca.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 3.4°S, 126.6°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.7°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Australasia
Approximate area
3,329 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: