Jimi (Ruti) Valley

Jimi (Ruti) Valley National Park is a remote protected area in Jimi District, Jiwaka Province, listed at 42.06 km²^[1]. The valley runs from northeastern Jiwaka into Madang Province, in one of the least developed regions of the country.

The sources consulted give no species list for the park. It covers rugged forested terrain in a region where the forest is largely intact.

Jimi District is almost entirely mountainous and mostly covered by rainforest^[2].

The district is almost entirely mountainous, lying below the Bismarck Range, with Mount Wilhelm nearby^[2].

In the Jimi area the rainy season runs roughly January to May and the dry season from June to September or October^[2].

Missionaries arrived in the Jimi in the 1960s, when the inhabitants were still at war with each other^[2]. The main languages of the district are Komblaka, Narak and Reai^[2].

The park was established in 1991 and lies in Jimi District, which belonged to Western Highlands Province until Jiwaka Province was created in May 2012^[2].

The park is valued mainly for its remoteness and forest scenery. No visitor trails are described in the sources consulted.

The Jimi Highway is the district's main link to the outside; it was cut off past Konza after the March 2019 monsoon^[2]. The park's nearest town is Tabibuga, the district headquarters^[2].

Rainforest in Jimi District is disappearing quickly, partly because of peanut cultivation^[2].