Lake Kutubu

Lake Kutubu is the second largest lake in Papua New Guinea and the largest upland body of water in the country, at 826 m above sea level in Southern Highlands Province^[1]. The lake and its swamp forest form a Ramsar-listed wildlife management area of about 4,924 hectares^[2].

The lake has 14 fish species, 10 of them endemic, a higher level of endemism than in any other lake in the New Guinea-Australian region^[2]. Endemics include the Kutubu tandan, the Lake Kutubu rainbowfish and several Mogurnda species, and the crayfish Cherax papuanus occurs only here^[1].

The Ramsar site includes about 1,000 hectares of swamp forest^[2].

The lake lies in limestone karst country^[2], in a depression in the rugged interior mountains. It is up to 70 m deep and drains through the Soro River into the Kikori River^[1].

The lake's surface is at about 800 m, so the climate is cooler than the lowlands of the Gulf region^[1].

The catchment is inhabited mainly by the Foe to the south and the Fasu to the north, in 33 villages^[1]. Villages around the lake depend mainly on sago subsistence agriculture^[2].

The site was designated a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in September 1998 and is nationally a wildlife management area^[2].

The clear water, the forest around the lake and its endemic fish are the main features. The lake gave its name to the Kutubu Oil Project, the country's first commercial oilfield development, which began production in 1992^[1].

The lake lies about 50 km southwest of Mendi, the provincial capital^[1]. Oil and gas development has increased access through road links and regular flights^[2].

The oil project brought in-migration and problems including pollution, forest destruction and overfishing^[1]. WWF studied the area and drafted a catchment management plan intended as a model for other PNG catchments^[1].