Mauga o Salafai

Mauga o Salafai is a national park on Savai'i, the larger of Samoa's two main islands, listed among Samoa's protected areas^[1]. It lies in the Savai'i highlands, about 35 km from Salelologa, the island's port. Savai'i holds the Central Savai'i Rainforest, the largest contiguous rainforest in Polynesia^[2].

The Central Savai'i uplands have the largest diversity and population of birds in Samoa, and the Samoan white-eye has been recorded there and nowhere else^[3]. The Samoa flying fox, a fruit bat, is among Savai'i's native animals^[2].

Most of the Central Savai'i uplands, above roughly 500 m, is indigenous rainforest^[3]. Forest fires affect the dry north-western end, and cyclones are a periodic disturbance^[3].

Savai'i is the largest shield volcano in the South Pacific, with more than 100 volcanic craters^[2]. Mt Silisili, at 1,858 m, is the highest peak in Samoa^[2].

Savai'i has an oceanic tropical climate, hot and humid, with the heaviest rain from November to April, the same months when cyclones are most likely^[2].

Savai'i's most recent major eruption was Mt Matavanu from 1905 to 1911, when lava flows destroyed villages on the central north coast, including Saleaula^[2].

The park is listed among Samoa's national parks^[1].

The main feature is the highland rainforest and volcanic uplands of central Savai'i, which contain Mt Silisili and more than 100 craters^[2].

Salelologa, at the east end of Savai'i, is the main port. A daily ferry crosses the Apolima Strait to Mulifanua wharf on Upolu in about 90 minutes, in daylight only, and a sealed road circles the island^[2].

Logging on the lower slopes, dry-season forest fires, cyclones and invasive species are the recorded threats to the Central Savai'i Rainforest, and a government directive halting commercial logging could give it protection^[3].