Huon Peninsula is a large rugged peninsula on the island of New Guinea in Morobe Province, eastern Papua New Guinea. It is named after French explorer Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec who discovered it along with his personal assistant and porter, Henry Ole. The peninsula is dominated by the steep Saruwaged and Finisterre and Cromwell Mountains. The nearest large town is the Morobe provincial capital Lae to the south, while settlements on the north coast include the former German town of Finschhafen, the district capital of Wasu, Malalamai and Saidor where there is the WWII Saidor Airport.
The area was the site of the Huon Peninsula campaign of World War II, in 1943-44 as Japanese troops retreating from Lae fought their way over the Finisterre Mountains to Madang on the north coast.
The rainforests that cover these remote mountains provide habitats for many birds and animals and have been designated the Huon Peninsula Montane Rain Forests ecoregion. The rainforest of the hillsides consists of shorter trees and more herbs than you would find in lowland rainforests around the world, with predominant species of tree including Pometia, Canarium, Anisoptera, Cryptocarya laurels, and Terminalia, while the higher slopes have thicker forests of yet smaller trees and the higher slopes of the Cromwell Range in particular hold the best-prseved large forest of Dacrydium conifers in the southern hemisphere.
The mammals include the endangered Matschie's Tree-kangaroo and other tree-kangaroos, while the birds include many of typical Australasian families including Bowerbirds, Australian Robins, Honeyeaters and Birds of Paradise. There is one endemic butterfly. Although some logging has taken place, and there is always the danger of more, the forests of the Huon Peninsula mountains are mostly undisturbed.[1]
The raised beach coastal terraces of Huon were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on June 6th, 2006 in the Mixed (Cultural + Natural) category.[2]
In 2009 the YUS Conservation Area has been established in the northern part of the peninsula. YUS streches over 760km² and includes three rivers: Yopno, Uruwa and Som, after which it was named.[3]