Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
This IBA is dominated by tropical deciduous forest on limestone hills, with patches of evergreen forest along perennial springs at the base of a rocky hill. Most coastal forest has been converted to rice and agriculture, but a small freshwater wetland and well-vegetated saline lagoons are present along the coast. This site is known in Indonesian as ‘Hutan Tilomar’ (‘Tilomar Forest’) (RTK 34) (Ora 2000).
Lambert et al. (2006) conducted a four-day bird forest survey around Foho Lulik village and located the Endangered Wetar Ground-dove, only the second record of this poorly-known species on Timor and the first in Timor-Leste. Twenty-five restricted-range species have been recorded in this IBA, plus the Critically Endangered Yellow-crested Cockatoo (Ora 2000, Lambert et al. 2006).
This IBA is dominated by tropical deciduous forest on limestone hills, with patches of evergreen forest along perennial springs at the base of a rocky hill. Most coastal forest has been converted to rice and agriculture, but a small freshwater wetland and well-vegetated saline lagoons are present along the coast. This site is known in Indonesian as ‘Hutan Tilomar’ (‘Tilomar Forest’) (RTK 34) (Ora 2000).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Threats include illegal timber cutting, forest conversion by swidden agriculture and to plantations such as Teak Tectona grandis, hunting and wildfires (FAO/UNDP 1982).
Originally proposed as a reserve specifically to protect Sandalwood Santalum album by the Portuguese in 1967, and later proclaimed by the Governor of East Timor (FAO/UNDP 1982). It was proposed as a Wildlife Sanctuary (Suaka Margasatwa) by FAO/UNDP (1982) to conserve examples of endemic flora and fauna. Tilomar Reserve was recognised by UNTAET (2000) as a site of conservation significance under Regulation Number 2000/19.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Tilomar (Timor-Leste). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/tilomar-iba-timor-leste on 23/12/2024.
