Classroom lesson · Wildlife · 🇹🇱 Timor-Leste

Nino Konis Santana National Park

Timor-Leste's only national park, protecting land and sea together

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Nino Konis Santana is Timor-Leste's one and only national park, covering the whole eastern tip of the island. It is unusual because it protects both the land and the sea around it — dense forests, soaring cliffs, coral reefs and open ocean are all part of the park. The forests are home to rare birds, lizards and deer, while the sea teems with turtles, sharks and hundreds of fish.

Tell me more

The park is named after a local hero and covers about 1,236 square kilometres, including a large stretch of ocean. Walking through the forest you might hear the chattering of cockatoos overhead or spot the flash of a bright-coloured kingfisher darting between trees. The park is especially important for birds — many species found here exist nowhere else.

The coastline inside the park is wild and dramatic. Tall limestone cliffs drop straight into the sea, and secret beaches appear around rocky headlands. At Tutuala, right at the tip, you can look out across a channel to Jaco Island and watch the tides rip through the gap between them.

The park protects ancient cave paintings made by the people who lived on the island thousands of years ago. The caves are painted with pictures of deer, fish and handprints, giving us a window into how life looked here long, long before anyone alive today was born.

Rangers who work in the park study the wildlife, check on the reefs and help visitors explore safely. They have discovered species of plants and insects that had never been recorded by scientists before — the park is so wild that new discoveries are still being made.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might it be important to protect land and sea together in a single park, rather than separately?
  2. 02If you were a park ranger, what would be the most exciting part of your job?
  3. 03Cave paintings show us what life was like thousands of years ago. What could paintings or drawings you make today tell people in the future about your life?
  4. 04Why might tiny insects and plants that nobody has discovered yet be worth protecting?
Try this

Classroom activity

Design a passport stamp for Nino Konis Santana National Park. It should include one land animal, one sea creature and one plant that lives in the park. Swap your stamp with a partner and explain your choices to each other.