Added: 06/16/2006 |
Climate, flora and fauna of Wallis and Futuna islandsWallis and Futuna Islands are beautiful islands lying in the South Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Samoa. The beauty of remote islands lost far away in the ocean has always inspired researchers and nature enthusiasts who set out their expeditions. Wallis and Futuna were discovered by the Dutch and the British in the 17th and 18th century, but were the French who stepped on the land of the islands as competent owners.
Today, Wallis and Futuna Islands remain one of three French colonies (the other two are French Polynesia and New Caledonia) and the territory is governed by the French constitution and uses the French legal system.
Although Wallis and Futuna Islands consist of three islands, only two of them, Wallis and Futuna, are inhabited. The cannibal people of Futuna ate the population of Alofi in the 19th century, and since that time, nobody has tried to occupy the island (although cannibals are already past). There are also twenty uninhabited islets with the total area of two hundred and seventy four square kilometers.
Alofi is also uninhabited for the reason of lack of fresh water supplies, while other areas are almost deprived of fertile soils. In fine, the islands have only five percent of arable land and suffer from deforestation due to the use of wood as the main fuel for many years. Totally, the forests have been reduced over fifteen percent on Wallis and thirty percent on Futuna. Alofi forest remains untouched as the island is uninhabited and covers seventy percent of its area.
Each of the islands has its own distinguished landscape. Wallis is the area of low hills and numerous lakes, while many lakes are located in the craters of former volcanoes.
Wallis is the most populated island (over sixty percent of total population) as well as it is more arable and produces plenty of exotic fruit including bananas, breadfruit, coconuts, lemons, pineapple oranges, mangos, and papayas.
Alofi is covered by deep forests and has beautiful coral reefs and a lagoon.
Futuna group is mountainous and subjected to periodic earthquakes, the last earthquake occurred in March, 1993. The highest mountains are Mt. Puke on Futuna 524 m / 1,719 ft. and Mt. Kolofau on Alofi 417 m / 1,368 ft.
The fauna of Wallis and Futuna Islands comprises of pigs and breeding hens, several bird species such as gannets, terns and frigates. Futuna is home to the White-collared kingfishers, Polynesian trillers, and Fiji shrikebills, while Alofi is inhabited by rare Blue-crowned Lorikeet. There are also species of flying fox, lizards and geckoes.
The main treasure of Wallis and Futuna's fauna is an abundance of fish in its lagoons. In the waters of the islands, one may encounter clown, spot rays, tortoises and dolphins. The local diving club "Te U Hauhaulele" organizes trips to explore the submarine world of Wallis and Futuna Islands.
The islands enjoy tropical climate, while the most humid and hottest weather lasts during the rainy season from November to April. The hottest month is February with an average temperature 27-30C and the coolest month is July with the average temperature around 25C. The rainy season is abundant in storms and heavy showers. Surprisingly, but Wallis enjoys less rainfall than Futuna; the annual rainfall is about 300 cm on Wallis and almost 400 cm on Futuna.
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