As there are no accessible and developed roads in the area, the river is still the only transport route across the marshes to the fertile hills and mountains in the interior of the island.

Its length as the crow flies from its source to its mouth is relatively short, but it follows a very winding course over flat land to the sea.

As a result of the abortive 1926 revolt by the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), the Dutch exiled 823 of the most troublesome revolutionaries here.

[6] Rising on the southern slopes of Maoke Mountains, the Digul flows first south and then west to empty into the Arafura Sea.

Around 100 endemic species are found here (Paradisaea apoda, Ptilinopus perlatus, Chelodina novaeguineae, Centropus violaceus, Alcedinidae, etc.).

The dominant species are mangrove (Avicenia alba, Rhizophora apiculata), mahogany (Xylocarpus moluccensis), nipa palm (Nypa fruticans), marsh plant (Bruguiera cylindrica) and their hybrids (Rhizphora mucronata).