Bantimurung–Bulusaraung National Park

Last updated
Bantimurung-Bulusaraung
National Park
Taman Nasional Bantimurung-Bulusaraung
Area sawah tadah hujan dengan bukit karst di rammang-rammang.jpg
Rammang-rammang karst in Bantimurung-Bulusaraung NP
Sulawesi location map plain.svg
Red pog.svg
Bantimurung-Bulusaraung NP
Location in Sulawesi
Location South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Nearest city Makassar
Coordinates 4°54′S119°45′E / 4.900°S 119.750°E / -4.900; 119.750
Area437 square kilometres (43,700 ha)
Established2004
Governing body Ministry of Environment and Forestry
Website www.tn-babul.org

Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park is a national park in South Sulawesi in Indonesia. [1] The park contains the Rammang-Rammang karst area, the second largest karst area known in the world after the one in South-Eastern China. [2]

Contents

Bantimurung-Bulusauraung National Park, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Bantimurung-Bulusauraung National Park.jpg
Bantimurung-Bulusauraung National Park, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The park is in Maros Regency, 50 kilometers to the north of Makassar (one hour drive) or just 20 kilometers from Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport (30 minutes drive). [3] Most of the Karst formations are tall and steep at almost a 90 degree angle line along both sides of the road from Maros city to Bantimurung continuing up to the Pangkajene and Islands Regency (Indonesian: Pangkajene dan Kepulauan, commonly abbreviated as Pangkep).

The karst area is 43,750 hectares and has 286 caves which include 16 pre-historic caves in Maros and 17 pre-historic caves in Pangkep. [4] There is a waterfall with 2 caves at the national park; the one on the left side is known as the dream cave (one-kilometer long) and the one on the right is known as the stone cave. Riding on the water on blown up inner tubes is a popular activity for children at the site.

History

The first main exploration of the Bantimurung area was carried out by Alfred Wallace in July–October 1857. Later he published the results of his explorations in The Malay Archipelago which encouraged numerous researchers to visit Maros. Then, in 1970–1980, there were five chosen conservation areas in Maros-Pangkep Karst, consisting of two nature parks (Bantimurung and Gua Pattunuang) and three wildlife sanctuaries (Bantimurung, Karaenta, and Bulusaurung). In 1993, The XI International Union of Speleology Congress recommended Maros-Pangkep Karst as a world heritage site. Five years after that, the Environmental Seminar of Hasanuddin University (PSL-UNHAS) also recommended protection of Maros-Pangkep Karst. [5]

Furthermore, in May 2001, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Asia Regional Office and UNESCO World Heritage Center held the Asia-Pacific Forum on Karst Ecosystems and World Heritage in Sarawak, Malaysia which convinced the Indonesian government to conserve Maros-Pangkep Karst. Finally in 2004, the Ministry of Forestry declared the allocation of 43,750 hectares of Bantimurung-Bulusaurung land for wildlife conservatory, nature park, conservation forest, limited production forest, production forest, as the Bantimurung – Bulusaraung National Park.

Fauna

Located in the transition area of Asia and Australia zone, the national park has many unique animals collection, such as Sulawesi moor macaque ( Macaca maura ), the red-knobbed hornbill ( Aceros cassidix , Penelopides exarhatus ), cuscus ( Strigocuscus celebensis ), Sulawesi palm civet (Macrogalidia musschenbroekii), bat, and pot-bellied boar ( Sus scrofa vittatus ). Recently, in March 2008, staffs of Bantimurung – Bulusaraung National Park had documented the existence of Tarsius fuscus and they also found its nest inside the area. [5] [6] Among crustacean biodiversity in the karst area, there is one unique species called "spider crab" ( Cancrocaeca xenomorpha ) which is only found in Maros Karst cave. [7] [8]

Butterflies

Butterfly (Vindula sp.) in Bulusaurung Conservatory Bantimurung Butterfly.jpg
Butterfly ( Vindula sp.) in Bulusaurung Conservatory

Besides insectarium, butterfly breeding centers, managed by both the reserve administrator and residents serve complete the metamorphosis process of the butterflies. There are many butterflies around the waterfall such as Troides helena Linne, Troides hypolitus Cramer, Troides haliphron Boisduval, Papilio peranthus adamantius and Cethosia myrana . The British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace referred to the site as a butterfly kingdom. [9] During his exploration in 1857, Wallace found 256 butterfly species from Bantimurung area, different from previous report of Mattimu in 1977 who found 103 butterfly species inside the national park with some endemic species are Papilio blumei , Papilio polytes , Papilio sataspes , and Graphium androcles .

Since the 1970s the Bantimurung area has been known as a commercial source of butterflies. Collections of butterflies are supplied both to local Indonesian markets as well as international markets as souvenirs in the form of individual specimens, butterfly frames, key chains, and other accessories. In 2010 about 600,000 tourists (mainly domestic visitors) visited the site. Over use and over exploitation of the local resource is now seen as a problem. In response, the management of the national park has moved to change the purpose of the butterfly conservatory from extraction and exploitation into preservation of the natural ecosystem as a tourist attraction. [10] However, local informal trade in butterflies still occurs. Sellers still catch butterflies in the park and sell them to local dealers rather than producing them from breeding or farming production. [11] As an attempt to help preserve the butterflies, a wide variety were listed as a priority in the insect group [5] of the official Indonesian Government's National Species Conservation Strategic Directions 2008–2018.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulawesi</span> One of the Greater Sunda Islands of Indonesia

Sulawesi, also known as Celebes, is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Within Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cave painting</span> Paintings, often prehistoric, on cave walls and ceilings

In archaeology, cave paintings are a type of parietal art, found on the wall or ceilings of caves. The term usually implies prehistoric origin, and the oldest known are more than 40,000 years old and found in the caves in the district of Maros. The oldest are often constructed from hand stencils and simple geometric shapes. More recently, in 2021, cave art of a pig found in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and dated to over 45,500 years ago, has been reported.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Sulawesi</span> Province of Indonesia

South Sulawesi is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sulawesi and West Sulawesi to the north, the Gulf of Bone and Southeast Sulawesi to the east, Makassar Strait to the west, and Flores Sea to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Makassar</span> City and capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Makassar is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Bandung. The city is located on the southwest coast of the island of Sulawesi, facing the Makassar Strait.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moor macaque</span> Species of Old World monkey

The Moor macaque is a macaque monkey with brown/black body fur with a pale rump patch and pink bare skin on the rump. It has ischial callosities, which are oval-shaped. It is about 50–58.5 cm long, and eats figs, bamboo seeds, buds, sprouts, invertebrates and cereals in tropical rainforests. It is sometimes called "dog-ape" because of its dog-like muzzle, although it is no more closely related to apes than any other Old World monkey is. It is endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, which is an important biodiversity hotspot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phong Nha – Kẻ Bàng National Park</span> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vietnam

Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Bố Trạch and Minh Hóa districts of central Quảng Bình Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam, about 500 km south of Hanoi. The park borders the Hin Namno National Park in Khammouane Province, Laos to the west and 42 km east of the South China Sea from its borderline point. Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park is in a limestone zone of 2,000 km2 in Vietnamese territory and borders another limestone zone of 2,000 km2 of Hin Namno in Laotian territory. The core zone of this national park covers 857.54 km2 and a buffer zone of 1,954 km2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maros</span>

Maros is a town in the South Sulawesi province of Indonesia close to the provincial capital of Makassar. It is the capital of the Maros Regency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lore Lindu National Park</span>

Lore Lindu National Park is a protected area of forest on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, in the province of Central Sulawesi. The Indonesian national park is 2,180 km2 covering both lowland and montane forests. It provides habitat to numerous rare species, including 77 bird species endemic to Sulawesi. The national park is designated as part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In addition to its rich wildlife, the park also contains megaliths dating from before 1300 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport</span> Airport in Makassar, Indonesia

Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport is an international airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi. It is located 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Makassar's city centre and is operated by PT. Angkasa Pura I. The current terminal was opened on 20 August 2008. The airport is the main gateway for flights to the eastern part of Indonesia, and named after Sultan Hasanuddin (1631–1670), a Sultan of Gowa, who fought against the Dutch East India Company in the 1660s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gowa Regency</span> Regency in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Gowa is a regency in the province of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It has an area of 1,883.33 km2 and a population of 652,329 at the 2010 census, increasing to 765,836 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 783,167. The majority of the regency lies within the official metropolitan area of the city of Makassar, including the regency's administrative capital at Sungguminasa. The hill resort of Malino is within the eastern (non-metropolitan) part of the regency.

<i>Papilio blumei</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio blumei, the peacock or green swallowtail, is a butterfly of the family Papilionidae. It is found only on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It is sometimes confused with the more widespread P. palinurus, but that species is smaller and has mostly black tails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maros Regency</span> Regency in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Maros Regency is a regency of South Sulawesi province of Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,619.12 sq.km, and had a population of 319,002 at the 2010 Census and 391,774 at the Census of 2020. The official estimate for mid 2022 was 403,774. Almost all of the regency lies within the official metropolitan area of the city of Makassar. The capital town of the regency is Maros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidenreng Rappang Regency</span> Regency in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Sidenreng Rappang Regency is a landlocked regency of South Sulawesi Province in Indonesia. It has an area of 1,883.25 kilometres (1,170.20 mi) and had a population of 271,911 at the 2010 Census and 319,990 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 327,416. Its capital is at the town of Pangkajene Sidenreng. The original inhabitants of this area are Bugis.

<i>Graphium androcles</i> Species of butterfly

Graphium androcles, the giant swordtail, is a butterfly of the genus Graphium belonging to the family Papilionidae (swallowtails). The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1836.

<i>Papilio sataspes</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio sataspes is a species of swallowtail butterfly from the genus Papilio that is found in Sulawesi and Banggai.

<i>Cancrocaeca</i> Genus of crabs

Cancrocaeca xenomorpha is a species of troglobitic (cave-dwelling) freshwater crab from Sulawesi, the only species in the monotypic genus Cancrocaeca. It has been described as the world's "most highly cave-adapted species of crab".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caves in the Maros-Pangkep karst</span> Cave and archaeological site in Indonesia

The caves in the Maros-Pangkep karst are situated in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and contain paintings from the Paleolithic considered to be the earliest figurative art in the world, dated to at least 43,900 years ago.

Bostrychus microphthalmus is a species of fish from the family Butidae. It is endemic to Maros karst in southern Sulawesi, Indonesia. It was the first documented cave-dwelling fish in Sulawesi, but since then the brotula Diancistrus typhlops has been described from nearby Muna Island, and an additional apparently undescribed eleotrid is known from Sulawesi's Maros karst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toalean culture</span> Indigenous peoples of Sulawesi

The Toalean people were hunter-gatherers who inhabited the Indonesian island of Sulawesi during the Mid- to Late-Holocene period prior to the spread of Austronesian Neolithic farmers some 3,500 years ago from mainland Asia.

References

  1. A collection of photos and some details (in Indonesian) can be found at the Indonesia Wonder Website [ dead link ]. See also the photos and details provided at Ayu Wulandari, 'Photo story: Belae's majestic prehistoric caves' Archived October 18, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , Jakarta Post Travel, 28 October 2013.
  2. Lestari Hutan Indonesia Archived 2010-04-20 at the Wayback Machine , retrieved 24 February 2010
  3. "Bantimurung Waterfall". Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.
  4. "Karst Maros - Pangkep Jejak Prasejarah yang Terkubur di Bukit Kapur". September 10, 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  5. 1 2 3 Official website of Bantimurung – Bulusaraung National Park, accessed in September 20, 2012.
  6. Gatra.com: "Spectacular Tower Karst" Milik Taman Nasional Bantimurung Bulusaraung Archived August 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , April 3, 2012.
  7. P. K. L. Ng (1991). "Cancrocaeca xenomorpha, new genus and species, a blind troglobitic freshwater hymenosomatid (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura) from Sulawesi, Indonesia" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology . 39 (1): 59–73.
  8. Kompas.com: Kepiting Laba-laba, Inilah Fauna Endemik Karst Maros...., Yunanto Wiji Utomo. Rabu, 9 Mei 2012.
  9. Andi Hajramurni, 'Bantimurung: One of Indonesia’s fascinating tourist spots', The Jakarta Post,4 August 2011.
  10. Andi Hajramurni, 'Bantimurung to be developed into educational tourism park', The Jakarta Post, 27 July 2010.
  11. Fabio Scarpello, 'Bantimurung's butterflies still caught in the net' Archived October 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , The Jakarta Post, 4 May 2004.