The Forbidden Forest of the Upper Cibeet River

Last updated February 27, 2019

The Forbidden Forest of The Upper Cibeet River is a sacred wooded area in an old tropical forest Dayeuhluhur, in the north Cilacap Regency of Central Java, Indonesia.

Something that is sacred is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity or considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspiring awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects, or places.

Tropical forests are forested landscapes in tropical regions: i.e. land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.

Cilacap Regency is a regency in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Cilacap.

Key Keeper

Visitors must be accompanied by a Key Keeper, to ensure proper respect for Dayeuhluhurian culture. They claim the forest to be one of spirituality. The Juru Kunci, or key keeper is Ceceng Rusmana from Cibeet River.

Dayeuhluhur is a district within the Cilacap Regency of Central Java.

Cibeet River is a river in Dayeuhluhur, Cilacap Regency, Central Java, Indonesia, about 220 km southeast of the capital Jakarta.

Flora and fauna

This horned spider, the long-horned orb weaver (Macracantha arcuata), is common in this forest. Lancahtanduk.jpeg — This horned spider, the long-horned orb weaver (*Macracantha arcuata*), is common in this forest.

Similar to Ujung Kulon National Park, the forest hosts tropical and rare animals and trees, including many Rusa (genus) Javan leopard ^[2] and monkeys. People in this area believe that the Javan tiger and banteng still live there. This forest also contains many species of wild orchid.

Ujung Kulon National Park is located at the westernmost tip of Java, within Banten province of Indonesia. It includes the volcanic island group of Krakatoa in Lampung province, and other islands including Panaitan, as well as smaller offshore islets such as Handeuleum and Peucang in the Sunda Strait.

Rusa is a genus of deer from southern Asia. They have traditionally been included in Cervus, and genetic evidence suggests this may be more appropriate than their present placement in a separate genus.

The Javan leopard is a leopard subspecies confined to the Indonesian island of Java. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008. The population is estimated at less than 250 mature individuals, with a decreasing population trend. The total remaining habitat is estimated at only 2,267.9 to 3,277.3 km².

Wild orchids at Upper Cibeet forest Redbevcibeet.jpeg — Wild orchids at Upper Cibeet forest

River source

Many rivers have their headwaters in the region of the Upper Cibeet. Some drain to the north into the Java Sea like Cipamali River, while others drain to the south in the Indian Ocean, like the Cibeet River, Cidayeuh River and Cikawalon River.

The Java Sea is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its northwest links it to the South China Sea.

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000 km² (27,240,000 sq mi). It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean or, depending on definition, by Antarctica.

Cidayeuh River is a river in Dayeuhluhur, Cilacap, Central Java in Indonesia, about 220 km southeast of the capital Jakarta.

Mitos

A common belief in Mitos forbids speaking or asking about anything seen in the forest. Another holds that spitting (showing disrespect) while in the forest will cause leeches to attack, making them the real guardian.

Blood worm (leech)

The Upper Cibeet leech: It starts this small when first sucking our blood, but will soon grow to the size of our finger. Cibeetleech.jpeg — The Upper Cibeet leech: It starts this small when first sucking our blood, but will soon grow to the size of our finger.

The blood worm (Pacet) is common in the forest. This leech does not live in water but crawls everywhere on land and trees, not unlike the worm or caterpillar, in search of animals (including people) to feed on.

Leeches are segmented parasitic or predatory worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. They are closely related to the oligochaetes, which include the earthworms, and like them have soft, muscular, segmented bodies that can lengthen and contract. Both groups are hermaphrodites and have a clitellum, but leeches typically differ from the oligochaetes in having suckers at both ends and in having external annulations that do not correspond with their internal segmentation. The body is relatively solid, and the spacious body cavity found in other annelids, the coelom, is reduced to small channels.

Worm animal that typically have a long tube-like body and no legs

Worms are many different distantly related animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body and no limbs. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over 1 metre (3.3 ft) in length for marine polychaete worms, 6.7 metres (22 ft) for the African giant earthworm, Microchaetus rappi, and 58 metres (190 ft) for the marine nemertean worm, Lineus longissimus. Various types of worm occupy a small variety of parasitic niches, living inside the bodies of other animals. Free-living worm species do not live on land, but instead, live in marine or freshwater environments, or underground by burrowing. In biology, "worm" refers to an obsolete taxon, vermes, used by Carolus Linnaeus and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck for all non-arthropod invertebrate animals, now seen to be paraphyletic. The name stems from the Old English word wyrm. Most animals called "worms" are invertebrates, but the term is also used for the amphibian caecilians and the slowworm Anguis, a legless burrowing lizard. Invertebrate animals commonly called "worms" include annelids, nematodes (roundworms), platyhelminthes (flatworms), marine nemertean worms, marine Chaetognatha, priapulid worms, and insect larvae such as grubs and maggots.

Caterpillars are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera.

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References

↑ "The Long-Horned Orb Weaver" . Retrieved 12 September 2014.
↑ "Trapped Leopard Released on NusaKambangan Island" . Retrieved 12 September 2014.

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[1] "The Long-Horned Orb Weaver" . Retrieved 12 September 2014.

[2] "Trapped Leopard Released on NusaKambangan Island" . Retrieved 12 September 2014.