Ujung Kulon National Park | |
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Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon | |
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Location | Banten, Java, Indonesia |
Nearest city | Cilegon |
Coordinates | 6°44′48″S105°20′1″E / 6.74667°S 105.33361°E |
Area | 122,956 acres (497.59 km2) |
Established | February 26, 1992 |
Visitors | 2,385; about 12,000 in 2014.(in 2007 [1] ) |
Governing body | Ministry of Environment and Forestry |
World Heritage site | 1991 |
Website | tnujungkulon |
Criteria | Natural: vii, x |
Reference | 608 |
Inscription | 1991 (15th Session) |
Ujung Kulon National Park is a national park at the westernmost tip of Java, located in Sumur District of Pandeglang Regency, part of Banten province in Indonesia. It once included the volcanic island group of Krakatoa in Lampung province, [2] [3] although current maps has suggested the Krakatoa island group as its own protected area, the Pulau Anak Krakatau Marine Nature Reserve. [4]
The area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site for "containing the largest remaining area of lowland rainforests in Java", and also for possessing the most threatened species of rhino, the Javan rhino. [5] It was designated before its formation as a national park.
The park fully encompasses the Ujung Kulon peninsula, along with surrounding islands and the Gunung Honje mountain range.
Ujung Kulon itself means Western End or Point West in Sundanese/Bantenese.
The park covers an area of 1,056.95 km2 (408.09 sq mi), of which 443.37 km2 (171.19 sq mi) is marine. [6] Most of the park landmass lies on the mainland, specifically the Ujung Kulon Peninsula, with the highest elevation of 480 m (1,570 ft) atMt. Payung in the southwest of the peninsula. The eastern area of the park is marked by the Gunung Honje mountain range, possessing several low-lying mountains with the highest peak at Mt. Honje at 620 m (2,030 ft). [7]
The Ujung Kulon area was first introduced to the Western world by Dutch-German botanist, Franz W. Junghuhn in 1846, during one of his expeditions. Since then, scientists have started gaining interest in the peninsula's biological abundance. Several years later, this supposed first trip to Ujung Kulon was included in a scientific journal. [8] However there are not many written records regarding Ujung Kulon before the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883. [9]
Following the Krakatoa eruption and the ensuing tsunami, which was reported to be 15 meters high, many of the peninsula's settlements were destroyed and never completely rebuilt. [9] [10] The eruption also obliterated much of the local flora and fauna, leaving an average 30 cm (12 in) layer of volcanic ash across the area.[ citation needed ] Despite this, the area rapidly recovered, enabling it to serve as a repository for a large portion of Java's flora and fauna as well as the majority of the island's lowland forest. [9]
Conservation efforts for the area began in the early 20th century during colonial Dutch East Indies. Pulau Panaitan was first designated as a nature reserve (Suaka Alam) in 1921 before later being combined with Pulau Peucang to become a wildlife sanctuary (Suaka Margasatwa) in 1937. Post-independence, the area acclaimed restored status as a nature reserve along with the peninsula. The southern part of Gunung Honje Protection Forest was incorporated within the reserve in 1967, with the northern portion following in 1979. Lastly, it was declared a national park in 1992. Border reconstructions by Mt. Honje were finalized in 2004. [9]
It is Indonesia's first proposed national park coincidentally designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 during its establishment for containing the largest remaining lowland rainforest in Java. By 2005, the park was designated as an ASEAN Heritage Park. [11]
Villages that still survived within the area have now acclaimed cultural status as Kampung Wisata (literally 'Recreational Village'). [12] Future plans even intended to develop Cimenteng, one of the local hamlets, into an ecovillage. [7]
Ujung Kulon is one of three national parks in Java housing a lowland rainforest ecosystem, together with Baluran and Alas Purwo National Park. It therefore possesses a somewhat similar ecosystem, despite being much wetter than the latter due to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification, the latter being found on East Java instead. [13]
So far, 175 species have been observed within the park, with 57 of them being protected, This includes mangroves (e.g. Sonneratia alba , Excoecaria agallocha , Rhizophora apiculata , Aegiceras corniculatum ), coastal plants (e.g. Nypa fruticans , Calophyllum inophyllum , Terminalia catappa , Hibiscus tiliaceus , etc.), Figs (e.g. Ficus benjamina , Ficus deltoidea , Ficus racemosa , Ficus septica ) and other lowland vegetation such as Oroxylum indicum , Melastoma malabathricum , Sterculia foetida , and Durio zibethinus . [14] The park possesses three protected rare flora, namely Heritiera percoriacea , Vatica bantamensis , and Intsia bijuga. [14] Rafflesia patma is also a notable species. [15]
Currently one particular species of plant is considered troublesome, especially towards the rhino conservation program, the Arenga palm ( Arenga obtusifolia ). This species of palm has been noted to grow rapidly while consuming much area, starving the undergrowth of sunlight, reducing the rhino's required food supply. Local authorities have claimed that eradication efforts have been and will continue to go on.[ citation needed ]
Ujung Kulon is the last known refuge for the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros after the death of the last remaining Javan rhino in Cát Tiên National Park, Vietnam, where a small population of 10 or less remained in 2010. In Ujung Kulon the population has been estimated at 40–60 in the 1980s. [16] Within 2001-2010 there have been 14 rhino births identified using camera and video traps. [17] Based on recordings taken between February and October 2011, 35 rhinoceros had been identified, of which 22 were males and 13 females. Of these 7 were old, 18 adults, 5 youngsters, and 5 infant rhinos. [18] Increasing from previous years, in 2013 there were 8 calves of which 3 of them were female and 50 teenage and adult of which 20 of them were female identified using 120 video cameras functioning at night with motion sensors. It can be said to be accurate data, since every rhino has its own unique morphology, mainly from skin wrinkles around the eyes. [19] Current estimates are set to about 82 rhinos. [20]
By 2013 feeding areas of Eupatorium odoratum vegetation have been reduced from 10 locations comprising 158 ha (390 acres) to 5 locations comprising 20 ha (49 acres). This has increased competition for feeding grounds between the local rhino and banteng population. [21]
Roughly 35 mammals species endemic to Java are found in the park, notably the banteng, Silvery gibbon, Javan lutung, Crab-eating macaque, Javan leopard, Dhole, Java mouse-deer, Javan rusa, Sunda leopard cat and Smooth-coated otter. There are 197 species of birds. [22]
Javan tigers survived in the national park until the mid-1960s. [23]
Banten is the westernmost province on the island of Java, Indonesia. Its capital city is Serang and its largest city is Tangerang. The province borders West Java and the Special Capital Region of Jakarta on the east, the Java Sea on the north, the Indian Ocean on the south, and the Sunda Strait on the west and shares a maritime border with Lampung to the west. The province covers an area of 9,352.77 km2 (3,611.12 sq mi). It had a population of over 11.9 million in the 2020 census, up from about 10.6 million in 2010. The estimated mid-2023 population was 12.308 million. Formerly part of the province of West Java, Banten was split off to become a province on 17 October 2000.
The Javan rhinoceros, Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros is a critically endangered member of the genus Rhinoceros, of the rhinoceros family, Rhinocerotidae, and one of the five remaining extant rhinoceros species across South Asia and Africa. The Javan rhinoceros is one of the smallest rhinoceros species, along with the Sumatran, or "hairy", rhinoceros. They are superficially similar to Indian rhinos, as they have plate-like, "armored" protective skin folds, but are slightly smaller in size, at just 3.1–3.2 m (10–10 ft) long and 1.4–1.7 m (4.6–5.6 ft) tall, on average. The heaviest specimens weigh around 2,300 kg/2.3 tonnes, similar to a black rhinoceros. However, unlike the long and potentially lethal horns of the black or white rhinoceroses of Africa, the Javan species' single, somewhat blunted horn is usually shorter than 25 cm (9.8 in).
Alas Purwo National Park is situated on Blambangan Peninsula in the Banyuwangi Regency, at the southeastern tip of East Java province. The park is famous for its wild Banteng and surfing location at Grajagan Bay.
The Javan tiger was a Panthera tigris sondaica population native to the Indonesian island of Java. It was one of the three tiger populations that colonized the Sunda Islands during the last glacial period 110,000–12,000 years ago. It used to inhabit most of Java, but its natural habitat decreased continuously due to conversion for agricultural land use and infrastructure. By 1940, it had retreated to remote montane and forested areas. Since no evidence of a Javan tiger was found during several studies in the 1980s and 1990s, it was assessed as being extinct in 2008.
Way Kambas National Park is a national park covering 1,300 km2 (500 sq mi) in Lampung province of southern Sumatra, Indonesia. It consists of swamp forest and lowland rain forest, mostly of secondary growth as result of extensive logging in the 1960s and 1970s. Despite decreasing populations, the park still has a few critically endangered Sumatran tigers, Sumatran elephants and Sumatran rhinoceroses. It also hosts over 400 bird species.
Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is a national park in Sumatra, Indonesia. The park located along the Bukit Barisan mountain range, has a total area of 3,568 km2, and spans three provinces: Lampung, Bengkulu, and South Sumatra. Together with Gunung Leuser and Kerinci Seblat national parks it forms a World Heritage Site, Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.
Pandeglang Regency is a regency of Banten province, Indonesia. It is mainly located on the west and south coasts of the island of Java and is the most westerly regency on Java Island, but it also includes several offshore islands such as Panaitan, Deli and Tinjil. The regency has an area of 2,746.81 km2, and a population at the 2010 Census of 1,149,610, rising to 1,272,687 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 1,312,766 - comprising 672,828 males and 639,938 females. The regency seat is the town of Pandeglang in the northeast of the regency, but the most densely-populated district is the town of Labuan on the west coast.
Mount Gede Pangrango National Park is a national park in West Java, Indonesia. The park is centred on two volcanoes—Mount Gede and Mount Pangrango—and is 150 km² in area.
The Javan torrent frog is a species of frog in the family Ranidae. It is endemic to Java, Indonesia. It is found in Mount Halimun Salak National Park, Ujung Kulon National Park, and Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in West Java, as well as in Dieng Nature Reserve in Central Java.
The Javan kingfisher, sometimes called the blue-bellied kingfisher or Java kingfisher, is a medium-sized kingfisher endemic to the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali.
Betung Kerihun National Park is a national park located in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. The park was established in 1995, and has a total area of 8,000 km2 (3,100 sq mi) or about 5.5 percent of West Kalimantan Province area. Together with the 2,000 km2 (800 sq mi) Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in Malaysia, it has been proposed to form a World Heritage Site named the "Transborder Rainforest Heritage of Borneo".
Mount Ciremai National Park is located around 50 km to the south of the city of Cirebon in West Java, Indonesia. The park extends into the Kuningan and Majalengka regencies south of Cirebon. The park surrounds Mt Ceremai, an active volcano, the highest peak in West Java. Groups of hikers, including parties of students, often climb the peak although care is needed.
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Mount Halimun Salak National Park is a 400 km2 conservation area in the Indonesian province of West Java on the island of Java. Established in 1992, the park comprises two mountains, Mount Salak and Mount Halimun with an 11-kilometer forest corridor. It is located near the better known Mount Gede Pangrango National Park, but the national park should be accessed from Sukabumi, 2 hours drive to the administration post and then 2 hours drive again to Cikaniki post gate.
The Javan leopard is a leopard subspecies confined to the Indonesian island of Java. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2021. The population is estimated at 188–571 mature individuals in 22 fragmented subpopulations and a declining population trend. The total remaining habitat is estimated at only 2,267.9 to 3,277.3 km2.
Panaitan is an island in the Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra, and in the Indonesian province of Banten. It is the largest island in the strait, and is located near the westernmost tip of Java. Like the nearby Krakatoa, it too is volcanic in origin, although there are no known historic eruptions. The name 'Prince's Island' apparently is because the island was considered the property of Javan princes. Administratively, the island is a part of Pandeglang Regency.
Liman river or Ci Liman is the name of a river located at the western tip of Java Island, Banten Province, Indonesia. It originates from its headwaters in the southern mountains of Banten, around the Sareweh in the Lebak Regency, near the settlement of the Baduy Dalam tribe. It flows westward towards the coast in the Panimbang, region of Pandeglang and empties into Lada Bay, the Sunda Strait. It is approximately 73 km from the center of Cilegon city to the mouth of the river.
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