Location: Banten, Java Map
Area: 1,206 km²
Ujung Kulon National Park is a natural reserve on
the island of Java in Indonesia. Ujung Kulon National Park covers an
area of 1,206 km2. It also includes the volcanic group of Krakatoa
Islands and some other Islands in the Sunda Strait, the largest of
which is the island of Panaitan.
The area of the Park is 1206 km2 (of which 443 km2 are occupied by
the sea). Most of it is located on a Peninsula stretching far into
the Indian ocean. The eruption of Krakatau in 1883 caused tsunamis
that destroyed villages and crops of the coastal areas on the
Western Peninsula, and covered a huge area with a layer of ash about
30 cm thick, All of this caused the total evacuation of the
Peninsula, and thus helped to keep out here most of the Javanese
flora and fauna, and most of the remaining lowland forest of the
island.
It is the first national Park created by Indonesia and declared a
world heritage site by UNESCO in 1991. It is also the last of the
habitats of the endangered Javan rhinos. As of the 1980s, Ujung
Kulon had a population of 40-60 individuals. As of 2011, the local
population consists of 35 individuals (22 males and 13 females).
The Park protects 57 rare species of plants, 35 species of mammals,
72 species of reptiles and amphibians and 240 species of birds.
Mammals include the banteng, silver Gibbon, crab-eating macaque,
Javan leopard, lesser deer, Javan langur, etc.
Some parts of the modern Park have been protected since the
beginning of the XX century. Krakatoa island was declared a nature
reserve in 1921. It was followed by the Pulau Panaitan and Pulau
Pekang nature reserves, established in 1937. Ujung Kulon reserve was
established in 1958, it was declared a national Park in 1992.