SEARCH
Green Nature
Posted in: Destination, Nature-Based by admin on March 22, 2010
-
Beaches and Waves
Indonesia beaches form the second largest shoreline in the world as home for wide species of marine animals. There are some parts famous for swimming in the blue sea or for visiting the beautiful coral reefs for diving excursions. Beaches in Indonesia are perfect places for basking in the sun or doing water sport recreation. The beaches by the coast of the Indian Ocean are popular for surfing.
In Sumatra, you can find Air Manis Beach, which is closely related to the legend of Malin Kundang. Based on the story, Malin Kundang was cursed by his mother for his refusal to acknowledge her as his mother after traveling to another region and becoming rich. Malin Kundang was fabled to have been turned to stone together with his ship after periods of disobedience to his mother. Air Manis beach has low waves and beautiful views of Mount Padang. Other beaches you can also explore in Sumatra are Sikuai Beach in Sikuai Island and Sorake Beach in Nias.
Across to Bangka Belitung Province, you can swim, sun bathe and relax at Parai Tenggiri Beach that is located in Sungailiat district which has unique formation of boulders. 77 km from Sungailiat, you will find Bukit Ketok Village with 4 km long Romodong Beach that offer you beautiful sunset as the beach face to the west side. Last but not least, visit Penyusuk Beach in Penyusuk Village that isn’t far from Romodong Beach. It’s decorated with colorful stones that compact stand with its bigger wave.
In Java province, you will explore many beaches. Starting from West Java, you can find Pangandaran Beach in Ciamis and Pelabuhan Ratu. There is a local belief that wearing any green garment in these beach will anger Loro Kidul the the Goddess of the Southern Sea and bring misfortune. In East Java itself, it has many beaches such Progo Beach Trenggalek, Balekambang Beach Malang, Alaspurwo Beach Banyuwangi, Watu Ulu Beach Jember, Wisata Bahari Beach Lamongan, and Pasir Putih Beach Situbondo.
Crossing to Bali Island, you will able to find magnificent beaches. Sanur Beach on the Southeastern side, Jimbaran Beach that is directly south of the airport, Nusa Dua Beach that spots a luxurious resort, Soka Beach further northwest from Denpasar, and Lovina Beach near the Northern part of Bali.
There are too many wonderful beaches across Indonesia to mention here that offer scenic beauty of beaches with plenty of activities. It’s so popular to local and foreign tourist for the beautiful rocky cliffs with some of them surrounded by sprawling coconut trees. You can come to enjoy the idyllic weather of the blue sea and the wonderful waves.
-
Lakes
Indonesia is the home of active volcanoes as it is located between the Plateau of Australia and Asia. Some of them contain beautiful crater lakes. Accumulation of rain and ground water that fills in a volcanic crater creates a crater lake.
In North Sumatra, you can find Lake Toba located 900 meters above sea level, which was formed around 70,000 years ago following a major eruption. This 1,000 square kilometers lake is the largest volcanic lake in the world. Continue to West Sumatra, you can find Lake Maninjau located 16 km from Bukitinggi, which was formed around 52,000 years ago, and Lake Singkarak located between Padang Panjang and Solok that has an area of 107.8 square kilometers.
Across to Java Island, we start from West Java where you can find Lake Kawah Putih (white crater lake) located within Patuha volcano, an active volcano. The water is highly acidic as a result of high magmatic activity. Sulfur sediments on the bottom on the lake were mined during the first half of the 20th century. Continue to Central Java, you can find Lake Telaga Warna (colored lake) within Dieng volcano complex that had been known for its frequent release of carbon dioxide, which sometimes results in fatalities. Local people called some area of the volcano as the “death valleys”. And continuing to East Java, Lake Ijen as the biggest crater lake in Java Island is located within Ijen Volcano. It contains 36 millions cubic meters of acid water covered with sulfur cloud. The lake is very beautiful with a green turquoise color but very poisonous. Lake Ijen probably is one of the most toxic lakes in the world. Ijen crater is also a location of sulfur mining operation. Each miner can carry 70-100kg sulfur on his basket per day.
Cross to Bali, Lake Batur is the largest Crater Lake on the island. It was formed around 28,000 years ago. Another lake called Bratan Lake located within Mount Bratan in Tabanan area covers four square kilometers of area but it is a sacred place for the Balinese. Pura Ulun Danu, one of Balinese’s important temples dedicated to the goddess of Lake Bratan stood beautifully on the edge of the lake.
Lake Segara Anak (Child of the Sea) in Lombok Island is the largest hot volcanic lake in the world. Curiously, there are many fishes living in the lake. The hot spring water flows from the lake often used for skin treatment. In the middle of the lake, a new active volcano named Mount Barujari had recently risen and it is growing bigger over time.
-
Mountains
Indonesia is a nation of volcanoes with more than 877 mountains which some of them are active. Mountains ranging between 3,000 – 3,800 meters above sea level and can be found on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Lombok, Sulawesi, and Papua.
Mount Kerinci that located in Jambi, Sumatra is the highest peak in western Indonesia (3,809 m) which surrounded by the lush forest of Kerinci Seblat National Park, a home to endangered species of Sumatran Tiger and Rhinoceros. It’s also known as the 6th highest mountain in South East Asia.
In 1883 Mount Krakatau in Sunda Strait, between Java and Sumatra, erupted and some 36,000 West Javans died from the resulting tidal wave. The sound of the explosion was reportedly heard from as far away as Turkey and Japan. For almost a century following that eruption, Krakatau was quiet until the late 1970s, when it erupted twice. Mount Krakatau disappeared beneath the sea after the eruption, leaving a smaller but very active volcanic island, Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau)
Mountain Bromo (2200 m) located in Tengger Caldera is one of the most popular tourist attractions in East Java. It is an active volcano standing 2329 meters above sea level and is part of the Tengger massif. Surrounding it are sand and lush vegetations; every few years cinder and ash are poured forth in eruptions to carpet the countryside with nutrient-rich deposit sand.
Mount Agung (3142 m) in Bali is the highest stratovolcano on the island and tenth highest mountain in South East Asia that Balinese believe as a replica of Mount Meru the central axis of the universe. The most important temple on Bali, Pura Besakih is located high on the slopes of Gunung Agung.
Hike the Mount Rinjani (3726 m) in Lombok that offers great beauty and the enormous crater filled with bright emerald green water. It is an active volcano in Indonesia that stands as the third highest in Indonesia and 7th highest in South East Asia. The eruptions of 1994, 1995, and 1996 have formed a small cone, Gunung Baru (New Mountain) approximately 2300m above sea level and been renamed Mount Barujari (New Finger).
The highest mountain with 5030 meters above sea level is Puncak Jaya (Mountain of Victorious) located in province of Papua, the island of New Guinea. It is the only snowy area in Indonesia, the second highest in South East Asia, the highest island of New Guinea, the highest in Oceania, the highest on Australia – New Guinea Continent, the highest point between Himalayas and Andes, and the highest island peak in the world.
-
Rivers
Because of tropical climate, Indonesia’s population lives near water, either on the coast or by rivers and lakes. Most of rivers even produce hydroelectricity for the industries.
In Sumatra, you can find at least 4 rivers such Aceh River, Asahan River, Musi River and Batang Hari River. The Asahan River formerly linked trade between the Batak people who live inland and the Malay people who live along the coast. It now has a dam that produces hydroelectricity for the industries of North Sumatra.
In Java, Mas River (Golden River) is a distributary of the Brantas River that flowing towards strait of Madura and forms part of the border between Sidoarjo and Gresik regencies.
In Central Kalimantan you can find Kahayan River where Dayaks are the main inhabitants who practice slash and burn rice cultivation. West Kalimantan has Kapuas River with approximately 1143 km long as the longest river in Indonesia. East Kalimantan has Mahakam River that flows 980 km from district of Long Apari to its mouth at Makassar Strait. Whereas in South Kalimantan has Barito River with 890 km long that flow to Java Sea. Most of the rivers originate in the island’s central massif (mountain mass) and meander through extensive swamps as they approach the coast.
In Papua, more than 30 rivers drain to the north and south from the Maoke Mountains. You can find Maro River that has a complex system of swamps that are important for birds and reptiles, Baliem River and Van Daalen River. One of the most significant is the 400-km Baliem River, which rises in the Jayawijaya Mountains and drains into the Arafura Sea. Many tribal groups, including the Dani and the Asmat, live along the river and its tributaries.
-
Forests
Indonesia possesses many forests, houses and the most extensive rainforest cover in all of Asia. Just below the equator on the island of Kalimantan, a tropical rain forest is rising out of a logged, charred wasteland. UNESCO even listed the tropical rainforest Sumatra as a world heritage.
Today Indonesia’s forests are some of the most threatened on the planet. They are being degraded and destroyed by logging, mining operations, large-scale agricultural plantations, and subsistence activities like shifting agriculture.
Indonesia’s forests face a discouragingly grim future. Nevertheless, come participate in having the unique “Leave No Trace experience”. Let’s experience tremendous eco-tourism with focus on the nature to prevent forest from loss of widespread, soil erosion, and pollution of chlorine bleach used in pulp bleaching. See the dawn mists cling to the leaves of ginger and a white-bellied sea eagle soars silently above. By doing forest clearing and mangrove development, you will help to save populations of several conspicuous species including the endangered Orangutan, Extinct Bali and Javan Tigers, and also the Javan and Sumatran Rhinos that are on the brink of extinction.
-
Flora and Fauna
Indonesia’s 17,000 islands form an archipelago that spans two bio-geographic realms, the Indomalayan and Australasian, and support tremendous diversity and endemism of species. The nation is home to at least 29,375 species of vascular plants that are 59.6 % endemic and 3,305 species of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles that are 31.1 % are endemic and 9.9 % are threatened.Indonesia Flora consists of many unique varieties of tropical plants that reflect an intermingling of Asian, Australian and native species. Having the second longest shoreline in the world, Indonesia also has many regions of swamps and coastal vegetation which when we combined will give rise to a huge vegetation biodiversity. 2500 different kinds of orchids, 6000 traditional medical plants, 122 species of bamboo, 350 species of rattan and 400 species of ebony, teakwood and sandalwood. One exceptional species known as Rafflesia Arnoldi, a parasitic plant that has a large flower, does not produce leaves and grow on a certain rain forest floor.
The bridge between Asia and Australia formed by the archipelago is reflected in the biodiversity of animal life. Fauna in Indonesia divides into two ecological regions; western part is more influenced by Asian fauna, and the east part is more influenced by Australasian. The orangutan is found in Sumatra and Kalimantan but not in Java. The siamang, elephant and tapir are found in Sumatra. The proboscis monkey is found in Kalimantan. The wild ox is found in Java and Kalimantan. The bandicoot and marsupial is found in Timor.
You can visit Wildlife Safari to get an opportunity exploring the wildlife of Indonesia Fauna such deer, civets, wild ox, anoa or dwarf buffalo and even rare Flora of Indonesia. It will set your heart pumping while riding the jeep safari to nature walks for wildlife photography.
-
National Parks
Indonesia surely is a place you have to visit for the Wildlife Sanctuary exploration and get upfront with the wild to add new dimensions to your adventure where it has 249 Strict Nature Reserves, 127 Nature Recreation Parks, 79 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 50 National Parks, 21 Grand Forest Parks and 14 Games Hunting Parks. Of the National Parks, 6 are World Heritage Sites and 3 are Wetlands of International Importance under Ramsar Convention.
When touring Indonesia’s western island of Sumatra, start from Gunung Leuser National Park that contains the Bohorok Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre. It is Estimated 5,000 wild orangutans live in the park were you can find excellent and inexpensive accommodations near the park along the banks of the Bohorok River. Experience wild monkeys stealing fruit from the verandas at your losmen (guest houses) and see a guide lead you on a short walk to a feeding site for the orangutans.
Java Island itself has 5 provinces that contain 13 National Parks. In West Java, you can visit Bogor Botanical Gardens, Cibodas Mountain Garden, Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park, Gunung Halimun National Park, Kepulauan Seribu National Park and Ujung Kulon National Park which to be home for One-horned Rhinoceros. Central Java has Karimun Jawa National Park, Gunung Merbabu National Park and Gunung Merapi National Park. Whereas East Java has Alas Purwo National Park, Baluran National Park, Bromo Tengger National Park and Meru Betiri National Park.
In Kalimantan, at least 8 National Parks found as Betung Kerihun National Park, Bukit Baka ukit Raya National Park, Danau Sentarum National Park, Gunung Palung National Park, Kayan Mentarang National Park, Kutai National Park, Sebangau National Park and Tanjung Putting National Park.
Sulawesi has Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park, Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park, Bunaken National Park, Lore Lindu National Park, rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park, Taka Bone Rate National Park, Kepulauan Togean National Park, and Kepulauan Wakatobi National Park.