Ujung Kulon National Park (Indonesian: Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon) is a national park located at the westernmost part of Java. It is in the Sumur District of Pandeglang Regency, which is part of Banten province in Indonesia. The park once included the volcanic islands of Krakatoa in Lampung province. However, current maps show the Krakatoa islands as a separate protected area called the Pulau Anak Krakatau Marine Nature Reserve.

The area was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforests in Java. It is also home to the Javan rhino, which is one of the most endangered rhino species. The park was designated as a UNESCO site before it became a national park.

The park includes the entire Ujung Kulon peninsula, as well as nearby islands and the Gunung Honje mountain range. The name "Ujung Kulon" means "Western End" or "Point West" in the Banten Sundanese language.

Geography

Ujung Kulon National Park has a total area of 1,056.95 square kilometers (408.09 square miles), with 443.37 square kilometers (171.19 square miles) covered by water. Most of the park's land area is located on the mainland, specifically on the Ujung Kulon Peninsula. The highest point in the peninsula is Mt. Payung, which reaches an elevation of 480 meters (1,570 feet) in the southwest. In the eastern part of the park, the Honje mountain range includes several smaller mountains, with the tallest peak being Mt. Honje at 620 meters (2,030 feet).

History

The Ujung Kulon area was first brought to the attention of the Western world by a Dutch-German botanist named Franz W. Junghuhn in 1846 during one of his trips. After this, scientists began to study the peninsula because of its rich variety of living things. A few years later, Junghuhn’s visit was written about in a scientific journal. However, there are few written records about Ujung Kulon before the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883.

The eruption of Mount Krakatoa and the large tsunami that followed, which was reported to be 15 meters high, destroyed many settlements in the area. These settlements were never fully rebuilt. The eruption also damaged much of the local plants and animals, covering the region with an average layer of volcanic ash about 30 cm (12 inches) thick. Despite this, the area recovered quickly, becoming a home for many of Java’s plants, animals, and lowland forests.

Conservation work for the area began in the early 1900s during the time of the Dutch East Indies. In 1921, Pulau Panaitan was first named a nature reserve (Suaka Alam). Later, in 1937, it was joined with Pulau Peucang to form a wildlife sanctuary (Suaka Margasatwa). After Indonesia became independent, the area was restored as a nature reserve, including the peninsula. In 1967, part of the Gunung Honje Protection Forest was added to the reserve, and the rest was added in 1979. Finally, the area was declared a national park in 1992. Work to rebuild the park’s borders near Mount Honje was completed in 2004.

Ujung Kulon was Indonesia’s first proposed national park. It was also chosen as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 because it contains the largest remaining lowland rainforest in Java. By 2005, the park was named an ASEAN Heritage Park.

Some villages that survived in the area now have cultural recognition as Kampung Wisata (which means “Recreational Village” in Indonesian). Future plans include turning Cimenteng, a local village, into an ecovillage. Additionally, Ujungjaya, the westernmost village, is used as a nearby tourist spot for the national park.

Wildlife

Ujung Kulon is one of three national parks in Java that has a lowland rainforest ecosystem, along with Baluran and Alas Purwo National Park. It shares a similar ecosystem with these parks, but it is much wetter because of its climate type, while the other parks are located in East Java.

So far, 175 species have been found in the park, with 57 of them protected. These include mangroves, such as Sonneratia alba, Excoecaria agallocha, Rhizophora apiculata, and Aegiceras corniculatum. Coastal plants like Nypa fruticans, Calophyllum inophyllum, Terminalia catappa, and Hibiscus tiliaceus are also present. Other plants include figs like Ficus benjamina, Ficus deltoidea, Ficus racemosa, and Ficus septica, as well as lowland vegetation such as Oroxylum indicum, Melastoma malabathricum, Sterculia foetida, and Durio zibethinus. The park is home to three rare protected plants: Heritiera percoriacea, Vatica bantamensis, and Intsia bijuga. Rafflesia patma is also found there.

One plant, the Arenga palm (Arenga obtusifolia), is causing problems for the rhino conservation program. This palm grows quickly and takes up space, blocking sunlight needed by plants that rhinos eat. Local officials say efforts to remove the palm are ongoing.

Ujung Kulon National Park is the last place where the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros lives. The last Javan rhino in Vietnam died in Cát Tiên National Park in 2010, where only 10 or fewer remained. In the 1980s, about 40–60 rhinos lived in Ujung Kulon. Between 2001 and 2010, 14 rhino births were recorded using cameras and video traps. In 2011, 35 rhinos were identified, including 22 males and 13 females. Of these, 7 were old, 18 were adults, 5 were young, and 5 were infants. By 2013, 8 calves were born, 3 of which were female, and 50 teenagers and adults were identified, 20 of which were female. These numbers are accurate because each rhino has unique skin patterns around the eyes. Current estimates suggest there are about 82 rhinos in the park.

By 2013, the area where rhinos and banteng (a type of wild cattle) eat, which is covered by Eupatorium odoratum plants, had decreased from 10 locations covering 158 hectares (390 acres) to five locations covering 20 hectares (49 acres). This has made it harder for rhinos and banteng to find enough food.

About 35 mammal species that are only found in Java live in the park, including 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 bird species in the park.

Javan tigers lived in the park until the mid-1960s.