Bunaken National Park
Encyclopedia
The Bunaken National Park is a marine park
in the north of Sulawesi
island, Indonesia
. The park is located near the centre of the Coral Triangle
, providing habitat to 390 species of coral as well as many fish, mollusc, reptile and marine mammal species. The Park is representative of Indonesian tropical water ecosystems, consisting of seagrass plain, coral reef, and coastal ecosystems.
It was established as a national park in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's growing system of marine parks. It covers a total area of 890.65 km², 97% of which is marine habitat. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. The southern part of the Park covers part of the Tanjung Kelapa coast.
that characterizes the existing topography. Manado Tua is an inactive volcano formed in a classical cone shape and rising over 600 m above sea level, the highest elevation in the park. Bunaken
Island also has volcanic origins with a significant amount of uplifted fossil coral. Nain Island is also a dome-shaped island, 139m in height. Mantehage Island is relatively flat and seems to be sinking into the sea. The island has extensive mangrove forest flats, partially separated by saltwater channels. Siladen is a low-lying coral sand island with no significant topography. Arakan-Wawontulap and Molas-Wori on the mainland of North Sulawesi are relatively flat areas at the base of volcanic hills. The absence of a continental shelf
allows the coastal area of the park to drop directly down the continental slope. The sea depth between the islands of the park is 200 to 1,840 metres.
ecosystem
covers most of Bunaken National Park, dominated by fringing reef
and barrier reef
corals. There are about 390 species of coral recorded in the waters of the Park. A distinct feature is a 25-50 metre vertical coral wall which is inhabited by 13 coral genus. The seaweed
s that can be found here include Caulerpa
, Halimeda
, and Padina
species, while the dominant seagrass
es, in particular in the islands of Montehage and Nain, are Thalassia
hemprichii, Enhallus acoroides, and Thalassodendron ciliatum. The park is also abundant in different species of fish, marine mammals and reptiles, birds, molluscs and mangrove species.
About 90 species of fish live in the waters of the park, among them being the Emperor Angelfish
, Almaco Jack
, Spotted Seahorse, Bluestripe Snapper
, Pinkish Basslet
and Two-lined monocle bream
. The species of mollusc include the Giant Clam
, Horned Helmet Shells
, Chambered Nautilus
, and ascidians.
It is claimed that this park has seven times more genera of coral
than Hawaii
, and more than 70% of all the known fish species of the Indo-Western Pacific.
On land, the islands are rich in species of palm
, sago
, woka, silar and coconut
. Among the animal species that live on the land and the beaches are Celebes Crested Macaque
, Timor Deer, and Sulawesi Bear Cuscus
. The mangrove
forest of the Park contains, among others Rhizophora
and Sonneratia
species. This forest is also rich in species of crab
, lobster
, mollusc, and sea birds such as gulls, herons, sea doves, and storks.
The area is densely populated, with 22 villages inside the park comprising about 35,000 people. Most locals work as fishermen or farmers cultivating coconut, sweet potato
, banana or seaweed for export, while a small number are employed in tourism as dive guides, boat operators and cottage staff. Tourism is strongly developed, with accommodation ranging from backpacker cottages to 5 star resorts. Between 2003 and 2006 the number of visitors ranged from 32,000 to 39,000 of which 8-10,000 were international visitors.
for including the park on the World Heritage List. Despite its national park status and significant funding, the park has suffered a slow, continuous degradation due to a number of threats including coral mining, anchor damage, blast fishing
, cyanide fishing
, diving, and trash. The World Wildlife Fund provides conservation support in the National Park as part of the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Eco-region Action Plan. This includes participatory enforcement and patrol, which resulted in significant reduction of blast fishing.
Marine park
A marine park is a park consisting of an area of sea sometimes protected for recreational use, but more often set aside to preserve a specific habitat and ensure the ecosystem is sustained for the organisms that exist there...
in the north of Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
island, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The park is located near the centre of the Coral Triangle
Coral Triangle
The Coral Triangle is a geographical term so named as it refers to a roughly triangular area of the tropical marine waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste that contain at least 500 species of reef-building corals in each ecoregion...
, providing habitat to 390 species of coral as well as many fish, mollusc, reptile and marine mammal species. The Park is representative of Indonesian tropical water ecosystems, consisting of seagrass plain, coral reef, and coastal ecosystems.
It was established as a national park in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's growing system of marine parks. It covers a total area of 890.65 km², 97% of which is marine habitat. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. The southern part of the Park covers part of the Tanjung Kelapa coast.
Geology
North Sulawesi is considered to be a 'young' formation, of 5-24 million years of age. The region has undergone explosive volcanism 1.5-5 million years ago, which resulted in the volcanic tuffTuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
that characterizes the existing topography. Manado Tua is an inactive volcano formed in a classical cone shape and rising over 600 m above sea level, the highest elevation in the park. Bunaken
Bunaken
Bunaken is an island of 8 km², part of the Bunaken National Marine Park. Bunaken is located at the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs administratively to the municipality of Manado...
Island also has volcanic origins with a significant amount of uplifted fossil coral. Nain Island is also a dome-shaped island, 139m in height. Mantehage Island is relatively flat and seems to be sinking into the sea. The island has extensive mangrove forest flats, partially separated by saltwater channels. Siladen is a low-lying coral sand island with no significant topography. Arakan-Wawontulap and Molas-Wori on the mainland of North Sulawesi are relatively flat areas at the base of volcanic hills. The absence of a continental shelf
Continental shelf
The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain. Much of the shelf was exposed during glacial periods, but is now submerged under relatively shallow seas and gulfs, and was similarly submerged during other interglacial periods. The continental margin,...
allows the coastal area of the park to drop directly down the continental slope. The sea depth between the islands of the park is 200 to 1,840 metres.
Flora and fauna
A very rich coralCoral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
covers most of Bunaken National Park, dominated by fringing reef
Fringing reef
A fringing reef is one of the three main types of coral reefs recognized by most coral reef scientists. It is distinguished from the other two main types in that it has either an entirely shallow backreef zone or none at all...
and barrier reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
corals. There are about 390 species of coral recorded in the waters of the Park. A distinct feature is a 25-50 metre vertical coral wall which is inhabited by 13 coral genus. The seaweed
Seaweed
Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...
s that can be found here include Caulerpa
Caulerpa
Caulerpa is a genus of seaweeds in the family Caulerpaceae . They are unusual because they consist of only one cell with many nuclei, making them among the biggest single cells in the world...
, Halimeda
Halimeda
Halimeda is a genus of green macroalgae. The algal body is composed of calcified green segments. Calcium carbonate is deposited in its tissues, making it inedible to most herbivores....
, and Padina
Padina pavonica
Padina pavonica, commonly known as Peacocks tail, is a brown alga found in Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea....
species, while the dominant seagrass
Seagrass
Seagrasses are flowering plants from one of four plant families , all in the order Alismatales , which grow in marine, fully saline environments.-Ecology:...
es, in particular in the islands of Montehage and Nain, are Thalassia
Thalassia (genus)
Thalassia is a marine seagrass genus comprising 2 species.-Species:T. testudinum Banks ex König is the type specimen. It is native to the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean with specimens found as far east as Bermuda. It has a fossil record in the Gulf to the Middle Eocene.T. hemprichii ...
hemprichii, Enhallus acoroides, and Thalassodendron ciliatum. The park is also abundant in different species of fish, marine mammals and reptiles, birds, molluscs and mangrove species.
About 90 species of fish live in the waters of the park, among them being the Emperor Angelfish
Emperor angelfish
The emperor angelfish, Pomacanthus imperator, is a species of marine angelfish. It is a reef-associated fish, native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from the Red Sea to Hawaii and the Austral Islands....
, Almaco Jack
Almaco jack
Almaco jack is a game fish of the family Carangidae; they are in the same family as yellowtail and amberjack. They feed, both day and night, on other, smaller, fish, such as baitfish and small squid. The flesh is thick and dense like tuna and can easily pass for white albacore if prepared as sushi...
, Spotted Seahorse, Bluestripe Snapper
Bluestripe snapper
The bluestripe snapper, Lutjanus kasmira, is a common species of marine fish of the snapper family Lutjanidae...
, Pinkish Basslet
Pseudanthias hypselosoma
Pseudanthias hypselosoma is a Pseudanthias fish from the Indo-Pacific Ocean. It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade. It grows to a size of 19cm in length....
and Two-lined monocle bream
Two-lined monocle bream
The two-lined monocle bream, Scolopsis bilineata, is a bream or spinecheek of the family Nemipteridae found across the Indo West Pacific oceans. It is also known as the twolined spinecheek....
. The species of mollusc include the Giant Clam
Giant clam
The giant clam, Tridacna gigas , is the largest living bivalve mollusc. T. gigas is one of the most endangered clam species. It was mentioned as early as 1825 in scientific reports...
, Horned Helmet Shells
Cassis cornuta
Cassis cornuta is a species of very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Cassidae, the helmet shells and their allies.-Distribution:...
, Chambered Nautilus
Chambered Nautilus
The Chambered Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius, is the best-known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away reveals a lining of lustrous nacre and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral, although it is not a golden spiral. The shell exhibits countershading, being light on the bottom and dark...
, and ascidians.
It is claimed that this park has seven times more genera of coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
than Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, and more than 70% of all the known fish species of the Indo-Western Pacific.
On land, the islands are rich in species of palm
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
, sago
Sago
Sago is a starch extracted in the spongy center or pith, of various tropical palm stems, Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak and sagu. A type of flour, called sago flour, is made from sago. The largest supply...
, woka, silar and coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
. Among the animal species that live on the land and the beaches are Celebes Crested Macaque
Celebes Crested Macaque
The Celebes crested macaque , also known as the crested black macaque, Sulawesi crested macaque, or the black ape, is an Old World monkey that lives in the northeast of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi as well as on smaller neighboring islands.-Description:Its skin and hairless face is, with the...
, Timor Deer, and Sulawesi Bear Cuscus
Sulawesi Bear Cuscus
The Sulawesi Bear Cuscus or Sulawesi Bear Phalanger is a species of marsupial in the family Phalangeridae. It is endemic to Sulawesi and nearby islands in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests....
. The mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
forest of the Park contains, among others Rhizophora
Rhizophora
Rhizophora is a genus of tropical mangrove trees, sometimes collectively called true mangroves. The most notable species is the Red Mangrove but some other species and a few natural hybrids are known. Rhizophora species generally live in intertidal zones which are indundated daily by the ocean...
and Sonneratia
Sonneratia
Sonneratia is a genus of plants in the family Lythraceae. Formerly the Sonneratia were placed in a family called Sonneratiaceae which included both the Sonneratia and the Duabanga, but these two are now placed in their own monotypic subfamilies of the family Lythraceae...
species. This forest is also rich in species of crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
, lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
, mollusc, and sea birds such as gulls, herons, sea doves, and storks.
Human habitation and tourism
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
, banana or seaweed for export, while a small number are employed in tourism as dive guides, boat operators and cottage staff. Tourism is strongly developed, with accommodation ranging from backpacker cottages to 5 star resorts. Between 2003 and 2006 the number of visitors ranged from 32,000 to 39,000 of which 8-10,000 were international visitors.
Conservation and threats
Bunaken National Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's marine parks. In 2005 Indonesia submitted an application to UNESCOUNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
for including the park on the World Heritage List. Despite its national park status and significant funding, the park has suffered a slow, continuous degradation due to a number of threats including coral mining, anchor damage, blast fishing
Blast fishing
Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is the practice of using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection. This often illegal practice can be extremely destructive to the surrounding ecosystem, as the explosion often destroys the underlying habitat that supports the fish...
, cyanide fishing
Cyanide fishing
Cyanide fishing is a method of collecting live fish mainly for use in aquariums, which involves spraying a sodium cyanide mixture into the desired fish's habitat in order to stun the fish...
, diving, and trash. The World Wildlife Fund provides conservation support in the National Park as part of the Sulu Sulawesi Marine Eco-region Action Plan. This includes participatory enforcement and patrol, which resulted in significant reduction of blast fishing.
External links
- Bunaken National Park - Management Advisory Board
- Reef Rehabilitation Project on Bunaken by SeacologySeacologySeacology is a nonprofit 501 charitable organization headquartered in Berkeley, California that focuses on preserving island ecosystems and cultures around the globe. Founded in 1991, it began with the work of ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox, who researched tropical plants and their medicinal value in...