Alas Purwo National Park

Infobox_protected_area | name = Alas Purwo National Park
iucn_category = II


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location = East Java, Indonesia
nearest_city = Banyuwangi
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area = 434.20 km²
established = 1993
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Alas Purwo National Park is situated on Blambangan Peninsula in Banyuwangi regency, at the southeastern tip of East Java. The park's name means "first forest", in accordance with a Javanese legend that says the earth first emerged from the ocean here. With an area of 434 km², the park is made up of mangroves, savanna, lowland monsoon forests and coral-fringed beaches. An internationally renowned surf break peels along the edge of the park at Plengkung on Grajagan Bay. Mount Linggamanis (322m) is also located in this national park. Between the months of April and September, thousands of surfers from all over the world visit G-Land, which is about half a day's travel from Bali.

Flora

There are some endangered flora, which are protected in this national park, such as: Terminalia catappa, Calophyllum inophyllum, Sterculia foetida, Barringtonia asiatica and Manilkara kauki.

Fauna

It is home to some of Java’s endangered species, such as the Javanese bull (Bos javanicus).

There is no valid information of bull population in the park. In the middle of April 2004, there were only 57 bulls found in the savanna of Sadengan, while the population the previous year was estimated to be 80 to 100. [Melihat Banteng di Ujung Timur Pulau Jawa. KOMPAS, Sunday, May 30, 2004. Retrieved on August 27, 2007] Groups of bulls usually come to Sadengan in the morning and afternoon in search of plants.

The biggest enemy of the bull is humans. Poachers set traps outside the park during the dry season to snare bulls wandering outside the park in search of water. The bulls are slaughtered and the meat sold.

Other threatened animal species protected in Alas Purwo include the dhole ("Cuon alpinus"), silvered leaf monkey ("Presbytis cristata"), Green Peafowl ("Pavo muticus"), junglefowl ("Gallus sp."), Olive Ridley, ("Lepidochelys olivacea"), Hawksbill turtle ("Eretmochelys imbricata") and Green turtle ("Chelonia mydas").

References

ee also

* List of national parks of Indonesia
* Geography of Indonesia

External links

* (Indonesian) [http://www.dephut.go.id/informasi/tamnas/tn13alas.html Alas Purwo National Park] from Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indonesia
* (English) [http://www.dephut.go.id/INFORMASI/TN%20INDO-ENGLISH/tn_alaspurwo.htm Alas Purwo National Park] from Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indonesia
* [http://www.insideindonesia.org/edit80/p11-12mahony.html The magic of Alas Purwo National Park] from Inside Indonesia Oct-Dec 2004