Ujung Kulon National Park (Indonesian: Taman Nasional Ujung Kulon) is a national park located at the westernmost tip of Java. It is found in 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, but current maps show the Krakatoa island group 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 and is home to the Javan rhino, which is one of the most endangered species. This designation occurred before the park was officially established as a national park.

The park includes the entire Ujung Kulon peninsula, along with 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 covers an area of 1,056.95 square kilometers (408.09 square miles). Of this, 443.37 square kilometers (171.19 square miles) is underwater. Most of the park's land is on the mainland, which is called the Ujung Kulon Peninsula. The highest point on the peninsula is Mt. Payung, located in the southwest, with an elevation of 480 meters (1,570 feet). The eastern part of the park includes the Honje mountain range, which has several smaller mountains. The tallest peak in this range is Mt. Honje, standing at 620 meters (2,030 feet).

History

The Ujung Kulon area was first shared with people from the West by a Dutch-German botanist named Franz W. Junghuhn in 1846 during one of his trips. After this, scientists became interested in the peninsula’s rich variety of plants and animals. A few years later, details about Junghuhn’s visit were published in a scientific journal. However, few written records about Ujung Kulon exist before the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883.

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

Conservation efforts for the area began in the early 1900s during the Dutch East Indies colonial period. In 1921, Pulau Panaitan was first set aside as a nature reserve called Suaka Alam. Later, in 1937, it was joined with Pulau Peucang to form a wildlife sanctuary called Suaka Margasatwa. After Indonesia gained independence, the area was restored as a nature reserve along with the peninsula. In 1967, the southern part of Gunung Honje Protection Forest was added to the reserve, and the northern part was added in 1979. Finally, the area was declared a national park in 1992. Border changes related to Mount Honje were completed in 2004.

This area was Indonesia’s first national park proposed and later became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 because it contains the largest remaining lowland rainforest in Java. By 2005, the park was also recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park.

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

Wildlife

Ujung Kulon is one of three national parks in Java that contains 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 due to its climate type. Baluran and Alas Purwo are located in East Java instead.

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 such as Ficus benjamina, Ficus deltoidea, Ficus racemosa, and Ficus septica, as well as lowland vegetation like Oroxylum indicum, Melastoma malabathricum, Sterculia foetida, and Durio zibethinus. Three rare protected plants in the park are Heritiera percoriacea, Vatica bantamensis, and Intsia bijuga. Another notable species is Rafflesia patma.

A specific plant, the Arenga palm (Arenga obtusifolia), has become a problem for rhino conservation. This plant grows quickly, taking up space and blocking sunlight, which reduces the food available for rhinos. Local officials have stated that efforts to remove this plant are ongoing.

Ujung Kulon National Park is the last known home for the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros after the last individual in Vietnam’s Cát Tiên National Park died. In the 1980s, the population in Ujung Kulon was estimated at 40–60. Between 2001 and 2010, 14 rhino births were recorded using camera 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 identified, with 3 females and 50 teenagers and adults, including 20 females. These numbers were confirmed using 120 cameras with motion sensors, as each rhino has unique skin patterns around its eyes. Current estimates suggest there are about 82 rhinos in the park.

By 2013, the area covered by Eupatorium odoratum vegetation, a key food source for rhinos, had decreased from 10 locations covering 158 hectares (390 acres) to five locations covering 20 hectares (49 acres). This has increased competition for food between rhinos and the local banteng population.

Approximately 35 mammal species found only 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. The park is also home to 197 bird species.

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