Jaco Island (, , Fataluku: or ) is an uninhabited island in

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, a country occupying the eastern end of the island of

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

in the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

in Southeast Asia. It lies off the eastern tip with Cape Cutcha of the island of

(Aldeia Pitileti, Suco Tutuala, administrative post Tutuala,

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Lautém).

Overview

Jaco is made of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

formed from coral. Limestone cliffs and coral reefs surround the densely forested island, which is part of the Nino Konis Santana National Park. Jaco Island lies just off the eastern end of the island of Timor, part of the Tutuala subdistrict in

Lautém District Lautém ( Tetum: Lautein) is a toponym for a place eastmost in East Timor. It may refer to, from small to large: * Lautém (city) * Lautém Administrative Post * Lautém Municipality Lautém (, ) is one of the municipalities (formerly di ...

, and is separated from the mainland in front of Valu Beach by a channel or strait (known as Jaco Strait) navigable by small vessels. 2017-02-16 Jaco 3

Jaco is regarded as sacred by the local population because the beach and the channel are sometimes said to be the points where

Timor Sea The Timor Sea (, , or ) is a relatively shallow sea in the Indian Ocean bounded to the north by the island of Timor with Timor-Leste to the north, Indonesia to the northwest, Arafura Sea to the east, and to the south by Australia. The Sunda Tr ...

(''Tasi Mane'', the men's sea) meets the boundary between the

Banda Sea The Banda Sea (, , ) is one of four seas that surround the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, connected to the Pacific Ocean, but surrounded by hundreds of islands, including Timor, as well as the Halmahera Sea, Halmahera and Ceram Seas. It is about ...

(''Tasi Feto'', the women's sea) including Wetar Strait to the north and

to the south. According to the standard work ''Limits of Oceans and Seas'', 3rd edition (1953), published by the

International Hydrographic Organization The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) (French: ''Organisation Hydrographique Internationale'') is an intergovernmental organization representing hydrography. the IHO comprised 102 member states. A principal aim of the IHO is to ...

(IHO), however, the only point where Timor meets those two seas is Tanjong Sewirawa (now known as Cape Cutcha), the eastern extremity of the Timorese mainland. Cape Cutcha is a short distance northwest of the island, and north of the beach. In principle, entering the island, fishing and swimming were therefore forbidden (

Tara Bandu Tara may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tara'' (1992 film), an Indian film directed by Bijaya Jena * ''Tara'' (2001 film), an American film, also known as ''Hood Rat'', directed by Leslie Small * ''Tara'' (2010 film), a ...

). Today, however, fishermen drive tourists from the opposite Valu Beach to the sandy beaches of Jaco for snorkelling and diving. Overnight stays on the island are still not allowed. In February and March, mechi, large feasts of Meci worms (Eunice viridis) are harvested from the sea on the north coast. At least three places on the island have the remains of ancient fortifications built by the local population to protect settlements: Lai Vai, Pitilete and Honolati. In Portuguese, such fortifications are called ''tranqueira'' (English: cover, entrenchment). The only modern structure on the island was a lighthouse from the Indonesian occupation period, a white scaffold tower about 35 m high. It was shut down in 2010 and later dismantled. The island is low-lying, with an area of and a maximum elevation of about . It is covered mainly by

tropical dry forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

, fringed by strand vegetation and white sandy beaches. There are some low cliffs on the southern coast. The East Timorese warship NRTL ''Jaco'' is named after the island.

Climate

The average annual temperature is roughly . On average the island receives of rain and the north and east coast of the small island is somewhat drier. Rain 2000 JACO (TUTUALA).jpg, Annual rainfall (2000) Temperature 2000 JACO, TUTUALA.jpg, annual average temperature (2000)

Wildlife

Jaco is listed by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. The island supports populations of bar-necked cuckoo-doves, black cuckoo-doves, pink-headed imperial pigeons, streak-breasted honeyeaters, fawn-breasted whistlers, blue-cheeked flowerpeckers, flame-breasted sunbirds and Timor sparrows. Rare birds such as the great cuckoo dove ( ''Macropygia magna'' ) and the orpheus fathead ( ''Pachycephala orpheus'' ) live on the island, which is around 8 km² in size and up to 100 meters high. Javan rusa ( ''Rusa timorensis'' ) are also found here which have become accustomed to drinking salt water due to the island's lack of fresh water. In 2019, about 80 deer were counted on the island. This year, however, as late rains in December withered the greenery, several deer died. 30 of them swam the 600 metres to the shore of Timor to look for food. The beaches in the southeast are used by sea turtles to lay their eggs. Reptiles living on the island include Smooth night skinks and Forest skinks. In the surrounding waters, you can observe whales and dolphins as well as numerous species of fish.

Gallery

File:Jaco_3.jpg, Jaco beach with Cape Cutcha in the background in the dry season ... File:Coast_of_Lene_Hara_from_Jaco_Island.jpg, … and during the rainy season File:Ile_Kére_Kére05.jpg, View of Jaco from Ile Kére Kére File:2017-02-16_Jaco_2.jpg, The waterway between Jaco and Timor File:Near_Jaco.jpg, Sea life near Jaco File:2017-02-16_Jaco_4.jpg, Coast of Jaco off the sandy beaches File:Indonesian-era_(pre-1999)_security_facility_on_east_side_of_Jaco_Island,_Lautem,_Timor-Leste_(2003).jpg, Jaco Island Lighthouse

References

External links