Muara Angke

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangrove trees cannot withsta ...

and wildlife sanctuary is a protected nature conservation area at Kapuk Muara,

Penjaringan Penjaringan is a district of North Jakarta Administrative City, Indonesia. It is the westernmost district of North Jakarta. Muara Angke Port and the mouth of Sunda Kelapa Port are located within Penjaringan. Penjaringan contains the remnants of ...

along the north coast of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary is located at the end of

Muara Karang Muara Karang is a residential complex in Pluit, North Jakarta. Most of the inhabitants are Chinese Indonesians, who also run many Hokkien restaurants. In recent times, the settlement has attracted Chinese immigrants of many other origins. The area ...

Raya street, near Mediterranean Gallery shopping complex.

History

Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary was protected since the colonial rule of the Dutch Indies on June 17, 1939, covering an area of 15.04 ha. During the 1960s, the conservation area was expanded to 1,344.62 hectares. Later, because of human pressure and environmental destruction within and around the national park, some of the mangrove forest area were destroyed. On February 28, 1988, the area was declared a Nature Reserve (25.4 ha). In November 1998, the status of this area changed to Wildlife Sanctuary or ''Suaka Margasatwa'' (25.02 ha). Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary is listed as one of the important bird sanctuary in Java, protecting bird species such as

milky stork The milky stork (''Mycteria cinerea'') is a stork species inhabiting predominantly mangroves in Southeast Asia. It is native to Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is currently included in the genus ''Mycteria'', is around tall, with a ...

and the endemic

Sunda coucal The Sunda coucal (''Centropus nigrorufus''), also known as the Javanese lathe, is a cuckoo species in the family Cuculidae that is endemic to Java, Indonesia. It inhabits mangroves, freshwater swamp forests and grasslands near brackish water. It ...

. Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary is currently facing issues such as mangrove cutting, water pollution (especially in Angke River), and settlements development at the edge of the area.MacKinnon et al. 1982

Vegetation

There are about 30 species of plants recorded and 11 of them are true mangrove species in the mangrove forest. The true mangrove species include the bakau (''

Rhizophora mucronata ''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium si ...

'', '' R. apiculata''), grey mangroves ( ''

Avicennia ''Avicennia'' is a genus of flowering plants currently placed in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. It contains mangrove trees, which occur in the intertidal zones of estuarine areas and are characterized by its "pencil roots", which ar ...

'' spp.), red mangrove-apple (''

Sonneratia caseolaris ''Sonneratia caseolaris'', commonly known as mangrove apple, or pagatpat is a species of plant in the family Lythraceae. The fruit is noted for its outward similarity to the persimmon fruit. This tree is a type of mangrove growing up to 20 m in ...

''), and blind-your-eye mangrove (''

Excoecaria agallocha ''Excoecaria agallocha'', a mangrove species, belongs to the genus ''Excoecaria'' of the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. The species has many common names, including blind-your-eye mangrove, blinding tree, buta buta tree, milky mangrove ...

''). Several types of mangrove associates can also be found in this area such as beach almond (''

Terminalia catappa ''Terminalia catappa'' is a large Tropics, tropical tree in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae, native to Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Madagascar and Seychelles. Common names in English include country almond, Indian almond, Malabar almond, ...

'') and nipa palm (''

Nypa fruticans ''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapted to the ...

''). In addition to the above species, there are also several types of trees planted for reforestation. For example tamarind (''

Tamarindus indica Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the f ...

''), bintaro (''

Cerbera manghas ''Cerbera manghas'' (formerly ''Cerbera tanghin''), commonly known as the sea mango, tangena or bintaro is a small evergreen coastal tree growing up to tall. It is native to coastal areas in Africa, Asia, Australasia, and the Pacific islands. It ...

''), earpod wattle (''

Acacia auriculiformis ''Acacia auriculiformis'', commonly known as ear-pod wattle, northern black wattle or Darwin black wattle, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae and is Native species, native to Maluku Islands, Maluku, New Guinea, the Northern ...

''), beach calophyllum (''

Calophyllum inophyllum ''Calophyllum inophyllum'' is a large evergreen plant, commonly called tamanu, oil-nut, mastwood, beach calophyllum or beautyleaf. It is native to the Old World Tropics, from Africa through Asia to Australia and Polynesia. Due to its importance a ...

''), large-leafed orange mangrove (''

Bruguiera gymnorhiza ''Bruguiera gymnorhiza'', the large-leafed orange mangrove or oriental mangrove,) is a mangrove tree that grows usually to high, but sometimes up to 35m, that belongs to the family Rhizophoraceae. It is found on the seaward side of mangrove swa ...

''), and sea hibiscus (''

Hibiscus tiliaceus ''Hibiscus tiliaceus'', commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New Zeal ...

'').

Fauna

The wildlife sanctuary is home to various species of birds and other animals that have been hard to find in other areas of Jakarta. Jakarta Green Monster recorded all 91 species of birds, namely 28 species of water birds and 63 species of forest birds, living in this region. About 17 species of them are protected bird species. Species of birds that often encountered include Little Cormorant (''

Microcarbo niger The little cormorant (''Microcarbo niger'') is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Slightly smaller than the Indian cormorant it lacks a peaked head and has a shorter beak. It is widely distributed across the Indian Subcontinent and ext ...

''), Javan Pond-heron (''

Ardeola speciosa The Javan pond heron (''Ardeola speciosa'') is a wading bird of the heron family, found in shallow fresh and salt-water wetlands in Southeast Asia. Its diet comprises insects, fish, and crabs. The Javan pond heron is typically 45 cm long wi ...

''), Egrets (''

Egretta ''Egretta'' is a genus of medium-sized herons, mostly breeding in warmer climates. Representatives of this genus are found in most of the world, and the little egret, as well as being widespread throughout much of the Old World, has now starte ...

'' spp.), White-breasted Waterhen (''

Amaurornis phoenicurus The white-breasted waterhen (''Amaurornis phoenicurus'') is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. They ...

''), Common Moorhen (''

Gallinula chloropus The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-vegetated marsh ...

''), Red-breasted Parakeet (''

Psittacula alexandri The red-breasted parakeet (''Psittacula alexandri'') is a parrot native to Southeast Asia. It is among the more widespread species of the genus and is the species which has the most geographical variations. It is easily identified by the large re ...

''), Sunda Yellow-vented Bulbul (''

Pycnonotus goiavier The yellow-vented bulbul (''Pycnonotus goiavier''), or eastern yellow-vented bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is a resident breeder in southeastern Asia from Indochina to the Philippines. It is found in a wide vari ...

''), Sunda Pied Fantail (''

Rhipidura javanica The Malaysian pied fantail (''Rhipidura javanica'') is a species of bird in the fantail family. It is locally referred to as ''murai gila'', literally "crazy thrush" in the Malay language.Jeyarajasingam, Allen and Pearson, Alan (2012) ''A Field G ...

''), and Golden-bellied Gerygone (''

Gerygone sulphurea The golden-bellied gerygone (''Gerygone sulphurea'') is a species of bird in the family Acanthizidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical ...

''). Some of them are distinctive birds of mangrove forests such as Mangrove Jungle-flycatcher (''

Cyornis rufigastra The mangrove blue flycatcher (''Cyornis rufigastra'') is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is native to Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropica ...

''). In addition, it is also home to Bar-winged Prinia ('' Prinia familiaris''). The sanctuary is also inhabited by several species of endemic birds, which exist only on the island of Java. For example Javan Plover ('' Anarhynchus javanicus'') and Javan Coucal ('' Centropus nigrorufus''), which is one of the most endangered species in the world, with limited distribution in a few places including this sanctuary. Another endangered bird that inhabits this area is Milky Stork (''

Mycteria cinerea The milky stork (''Mycteria cinerea'') is a stork species inhabiting predominantly mangroves in Southeast Asia. It is native to Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. It is currently included in the genus ''Mycteria'', is around tall, with a ...

''). In Java, this species of stork is known only to breed on Rambut Island located not far from Muara Angke in the Kepulauan Seribu group. In addition to the species of birds, there are also groups of long-tailed macaques (''

Macaca fascicularis The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis''), also known as the long-tailed macaque or cynomolgus macaque, is a Cercopithecinae, cercopithecine primate native to Southeast Asia. As a Synanthrope, synanthropic species, the crab-eating macaqu ...

''). They live in groups up to a dozen individuals consisting of several males and females. The main food of the macaques in the mangroves are the young leaves and fruits of Red Mangrove-apple (''

''), which gives them an important ecological role in the Muara Angke Wildlife Sanctuary, as they help spread the seeds of forest plants. The seeds that can not be digested will be excreted again along with the feces. Another species of mammals that can be found in the sanctuary, but rarely seen, is the Small-clawed Otter ('' Aonyx cinerea)'' which are small

piscivore A piscivore () is a carnivorous animal that primarily eats fish. Fish were the diet of early tetrapod evolution (via water-bound amphibians during the Devonian period); insectivory came next; then in time, the more terrestrially adapted repti ...

s and are usually

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

. It is also home to a variety of reptile species such as Water Monitor (''

Varanus salvator The Asian water monitor (''Varanus salvator'') is a large Varanidae, varanid lizard native to South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. It is widely considered to be the List of largest extant lizards, second-largest lizard species, after the Komodo ...

''), Reticulated Python ('' Malayopython reticulatus''), Javan Spitting Cobra (''

Naja sputatrix The Javan spitting cobra (''Naja sputatrix''), also called Indonesian cobra or Komodo spitting cobra, is a species of cobra in the family Elapidae, found in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, including Java, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, K ...

''), Banded Krait (''

Bungarus fasciatus The banded krait (''Bungarus fasciatus'') is an extremely venomous species of elapids endemic to Asia, from Indian Subcontinent through Southeast Asia to Southern China. With a maximum length exceeding , it is the longest krait with a distinguish ...

''), Puff-faced Water Snake ('' Homalopsis buccata''), Mangrove Snake (''

Boiga dendrophila ''Boiga dendrophila'', commonly called the mangrove snake or the gold-ringed cat snake, is a species of rear-fanged venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to southeast Asia. It is one of the biggest cat snake species, ...

''), Oriental Whip-snake (''

Ahaetulla prasina ''Ahaetulla prasina'' is an arboreal, moderately venomous species of opisthoglyphous vine snake in the family Colubridae, found in Southern and Southeast Asia. Its common names include the Asian vine snake, Boie's whip snake, Gunther's whip snak ...

'') and Southeast-Asian Bockadam ('' Cerberus schneideri''). According to information given by local residents, there are also estuarine crocodiles (''

Crocodylus porosus The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats, brackish wetlands and freshwater rivers from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaland to northern Australia and Micronesia. It h ...

'') that live within the sanctuary.

References

{{coord, -6.1039, 106.7543, type:park_region:ID , display=title Parks in Jakarta Tourist attractions in Jakarta North Jakarta

History

Vegetation

Fauna

See also

References