Ransel Karimunjawa

Many researchers have been attracted to the marine biodiversity and pristine forest as well as the uniqueness of the Karimunjawa archipelago. During the Dutch colonial era, many Dutch botanists such as Teijsmann (1854), Koorders (1886), Schlechter (1910) and Dammerman (1926) came to the Karimunjawa archipelago.[3]

Karimunjawa has five types of ecosystems: coral reef, seagrass and seaweed, mangrove forest, coastal forest and low land tropical rainforest. Fresh water is confined to a few small wells and forest streams in the islands.
The coral reefs

http://www.ranselkarimunjawa.com coral reefs are made up of fringing reefs, barrier reefs and several patch reefs. They have an extraordinary wealth of species: 51 genera with more than 90 species of coral biota and 242 species of ornamental fish. Two protected biota species, black coral (Antiphates sp.) and organ pipe coral (Tubipora musica), can be found here. Other protected sea biota include the hornet helmet (Cassis cornuta), triton trumpet (Charonia tritonis), chambered nautilus, green shell (Turbo marmoratus), and six species of clam. Around Kemujan island, the wreck of the Panamanian ship Indono, which sank to the sea bed in 1955, is now a habitat of coral fish and is a popular site for wreck diving.[1]
The seagrasses and seaweeds

There are 10 genera of seagrass mostly dominated by Enhalus and Thalassia. The seaweed species are grouped into three divisions: Chlorophyta (Coulerpa and Halimeda), Phaeophyta (Padina, Sargassum and Turbinaria) and Rhodophyta (Euchema, Glacillaria, Gelidinium, Hypne and Acanthopora).
The forests

A total of 300 ha of mangrove forest covers the national park, and is the habitat for 13 genera and 32 species of mangroves, such as the Rhizophora mucronata.[3]

The lowland tropical forest covers an area of 1,285.50 ha. It provides habitat to a number of endemic species including the mythical dewadaru tree (Fagraea elliptica), setigi (Pemphis acidula) and kalimasada (Cordia subcordata). The local people use these trees as raw material for souvenir handicrafts such as for tasbih, kris, or staffs. It is generally believed that the wood of the endemic dewadaru tree has a legendary power of curing diseases or snake bite wounds, protecting house from thieves, or prolonging life. Recently, the population of these three tree species has deteriorated because of the increased extraction.[3]

There are about forty different bird species in the island, including the green imperial-pigeon, (Ducula aenea), yellow-vented bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier) and red-breasted parakeet (Psittacula alexandri). Some migratory birds are also found in this area, such as the common sandpiper and whimbrel. The lowland tropical rain forest is the natural habitat of the rare White-bellied Sea Eagle. The latest expedition report of the Indonesian Science Institute reveals that there are two endemic butterfly species, and these are the Euploea crameri karimodjawensis and the Idea leuconoe karimodjawensis.[3]

The diversity of terrestrial animals of this Park is not as high in terms of numbers as that of the aquatic animals. However, it is still possible to see javan rusa deer (Cervus timorensis), sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), and the viper edor snake (Calloselasma rhodostoma).[1]

Several species of turtles lay their eggs on the islands, e.g. hawksbill turtle and green turtle.[1]

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