Lore Lindu National Park is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

of forest on the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n island of

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

, in the province of

Central Sulawesi Central Sulawesi (Indonesian: ''Sulawesi Tengah'') is a province of Indonesia located at the centre of the island of Sulawesi. The administrative capital and largest city is located in Palu. The 2010 census recorded a population of 2,635,009 for ...

. The Indonesian national park is 2,180 km² covering both lowland and montane forests (200 to 2,610 meters above mean sea level). It provides habitat to numerous rare species, including 77 bird species

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Sulawesi.The Nature Conservancy: ''Lore Lindu National Park: Building Partnerships to Protect Sulawesi’s Unique Wildlife''
retrieved 9 October 2010 The national park is designated as part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Network of Biosphere Reserves The UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR) covers internationally designated protected areas, known as biosphere reserves, which are meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature (e.g. encourage sustainable dev ...

. In addition to its rich wildlife, the park also contains

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

s dating from before 1300 AD. The easiest access to visit the national park is from

Palu Palu, which is officially known as the City of Palu (Indonesian: ''Kota Palu''), is the capital and largest city of Central Sulawesi. Palu is located on the northwestern coast of Sulawesi and borders Donggala Regency to the north and west, Pari ...

to Kamarora (50 kilometers in 2.5 hours drive). Due to up to 4,000 mm of rainfall per year in the southern part of the national park, the best time to visit is from July to September.

Geography and climate

The boundaries of the park are defined by the Palolo Valley to the north, Napu Valley to the east and Bada Valley to the south. The western boundary is formed by a series of narrow valleys, known collectively as the Kulawi Valley. The Palolo, Napu, Lindu and Besoa valleys were once lakes, now partially filled with sediment. Lake Lindu (''Danau Lindu'') is the only large lake remaining today. The altitude ranges from 200 to 2,500 m above sea-level.Rolex Lameanda: ''Central Sulawesi as the most exciting Tourist Destination'', Suedostasienmagazin
, retrieved 9 October 2010 The climate is tropical with high humidity. Temperatures vary only a few degrees over the course of the year, between 26 °C–32 °C in lowland areas. The temperature drops in the highland areas about 6 °C (11 °F) with every rise in altitude. The heaviest rain period occurs during the monsoon which lasts from November to April.

Flora and fauna

Lore Lindu National Park stretches over multiple ecosystem types, including lowland tropical forest, sub-montane forest, montane forest, as well as sub-alpine forest at altitudes over .
, retrieved 9 October 2010 Plant species include ''

Eucalyptus deglupta ''Eucalyptus deglupta'' is a species of tall tree, commonly known as the rainbow eucalyptus, Mindanao gum, or rainbow gum that is native to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is the only ''Eucalyptus'' species that usually liv ...

'', '' Pterospermum celebicum'', ''

Cananga odorata ''Cananga odorata'', known as ylang-ylang ( ) or cananga tree, is a tropical tree that is native to the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Queensland, Australia. It is also native to parts of Thailand and Viet ...

'', ''

Gnetum gnemon ''Gnetum gnemon'' is a species of ''Gnetum'' native to southeast Asia and the western Pacific Ocean islands, from Mizoram and Assam in India, south and east through Indonesia and Malaysia to the Philippines, Fiji, and Hawaii in the United States ...

'', '' Castanopsis argentea'', ''

Agathis philippinensis ''Agathis dammara'', commonly known as the Amboina pine or dammar pine, is a coniferous timberAgathis wood
tree nativ ...

'', ''

Phyllocladus hypophyllus ''Phyllocladus hypophyllus'' is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, and Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu G ...

'', medicinal plants, and

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

s. Endemic Sulawesi mammals found in the national park include the

Tonkean macaque The Tonkean black macaque or Tonkean macaque (''Macaca tonkeana'') is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to central Sulawesi and the nearby Togian Islands in Indonesia. It is threatened by habitat loss. Widespread ...

(''Macaca tonkeana''),

lowland anoa The lowland anoa ''(Bubalus depressicornis)'' is a species of buffalo endemic to Sulawesi. Its closest relative is the mountain anoa, and it is still a debate as to whether the two are the same species or not. It is also related to the water ...

(''Bubalus depressicornis''),

North Sulawesi babirusa The North Sulawesi babirusa (''Babyrousa celebensis'') is a pig-like animal native to Sulawesi and some nearby islands (Lembeh, Buton and Muna) in Indonesia. It has two pairs of large tusks composed of enlarged canine teeth. The upper canines p ...

(''Babyrousa celebensis''),

pygmy tarsier The pygmy tarsier (''Tarsius pumilus''), also known as the mountain tarsier or the lesser spectral tarsier, is a nocturnal primate found in central Sulawesi, Indonesia, in an area with lower vegetative species diversity than the lowland tropica ...

(''Tarsius pumilus''),

Dian's tarsier Dian's tarsier (''Tarsius dentatus''), also known as the Diana tarsier, is a nocturnal primate endemic to central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its head-body length is and it has a tail of . Dian's tarsier lives in rainforests. It was formerly called ...

(''Tarsius dianae''),

Sulawesi bear cuscus The Sulawesi bear cuscus, also known as the Sulawesi bear phalanger (''Ailurops ursinus''), is a species of arboreal marsupial in the family Phalangeridae that is endemic to Sulawesi and nearby islands in Indonesia. It lives in tropical moist lo ...

(''Ailurops ursinus''), Sulawesi dwarf cuscus (''Strigocuscus celebensis''),

Celebes rat The Celebes rat (''Taeromys celebensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Sulawesi, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Ind ...

(''Taeromys celebensis''),

Sulawesi palm civet The Sulawesi palm civet (''Macrogalidia musschenbroekii''), also known as Sulawesi civet, musang and brown palm civet is a little-known palm civet endemic to Sulawesi. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to population decline est ...

(''Macrogalidia musschenbroekii'') and Sulawesi stripe-faced fruit bat (''Styloctenium wallacei''). Endemic Sulawesi birds found in Lore Lindu include the

maleo The maleo (''Macrocephalon maleo'') is a large megapode and the only member of the monotypic genus ''Macrocephalon''. The maleo is endemic to Sulawesi and the nearby smaller island of Buton in Indonesia. It is found in the tropical lowland and ...

(''Macrocephalon maleo''),

purple-bearded bee-eater The purple-bearded bee-eater or Celebes bee-eater (''Meropogon forsteni'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family Meropidae. It is an endemic resident on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. This species is often seen in clearings inside ...

(''Meropogon forsteni''), geomalia (''Geomalia heinrichi''), and many others. Reptiles and amphibians include the gold snake ('' Elaphe erythrura'' and '' E. janseni'') and Sulawesian toad (''Ingerophrynus celebensis''). The fish ''

Oryzias bonneorum ''Oryzias'' is a genus of ricefishes native to fresh and brackish water in east and south Asia. Some species are widespread and the Japanese rice fish (''O. latipes'') is commonly used in science as a model organism, while others have very small ...

'' and ''

Oryzias sarasinorum ''Oryzias sarasinorum'', the Sarasins minnow or Sarasins buntingi, is a species of ricefish in the Adrianichthyidae. It is endemic to Lake Lindu in Lore Lindu National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia. This species was described as ''Haplochilus sara ...

'', and the Parathelphusid crab '' Parathelphusa linduensis'' are endemic to Lake Lindu.

Megaliths

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Megalitisch beeld in een rijstveld TMnr 20018337

There are over 400 granite

s in the area, of which about 30 represent human forms. They vary in size from a few centimetres to ca.. The original purpose of the megaliths is unknown.National Geographic: ''Explorer's Notebook: The Riddle of Indonesia's Ancient Statues'', 12 December 2001
retrieved 9 October 2010 Other megaliths in the area are large stone pots (''Kalamba'') accompanied by stone lids (''Tutu'na''). The megaliths are spread over the Napu, Behoa ( Pokekea Megalithic Site) and

Bada Bada (stylized as bada; Korean: ) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Samsung Electronics for devices such as mid- to high-end smartphones and tablet computers. The name is derived from " (bada)", meaning "ocean" or "sea" in ...

valleys. Various archaeological studies have dated the carvings from between 3000 BC to 1300 AD.Sangadji, Ruslan: ''C. Sulawesi's Lore Lindu park, home to biological wealth'', The Jakarta Post, 5 June 2005
, retrieved 11 October 2010

Human habitation

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Twee Europese dames en een man staan voor een afgodsbeeld te Napu Menado TMnr 10000852

Surrounding the park there are 117 villages, from which 62 are located on the borders of the park and one is within the park. The local population belongs to the Kaili, Kulavi and Lore ethnic groups. There are also immigrants from South Sulawesi, Java and Bali.

Conservation and threats

Lore Lindu has been declared a

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

in 1978. The national park was formed through the amalgamation of three existing reserves: the Lore Kalamanta Nature Reserve, the Lake Lindu Recreation and Protection Forest, and the Lore Lindu Wildlife Reserve. While in 1982 an area of 2,310 km² has been "declared" for the national park, when the park has been officially designated in 1999, its size was reduced to 2,180 km².

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

as result of

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

and land

encroachment Encroachment is to advance beyond proper limits, and may refer to: * Temporal encroachment * Structural encroachment * Encroachment (gridiron football), a penalty in American and Canadian football *Encroachment by human populations on natural spa ...

for agricultural activities is one of the main threats to the park. Management challenges include lack of awareness of the importance of forest preservation and lack of law enforcement. Since 2000, the Indonesian-German Collaborative Research Center "STORMA" (Stability of the Rainforest Margin in Indonesia) is intensively investigating Lore Lindu National Park and its

buffer zone A buffer zone is a neutral zonal area that lies between two or more bodies of land, usually pertaining to countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types of buffer zones are demil ...

. STORMA's analysis of the effect of environmental protection on the level of deforestation in the park, suggests a reduction of the deforestation rate of around 9% as result of the protected areas status of the park. This estimate was based on a methodology involving

propensity score matching In the statistical analysis of observational data, propensity score matching (PSM) is a statistical matching technique that attempts to estimate the effect of a treatment, policy, or other intervention by accounting for the covariates that predic ...

rather than the conventional satellite image comparison.

Tourism

To boost tourism, the Lore Lindu National Park decided to develop access road, electricity, clean water and resorts for visitors who visit the breeding ground for Maleo birds

Macrocephalon maleo The maleo (''Macrocephalon maleo'') is a large megapode and the only member of the monotypic genus ''Macrocephalon''. The maleo is Endemism, endemic to Sulawesi and the nearby smaller island of Buton in Indonesia. It is found in the tropical low ...

and the Tambing Lake. Nowadays the visitors are mainly college students and researchers from abroad.

References

{{authority control National parks of Indonesia Biosphere reserves of Indonesia Sulawesi Protected areas established in 1982 Important Bird Areas of Indonesia Geography of Central Sulawesi Tourist attractions in Central Sulawesi 1982 establishments in Indonesia