Mount Gede Pangrango National Park is a national park in
West Java
West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...
,
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 ...
. The park is centred on two volcanoes—
Mount Gede
Mount Gede or Gunung Gede (''Big Mountain'' in Sundanese) is a stratovolcano in West Java, Indonesia. The volcano contains two peaks with Mount Gede as one peak and Mount Pangrango for the other one. Three major cities, Cianjur, Sukabumi and Bog ...
and
Mount Pangrango
Mount Pangrango is a dormant stratovolcano located in the Sunda Arc of West Java, Indonesia. The mountain formed by a subduction zone on the southern coast of Java facing the Indian Ocean. It is located about 80 km south of Jakarta, capital o ...
—and is 150 km² in area.
It evolved from already existing conservation areas, such as
Cibodas Botanical Gardens, Cimungkat Nature Reserve, Situgunung Recreational Park and Mount Gede Pangrango Nature Reserve, and has been the site of important biological and conservation research over the last century.
In 1977 UNESCO declared it part of the
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 de ...
.
[Ministry of Forestry: Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park](_blank)
, retrieved 23 July 2010
Topography and ecology
Mount Gede (2,958 m) and Pangrango (3,019 m) are twin volcanoes. The two summits are connected by a high saddle known as Kandang Badak (2,400 m). The mountain slopes are very steep and are cut into rapidly flowing stream, which carve deep valleys and long ridges.
Lower and upper
montane
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial ...
and subalpine forests are within the park and have been well studied. To the north of Mount Gede is a field of Javanese Edelweiss (''
Anaphalis javanica''). The park contains a large number of species known to occur only within its boundaries, however, this may be a result of the disproportionate amount of research over many years.
Flora and fauna
Gunung Gede-Pangrango is inhabited by 251 of the 450 bird species found in Java. Among these are endangered species like the
Javan hawk-eagle
The Javan hawk-eagle (''Nisaetus bartelsi'') is a medium-sized, dark brown raptor in the family Accipitridae. It is the national bird of Indonesia, where it is commonly referred to as Garuda, from the bird-like creatures in Hindu and Buddhist myt ...
and the
Javan scops owl.
Among the endangered mammal species in the Park there are several primates such as the
silvery gibbon
The silvery gibbon (''Hylobates moloch''), also known as the Javan gibbon, is a primate in the gibbon family Hylobatidae. It is endemic to the Indonesian island of Java, where it inhabits undisturbed rainforests up to an altitude of . It is liste ...
,
Javan surili
The Javan surili (''Presbytis comata'') is a vulnerable species of Old World monkey endemic to the western half of Java, Indonesia, a biodiversity hotspot. Other common names by which it is known by include gray, grizzled or Sunda Island surili; ...
and
Javan lutung
The East Javan langur (''Trachypithecus auratus''), also known as the ebony lutung, Javan langur or Javan lutung, is an Old World monkey from the Colobinae subfamily. It is most commonly glossy black with a brownish tinge to its legs, sides, and ...
. Other mammals include
Javan leopard
The Javan leopard (''Panthera pardus melas'') is a leopard subspecies confined to the Indonesian island of Java. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2021. The population is estimated at 188–571 mature individuals in 22 f ...
,
leopard cat
The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a small wild cat native to continental South, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed although threatened by hab ...
,
Indian muntjac
The Indian muntjac or the common muntjac (''Muntiacus muntjak''), also called the southern red muntjac and barking deer, is a deer species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. In popular local l ...
,
Java mouse-deer
The Java mouse-deer (''Tragulus javanicus'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae. When it reaches maturity it is about the size of a rabbit, making it the smallest living ungulate. It is found in forests in Java and perha ...
,
Sumatran dhole
The dhole (''Cuon alpinus''; ) is a canid native to Central, South, East and Southeast Asia. Other English names for the species include Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, red wolf, and mountain wolf. It ...
,
Malayan porcupine
The Malayan porcupine or Himalayan porcupine (''Hystrix brachyura'') is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. Three subspecies are extant in South and Southeast Asia.
Geographical distribution
The Malayan porcupine ranges from Nepal th ...
,
Sunda stink badger
The Sunda stink badger (''Mydaus javanensis''), also called the Javan stink badger, teledu, Malay stink badger, Malay badger, Indonesian stink badger and Sunda skunk, is a mammal native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Despite the common name, stink b ...
,
yellow-throated marten
The yellow-throated marten (''Martes flavigula'') is a marten species native to Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide distribution, evidently relatively stable population, occurrence in a number of protected are ...
, and
Bartels's rat
Bartels's rat (''Sundamys maxi'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae.
It is found only in West Java, Indonesia, including in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park
Mount Gede Pangrango National Park is a national park in West Java, Indo ...
.
Tourism
Visitors usually enter the park by one of the four gates of the park: the Cibodas, Gunung Putri, and Selabintana gates, all give access to the peaks; the Situ Gunung gate gives entrance to a lake area set aside mainly for family-style recreation. Cibodas gate is the most popular entrance gate and is the site of the park's headquarters. From Jakarta, the area is two hours drive, usually via
Cibodas Botanical Gardens.
See also
*
Volcanoes of Indonesia
The geography of Indonesia is dominated by volcanoes that are formed due to subduction zones between the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate. Some of the volcanoes are notable for their eruptions, for instance, Krakatoa for its globa ...
*
Geography of Indonesia
Indonesia is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia, lying between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It is located in a strategic location astride or along major sea lanes connecting East Asia, South Asia and Oceania. Indonesia ...
References
External links
*
Official site
{{authority control
National parks of Indonesia
Geography of West Java
Tourist attractions in West Java