Manusela National Park is located on

Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent is ...

island, in the Maluku archipelago of

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 ...

. It is made up of coastal forest, swamp forest, lowland and montane

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

ecosystem types.

Mount Binaiya Mount Binaiya (Indonesian: Gunung Binaia) is the highest point on the Indonesian island of Seram (or Ceram) and the highest mountain in the province of Maluku. With an elevation of , it is one of the one hundred most topographically prominent p ...

at 3,027 meters, is the highest of the park's six mountains. Seram is remarkable for its high degree of localised bird endemism.

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 ...

Saving Asia's threatened birds
, 2003, retrieved 18 May 2010 The park also includes important karst landscapes. On Mount Hatu Saka, near the coast of Saleman-Sawai, it is the Goa Hatusaka, currently the deepest cave of the whole Indonesia.

Vegetation and fauna

Among the plants that grow in this park are ''

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 are ...

'', ''

Dryobalanops ''Dryobalanops'' is a genus of flowering plants and the genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. The name ''Dryobalanops'' is derived from Greek (''dryas'' = a nymph associated with oaks and ''balanops'' = acorn) and describes the acorn-like nut. The ge ...

'' and ''

Pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

'' species, ''

Alstonia scholaris ''Alstonia scholaris'', commonly called blackboard tree, Scholar Tree, Milkwood or devil's tree in English, is an evergreen tropical tree in the Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae). It is native to southern China, tropical Asia (mainly the Indian subcon ...

'', ''

Terminalia catappa ''Terminalia catappa'' is a large 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, sea almon ...

'', ''

Shorea selanica ''Shorea selanica'' is a species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is a tree endemic to the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. It is a critically endangered species threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat lo ...

'', '' Octomeles sumatrana'', ''

Bruguiera sexangula ''Bruguiera sexangula'', commonly called the upriver orange mangrove, is a mangrove shrub or tree usually growing up to 15 m, occasionally 30 m, in height. Description ''Bruguiera sexangula'' may grow as a single-stemmed tree or multi- ...

'', ''

Melaleuca leucadendra ''Melaleuca leucadendra'', commonly known as weeping paperbark, long-leaved paperbark or white paperbark is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is widespread in northern Australia, Southeast Asia, New Guinea and the Torres Strait Island ...

'', ''

Pometia pinnata ''Pometia pinnata'' is a large tropical hardwood and fruit tree species, with common names including matoa, taun tree, island lychee, tava, Pacific lychee of the plant family Sapindaceae. Naturally widespread, the trees are native to tropical So ...

'', and various species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

. Of the 118 species of bird on the island, 15 are

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 ...

, including the

eclectus parrot The eclectus parrot (''Eclectus roratus'') is a parrot native to the Solomon Islands, Sumba, New Guinea and nearby islands, northeastern Australia, and the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimor ...

purple-naped lory The purple-naped lory (''Lorius domicella'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is forest-dwelling endemic to the islands of Seram, Ambon, and perhaps also Haruku and Saparua, South Maluku, Indonesia. It is considered endan ...

salmon-crested cockatoo The salmon-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua moluccensis''), also known as the Moluccan cockatoo, is a cockatoo endemic to the Seram archipelago in eastern Indonesia. At a height of up to and weight of up to , it is among the largest of the white co ...

lazuli kingfisher The lazuli kingfisher (''Todiramphus lazuli'') is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae. It can be found on the islands of Seram, Ambon and Haruku. . Found singly and in pairs in lowland wooded areas, including cultivated areas and mangrove ...

sacred kingfisher The sacred kingfisher (''Todiramphus sanctus'') is a medium-sized woodland kingfisher that occurs in mangroves, woodlands, forests and river valleys in Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the western Pacific. Taxonomy The binomial name ''H ...

grey-necked friarbird The Seram friarbird (''Philemon subcorniculatus''), also known as the grey-necked friarbird, Ceram friarbird, grey-necked honeyeater and gray-necked honeyeater, is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is endemic to Indonesia where i ...

Moluccan king parrot The Moluccan king parrot (''Alisterus amboinensis'') is a parrot endemic to Peleng Island, Maluku, and West Papua in Indonesia. It is sometimes referred to as the Ambon king parrot or Amboina king parrot, but this is potentially misleading, as ...

,Indonesian Ministry of Forestry
, retrieved 2010-01-05

bicoloured white-eye The rufescent darkeye (''Tephrozosterops stalkeri''), also known as the bicoloured white-eye, is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Tephrozosterops''. It is endemic to the island of Seram in Indonesia ...

Boano monarch The Boano monarch (''Symposiachrus boanensis''), or black-chinned monarch, is a species of bird in the family Monarchidae endemic to Indonesia. It is found on Boano island in the southern Mollucas. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tro ...

, and

Seram masked owl The Seram masked owl (''Tyto almae'') is an owl species in the family Tytonidae endemic to Seram Island in Indonesia. After being first brought to the attention of the world from a photograph taken during an expedition by Rudi Badil and Sukianto ...

. The mammals found on Seram include Asian species ( murid rodents) as well as Australasian

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

s. The montane area of Seram supports the greatest number of endemic mammals of any island in the region. It harbors 38 mammal species and includes nine species that are endemic or near endemic, several of which are limited to montane habitats. These include the

Seram bandicoot The Seram bandicoot (''Rhynchomeles prattorum''), also known as the Seram Island long-nosed bandicoot, is a member of the order Peramelemorphia that is endemic to the island of Seram in Indonesia. It is the only species in the genus ''Rhynchomel ...

, Moluccan flying fox, Seram flying-fox,

Manusela mosaic-tailed rat The Manusela mosaic-tailed rat (''Melomys fraterculus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Indonesia. It lives in the rainforests on the island of Seram in Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of I ...

spiny Ceram rat The spiny Ceram rat (''Rattus feliceus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Seram, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian a ...

and the

Ceram rat The Ceram rat (''Nesoromys ceramicus'') is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found only in Seram Island, Indonesia, where it has been recorded on Mount Mansuela Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. ...

, all considered threatened.

Human habitation

There are four villages in the park: Manusela, Ilena Maraina, Selumena and Kanike. Manusela is also the name of one of the mountains within the park, the local

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

and their language. In the local

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

Manusela means "bird of freedom".

Conservation and threats

In 1972 two areas in central Seram were designated as nature reserves: Wae Nua (20,000 ha) and Wae Mual (17,500 ha). After a survey in 1978 a proposal was made to unite the two areas to form Manusela National Park.Maluku Province: Culture and Tourism
, retrieved 18 May 2010 Manusela National Park was established in 1997, to protect an area of 1,890 km², representing 11% of the land area of Seram island. A major threat is posed by

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 ...

, with logging concessions covering 48% of Seram's forest, and

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 ...

even having been recorded inside Manusela National Park. Another threat is posed by illegal wild bird trading, particularly targeting the salmon-crested cockatoo. The population of the endemic salmon-crested cockatoo is now gravely threatened due to hunting and the destruction of its habitat, and the park remains its last stronghold. For the first time in 2006 nine cockatoos have been released in the wild after being confiscated from a smuggler in 2004.Indonesian Parrot Project: News
, retrieved 19 May 2010

References

{{authority control National parks of Indonesia Geography of Seram Island Maluku Islands Seram Island Tourist attractions in Maluku (province) 1997 establishments in Indonesia Protected areas established in 1997