Alas Purwo National Park is situated on

Blambangan Peninsula Blambangan Peninsula is located at the southeastern of Java Island. Administratively this peninsula is in Banyuwangi Regency. It is the location of the Alas Purwo National Park. This peninsula contains Cape Bantenan, the southernmost point of Jav ...

in the

Banyuwangi Banyuwangi, previously known as Banjoewangi, is the administrative capital of Banyuwangi Regency at the far eastern end of the island of Java, Indonesia. It had a population of 106,000 at the 2010 Census and 117,558 at the 2020 Census. The tow ...

Regency, at the southeastern tip of

East Java East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean bord ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. The park is famous for its wild Banteng and surfing location at Grajagan Bay. The park's name means ''first forest'' or ''ancient forest'', in accordance with a Javanese legend that says the earth first emerged from the ocean here.

Geography

The park is located in

at the southeastern tip of

Java island Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's most ...

, along the shore of strait across Bali. With an area of 434 km², the park is made up of

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, lowland monsoon forests and coral-fringed beaches. An internationally renowned

surf break Surf or SURF may refer to: Commercial products * Surf (detergent), a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever Computers and software * "Surfing the Web", slang for exploring the World Wide Web * surf (web browser), a lightweight web browse ...

peels along the edge of the park at Plengkung on Grajagan Bay. Mount Linggamanis (322m) is also located in this national park.

Flora and fauna

The flora protected in this national park include: ''

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 ...

'', ''

Calophyllum inophyllum ''Calophyllum inophyllum'' is a large evergreen plant, commonly called tamanu, oil-nut, mastwood, beach calophyllum or beautyleaf. It is native to tropical Asia and Wallacea. Due to its importance as a source of timber for the traditional shi ...

'', ''

Sterculia foetida ''Sterculia foetida'' is a soft wooded tree that can grow up to tall.Sterculia Foe ...

'', ''

Barringtonia asiatica ''Barringtonia asiatica'' (fish poison tree, putat or sea poison tree) is a species of ''Barringtonia'' native to mangrove habitats from islands of the Indian Ocean in the west to tropical Asia and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is g ...

'' and ''

Manilkara kauki ''Manilkara kauki'' is a plant in the subfamily Sapotoideae, and the tribe Sapoteae of the family Sapotaceae; and is the type species for the genus ''Manilkara''. It occurs in tropical Asia from Indo-China (Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vie ...

''.Ministry of Forestry: Alas Purwo National Park
, retrieved 10-December-2009 It is home to some of Java’s endangered species, such as the banteng (''

Bos javanicus The banteng (''Bos javanicus''; ), also known as tembadau, is a species of cattle found in Southeast Asia. The head-and-body length is between . Wild banteng are typically larger and heavier than their domesticated counterparts, but are otherw ...

''). In April 2004, there were only 57 bantengs found in the

of Sadengan, while the population in the previous year was estimated to be 80 to 100, but in August 2010, the scientists found 73 bantengs in the 80-hectare savanna area, a big increase in 6 years, although they faced threats of poaching and loss of habitat. Herds of bantengs usually come to Sadengan in the morning and afternoon in search of plants. The biggest threat to the bantengs are humans.

Poachers Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

set traps outside the park during the dry season to snare bantengs wandering outside the park in search of water. The bantengs are slaughtered and the meat sold. Other threatened animal species protected in Alas Purwo include the

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 ...

, Javan langur, green peafowl,

red junglefowl The red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus'') is a tropical bird in the family Phasianidae. It ranges across much of Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. It was formerly known as the Bankiva or Bankiva Fowl. It is the species that gave rise to the ...

olive ridley The olive ridley sea turtle (''Lepidochelys olivacea''), also known commonly as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae. The species is the second-smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in th ...

hawksbill turtle The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is lar ...

and

green turtle The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

Surfing

Between the months of March and November, thousands of surfers from all over the world visit the park for its surf break. The destination is Plengkung Beach in Grajagan bay, also known as G-Land, which is about half a day's travel from Bali. The beach is considered one of the best surfing spots in Asia. With rideable waves up to 5 meters, it is considered a spot for experienced surfers only. The place is listed as Quicksilver World Tour Circuit.

References

External links

*
Alas Purwo National Park
from Ministry of Forestry, Republic of Indonesia {{authority control Banyuwangi (town) National parks of Indonesia Geography of East Java Tourist attractions in East Java