Sembilang National Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sembilang National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Sembilang NP
Location in Sumatra
Location Sumatra, Indonesia
Coordinates 2°1′S 104°33′E / 2.017°S 104.550°E / -2.017; 104.550Coordinates: 2°1′S 104°33′E / 2.017°S 104.550°E / -2.017; 104.550
Area 2,051 km²
Established 2001
Governing body Ministry of Forestry
Designated: March 6, 2011 [1]

Sembilang National Park is a national park covering 2,051 km² along the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The park is dominated by swamps as peat forests, like the neighbouring Berbak National Park, and both parks are Ramsar wetlands of international importance.[2] The park is considered to have the most complex shorebird community in the world, with 213 species recoded, and supports the world's largest breeding colony of Milky Stork.[2]

Flora and fauna

About half of the park is covered by mangrove forests, while the rest is covered by peat swamp forest, lowland tropical forests, mud flats, freshwater swamp forests and riparian forests.[2]

The park provides habitat for 53 mammal species, including the endangered Sumatran tiger, Asian elephant, Malayan tapir, Agile gibbon and Siamang, as well as the vulnerable Clouded leopard, Marbled cat, Flat-headed cat, Sun Bear and Southern pig-tailed macaque.

The rivers of the park are inhabited by over 140 species of fish and 38 species of crab, as well as the threatened Eurasian otter, Smooth-coated otter, Malaysian giant turtle, Amboina box turtle, Asiatic softshell turtle, Finless porpoise and Irrawaddy dolphin.[2]

Within the park is the largest breeding colony of Milky Storks in the world, and one of the largest colonies of Lesser Adjutant. Other threatened birds in the park include the Storm's Stork, White-winged Duck, Nordmann's Greenshank and Far Eastern Curlew. The total bird population of the park has been estimated to be up to one million, while during winter up to 100,000 migratory birds stop over for rest.[2]

Conservation and threats

The national park has been declared in 2003. It is under threat from small scale illegal logging.[2]

References

  1. "Ramsar List". Ramsar.org. Retrieved 12 April 2013. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Ramsar Database", retrieved 14 December 2014

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.