Cukang Taneuh, The Green Canyon

Cukang Taneuh or also known as Green Canyon is one of beautiful tourism object in West Java which is located in the Kertayasa village, sub-district Cijulang, Ciamis regency.

The Green Canyon name was popularized by a France tourist in 1993. Actually the original name of this lovely place is Cukang Taneuh, meaning Land Bridge. That's because over the valleys and ravines of Green Canyon there is a bridge of land used by the local farmers to go to their fields and gardens.

This tourism object is the tosca green water of Cijulang river that flows penetrates the cave with fascinating views of stalactites and stalagmites flanked by two hills with rocks and thick trees presenting a unique challenging natural attractions.

At the entrance of the cave lies Palatar waterfall that makes this beautiful place atmosphere feels so fresh. Several adventurous activities can be done here are rock climbing, river diving, swimming, body rafting, and on boat fishing.

To reach this location the visitor can use the boats that plenty available at Ciseureuh pier, both outboard boats and paddle boats. The best time to enjoy the beauty of Green Canyon are a few moments after entering the dry season. During the rainy season, the river flows swiftly and the water color become brownish.

The Amazing Wakatobi National Park

Wakatobi National Park is a marine national park located at South East Sulawesi province, Indonesia, between the Banda Sea to the north-east and the Flores Sea to the south-west.

The name of Wakatobi is an acronym of the four main islands in this archipelago are Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. Beside those four larger islands it also consists of many small islands such as Tokobao, North Lintea, South Lintea, Kampenaune, Hoga and Tolandono. The highest elevation is 274 metres (899 ft) on Wangi-Wangi, followed by Lagole Hill (271m) on Tomia, Terpadu Hill (222 m) on Binongko and Mount Sampuagiwolo (203 m) on Kaledupa.

Wakatobi National Park has very high marine resource potential, in terms of both species and uniqueness, with enchanting submarine landscapes. In terms of configuration, the marine waters of the park generally start flat and then slope seawards, with sheer precipices in some parts. The water depth varies, the deepest parts reaching 1,044 metres (3,425 ft) with sand and coral at the bottom.

The types of vegetation found in the Wakatobi National Park are mangrove forest, coastal forest, lowland swamp forest, riverbank vegetation, lowland rainforest, mountain rainforest and coral reefs. The Wakatobi Archipelago has 25 groups of coral reefs (the total circumference of the coral islands is 600 km) including fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls, which make this beautiful archipelago as one the best Marine Tourism object in the world.

The indigenous people who live around the Park belong to the Bajau tribe. Locals still commonly use spear-fishing. The uniqueness of the islands makes Wakatobi Archipelago as a perfect place for marine tourism activities such as diving, snorkeling, fishing, and swimming. It also a great place for camping and hiking. April to June and October to December is the best time to visit this amazing place.

The Wonder Komodo Islands, Home of Living Dragon

Komodo island lies between the substantially larger neighboring islands Sumbawa to the west and Flores to the east. Administratively, the Komodo Islands belong to Manggarai Barat District, East Nusa Tenggara province.

The Komodo Islands are home to the world`s largest living lizard, locally named as `ora`, Komodo Dragon or Komodo Monitor (Varanus komodoensis) that is found no where else but on the Islands.

Komodo is part of the Lesser Sunda chain of islands and forms part of the Komodo National Park. The park includes three major islands, Komodo, Rinca and Padar, and 26 smaller islands together totaling 603 km² of land. The total size of Komodo National Park is presently 1,817 km². Proposed extensions of 25 km² of land (Banta Island) and 479 km² of marine waters would bring the total surface area up to 2,321 km².

The topography of the Komodo National Park`s islands are generally undulating to mountainous with steep slopes, where the hills are rounded and rocky, often barren and dry resulting in a very hot surroundings with the mean daily temperature of up to 40^oC during the dry season.

As well as being home to the Komodo dragon, the Park provides refuge for many other notable terrestrial species such as the orange-footed scrub fowl, an endemic rat, and the Timor deer. Moreover, the Park includes one of the richest marine environments including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, seamounts, and semi-enclosed bays. These habitats harbor more than 1,000 species of fish, some 260 species of reef-building coral, and 70 species of sponges. Dugong, sharks, manta rays, at least 14 species of whales, dolphins, and sea turtles also make Komodo National Park their home.

Beside popular with Komodo Dragon Safari, the islands also a popular destination for diving. Scuba diving is popular because of the park's high marine biodiversity.

The Magnificent Raja Ampat Islands

Located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's West Papua province, Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, cays and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau.

The name of Raja Ampat based on the legend. This area had begun with 6 eggs that found by King Waikew in Waigeo Island. But from the 6 eggs, just 5 eggs had crack. The last was become an egg stone till now on.

From the fifth eggs that had cracked, the 4 eggs was become men who become King of four big islands that is Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool. While the one egg became a woman, had wash away and stranded in Biak Island. That woman was born a child named Gura Besi that known as the historical man of Raja Ampat, because of his heroic story.

Raja Ampat Islands encompasses more than 40,000 km² of land and sea, which also contains Cenderawasih Bay, the largest marine national park in Indonesia. It is a part of the newly named West Papua (province) of Indonesia which was formerly Irian Jaya. The islands are the most northern pieces of land in the Australian continent.

According to Conservation International, marine surveys suggest that the marine life diversity in the Raja Ampat area is the highest recorded on Earth. Diversity is considerably greater than any other area sampled in the Coral Triangle composed of Indonesia, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. The Coral Triangle is the heart of the world's coral reef biodiversity, making Raja Ampat quite possibly the richest coral reef ecosystems in the world

The area's massive coral colonies along with relatively high sea surface temperatures, also suggest that its reefs may be relatively resistant to threats like coral bleaching and coral disease, which now jeopardize the survival of other coral ecosystems around the world. The Raja Ampat islands are remote and relatively undisturbed by humans.

The high marine diversity in Raja Ampat is strongly influenced by its position between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as coral and fish larvae are more easily shared between the two oceans. Raja Ampat's coral diversity, resilience, and role as a source for larval dispersal make it a global priority for marine protection. 1,309 fish species, 537 coral species (a remarkable 96% of all scleractinia recorded from Indonesia are likely to occur in these islands), and 699 mollusk species, the variety of marine life is staggering. Some areas boast enormous schools of fish and regular sightings of sharks, such as wobbegongs.

The Bunaken Marine National Park

The Bunaken Marine National Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia's growing system of marine parks. The park covers a total surface area of 89,065 hectares, 97% of which is overlain by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. Although each of these islands has a special character, it is the aquatic ecosystem that attracts most naturalists.

The waters of Bunaken Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. Pick any of group of interest - corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges - and the number of families, genera or species is bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken. The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.

Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity. North easternly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.

Biologists believe that the abundance of hard corals is crucial in maintaining the high levels of diversity in the park. Hard corals are the architects of the reefs, without them, numerous marine organisms would be homeless and hungry. Many species of fish are closely associated with particular types of corals (folious, branching, massives, etc.) for shelter and egg-laying. Others, like the enormous Bumphead Parrotfish, Balbometopon muricatum, are "coralivores" and depend on hard corals for their sustenance. Bony mouth parts fused into an impressive "beak" allow these gregarious fish to crunch corals like roasted peanuts.

Some 20,000 people live on the natural resources of Bunaken Marine Park. Although there are inevitable conflicts between resource protection and use by people, the Indonesian government is taking a fairly unusual and pragmatic approach to park management. The idea is to promote wise resource use while preventing overexploitation. Local communities, government officials, dive resort operators, local nature groups, tourist and scientists have played an active role in developing exclusive zones for diving, wood collection, fishing and other forms of utilization. Bunaken Marine Park has become an important example of how Sulawesi, and the rest of Indonesia, can work to protect its natural resources.