Wakatobi National Park : a marine national park, south of Sulawesi island

Wakatobi National Park

Wakatobi National Park is a marine national park, south of Sulawesi island of Indonesia. The name of Wakatobi is an acronym of the four main Tukangbesi Islands: Wangi-wangi, Kaledupa, Tomia, and Binongko. Since 2005 the park is listed as a tentative World Heritage Site.
Wakatobi National Park is located south-east of Sulawesi, between the Banda Sea to the north-east and the Flores Sea to the south-west.
The types of vegetation found in the 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 including fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls. A survey conducted in 2003 identified 396 species of coral belonging to 68 genera and 15 families. These include Acropora formosa, Acropora hyacinthus, Psammocora profundasafla, Pavona cactus, Leptoseris yabei, Fungia molucensis, Lobophyllia robusta, Merulina ampliata, Platygyra versifora, Euphyllia glabrescens, Tubastraea frondes, Stylophora pistillata, Sarcophyton throchelliophorum, and Sinularia species.

Among the recorded Booby, Common Kingfisher and

species of seabird are the Brown Malaysian Plover.

Turtles in the park Loggerhead sea turtle, and Olive

include the Hawksbill turtle, Ridley.

The main settlement in the islands is the administrative centre for the Regency Bau-Bau. In 2001 there were nearly 90,000 people living in the islands.
The indigenous people who live around the Park belong to the Bajau ethnic group. Locals still commonly use spear-fishing.
After the designation of the Wakatobi Marine Conservation Area in 1996, the Wakatobi National Park with a total area of 1,390,000 ha has been established in 2002. It is managed by the Wakatobi National Park Authority. In 2005 the park has been listed as a tentative World Heritage Site.
Major threats are posed by overfishing and destructive fishing practices, including fish bombing and poison fishing.

Related Sites for Wakatobi National Park

• Wakatobi National Park, Balai Taman Nasional Wakatobi, Taman ... read Wakatobi National Park
• Wakatobi National Park | The Nature Conservancy read Wakatobi National Park
• Wakatobi National Park | ABOUT OF INDONESIA read Wakatobi National Park
• Wakatobi | Parks of Indonesia read Wakatobi National Park