History UjungKulon at Glance

Before Ujung Kulon officially became a National Park in 1992

On the south western tip of the island of Java, where the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean and the equatorial waters of the Sunda Straits merge, is one of Indonesia’s paramount national parks, Ujung Kulon. Rich in wildlife and forest, noted for its charm and diversity, it is the home of the highly endangered
Javan rhinoceros and bestowed with the status of World Heritage (Natural) Site.

Ujung Kulon, which means West Point, possesses an exceptional profile of Indonesia’s wilderness form forested mountain ranges to coral seas. What makes it even more remarkable is that the park remains a pristine haven of nature, on Java, one of the most densely populated islands on earth.

In earlier centuries when the population was small and the forests were large, the people of the land lived with a deep respect for the forest and its wildlife. Then began a two century long struggle between mankind and nature. The world first became aware of the natural treasures of Ujung Kulon in the 1820’s when botanists began venturing onto the Peninsula to collect exotic tropical specimens. This was a time of colonial expansion and exploration and by the middle of the century expedition form the Organization for Scientific Research in the Netherland Indies drew attention to its unusual richness and scientific importance. They wrote of the Peucang Island area in 1853:

-“beautiful and safe bays…fertile soil…a wealth of timber for ship and shore…. a splendid situation for commerce….the seed of a new Singapore”.

Despite their recommendations to exploit the park’s resources, and fortunately for future generations, nothing came of developing the region. Thirty years later in August 1883, nature intervened with a force that was un-known at that time when the nearby volcanic island of Krakatau erupted. It produced tidal waves that devastated the coastal areas destroying much of Ujung Kulon’s vegetation and northern coastlines. Some insight into the impact of the tidal waves was recorded by a British ship 222 km. south of Ujung Kulon on that day: “Encountered carcasses of animals including even those of tigers and about 150 human corpses borne along by the current.” 23 besides enormous trunks of trees However, the regrowth was rapid and created lush new vegetation on which the browsing wildlife thrived. The first steps toward the region becoming a national park began at the end of the 19th century when the Ujung Kulon peninsula was establishing a reputation as a big game hunting area. During the following decade there was no other region in all of Java with as much game and so the trophy shooters came and animals were killed without limitations. A group of conservationists and game hunter became concerned about the declining animal numbers and that some species were nearing extermination. This led in 1910 to the government’s first decree protecting some of the fauna, however the hunting continued.
Two years later came the formation of the Netherlands Indies Society for the Protection of Nature. Their efforts had very little effect until 1921 when the Society was granted 300 sq. kilometers of the Ujung Kulon Peninsula as a nature reserve. Panaitan Island was also protected as a separate reserve. There was however no supervision and during the 1930’s hunting  arties shot numerous animals.

In 1937 the status of the reserves was change management of the Director of the Botanical Gardens in Bogor. Over the following few years the Ujung Kulon Game Reserve was closed to the public, a guard system was introduced and it appeared that Ujung Kulon and its wild – life had a promising future. Then came the Second World War followed by Indonesia’s struggle to establish independence. The situation in the Ujung Kulon Game Reserve deteriorated as management became difficult and many rhinos and other animals were once again being killed.

After the formation of the Republic of Indonesia, the Ujung Kulon Panaitan Island Game Reserve was again declared a Nature Reserve in 1958 and the coastal boundaries were extended 500 metres seaward. To the east of the Ujung Kulon Peninsula 20,000 hectares of the Gunung Honje Range also became nature reserves and guarding was re-introduced to the region.

Ujung Kulon officially became a national park in 1992. In the same year, along with the Krakatau Islands, the park shared the distinction of becoming Indonesia’s first World Heritage (Natural) Site along with the Komodo Islands. As with all national parks in Indonesia, Ujung Kulon is managed by the Republic of Indonesia’s Department of Forestry under the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation.