General
North Buton Wildlife Reserve was established in 1979 by the Decree of Minister
of Forestry No. 782/Kpts-II/Um/12/1979 dated 17 December 1979 following the
Recommendation of Governor of south East Sulawesi No: Pta. 4/1/11 dated 16
January 1973. The underlying consideration of establishment of this reserve is
potency of flora and fauna contained therein which has to be preserved in the
interest of science, education and culture. Since then, management and control
of the area has been taken over by the Department of forestry.
North Buton Wildlife Reserve lies in the north of the island Buton and covers
82,000 ha. It is the largest tropical forest amongst conservation areas in
South East Sulawesi .
North Buton Wildlife Reserve is situated at 0 - 600 m above sea level with
plain, sloping and rolling topography. The reserve consists of lowland forests
partly on alluvial and partly on ultra basic rocks. There is also area of
mangrove forest particularly on the eastern part of the reserve. With climate
type C, dry season in July - December and rainy season is usually in January -
June with annual rainfall 2,286 mm (average rainy day is 106 days per annum).
The hottest weather is 34ºC, coolest weather is 22 ºC with dampness rate of
80%.
It would, therefore, not be too much if symbolizing this area as house of
tropical flora and fauna. 40 indigenous sacred sites so-called "Sangia" are
inside the area.
Potency
This area has a richness of vegetation like leguminosae - Papilionoideae (Pericopsis
sp.), dolipo (Terminalia copelandii), soni (Dillepia megalantha), gito-gito (Diospyros
pilosenthera), cendrana (Pterocarpus indicus) kenari (Canarium vulgaris),
bintagur (Dillenia serrata), dao (Dracontomelon dao), and several kinds of
anggrek (Acanthepipium sp, Bulbophyllum sp, and Eria floribunda).
Some endemic fauna founded in the area of North Buton Wildlife Reserve are:
Booted macaque (Macaca ochreata), Lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis), deer
(Cervus timorensis), etc.
There are also many species of bird found in the reserve e.g. Maleo (Macrocephalon
maleo), Indonesian Teal (Anas gibberifrons), Barred Rail (Gallirallus
torquatus), Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis), White-breasted
Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus), Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus), Common
Greenshank (Tringa nebularia), Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola), Common
Sandpiper (Tringa hypoleucos), Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva), Little
Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius) Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius
leschenaultia), Oriental Plover (Charadrius veredus), Australian Pratincole (Stiltia
Isabella), Pacific Reef-Egret (Egretta sacra), Great-billed Heron (Ardea
sumatrana), Striated Heron (Butorides striatus), Woolly-necked Stork (Ciconia
episcopus). |
