Raja Ampat Islands

Raja Ampat is 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.

Raja Ampat Islands
Panoramic view
Map of the islands
Raja Ampat Islands
Location in Indonesia
Geography
ArchipelagoRaja Ampat Islands
Total islands612
Major islandsMisool
Salawati
Batanta
Waigeo
Administration
Indonesia
ProvinceWest Papua
RegencyRaja Ampat Regency
Demographics
Population50,000 (2017)

The Raja Ampat archipelago straddles the Equator and forms part of Coral Triangle which contains the richest marine biodiversity on earth.

Administratively, the archipelago is part of the province of West Papua (formerly known as Irian Jaya). Most of the islands constitute the Raja Ampat Regency, which was separated out from Sorong Regency in 2004. The regency encompasses around 70,000 square kilometres (27,000 sq mi) of land and sea, and has a population of about 50,000 (as of 2017).

History

The name of Raja Ampat (Raja means king, and empat means four) comes from local mythology that tells of a woman who finds seven eggs. Four of the seven hatch and become kings who occupy four of Raja Ampat's biggest islands whilst the other three become a ghost, a woman, and a stone.

History shows that Raja Ampat was once a part of the Sultanate of Tidore, an influential kingdom from Maluku. Yet, after the Dutch invaded Maluku, it was claimed by the Netherlands.

The first recorded sighting and landing by Europeans of the Ampat Islands was by the Portuguese navigator Jorge de Menezes and his crew in 1526, en route from Biak, the Bird's Head Peninsula, and Waigeo, to Halmahera (Ternate).

The English explorer William Dampier gave his name to Dampier Strait, which separates Batanta island from Waigeo island. To the east, there is a strait that separates Batanta from Salawati. In 1759 Captain William Wilson sailing in the East Indiaman Pitt navigated these waters and named a strait the 'Pitt strait', after his vessel; this was probably the channel between Batanta and Salawati.

Administration

Most of the islands make up the Raja Ampat Regency, a regency (kabupaten) forming part of West Papua Province. It came into existence in 2004, prior to which the archipelago was part of Sorong Regency.[1] The southern part of the island of Salawati is not part of the Raja Ampat Regency. Instead, it constitutes the Salawati Selatan District of Sorong Regency.

Raja Ampat Regency is subdivided into the following districts (kecamatan):

KecamatanLand area[2]
(in km2)		Total area[2]
(land + sea)		Population[3]
(2017 estimate)
Misool Selatan (South Misool)912,3084,270
Misool Barat (West Misool)3371,4401,321
Misool1,2364,2611,825
Kofiau2067,5392,786
Misool Timur (East Misool)5545,4903,307
Kep. Sembilan (Sembilan Islands)171,7742,066
Salawati Utara (North Salawati)394161,873
Salawati Tengah (Central Salawati)5727311,674
Salawati Barat (West Salawati)5021,9171,008
Batanta Selatan (South Batanta)1891,8671,469
Batanta Utara (North Batanta)2911,3911,017
Waigeo Selatan (South Waigeo)2407911,700
Kota Waisai1221,1208,443
Teluk Mayalibit (Mayalibit Bay)622917767
Tiplol Mayalibit201299842
Meosmansar2191,5001,862
Waigeo Barat (West Waigeo)7648,7481,751
Waigeo Barat Kep. (West Waigeo Islands)1038,4392,256
Waigeo Utara (North Waigeo)1501,8711,449
Warwabomi2971,9141,100
Supnin235850891
Kepulauan Ayau (Ayau Islands)135,581922
Ayau64,3431,150
Waigeo Timur (East Waigeo)5551,8721,552
Total7,560 km267,380 km247,301

Taking account of the 2,635 people of Salawati Selatan District in Sorong Regency,[4] the total population of the archipelago adds up to 49,936.

There are proposals to divide the current Raja Ampat Regency into three, with Waigeo and its surrounding small islands forming a new North Raja Ampat Regency (Kabupaten Raja Ampat Utara), and with Misool and Kofiau and their surrounding small islands forming a new South Raja Ampat Regency (Kabupaten Raja Ampat Selatan), leaving the residue of the existing Regency to cover the northern part of Salawati Island (the rest of Salawati Island still lies within Sorong Regency) and Batanta Island (which forms Selat Sagawin District).

Population

The main occupation for people around this area is fishing since the area is dominated by the sea. They live in a small colony of tribes that spreads around the area. Although traditional culture still strongly exists, they are very welcoming to visitors. Raja Ampat people are more like Ambonese than Papuan people and now some of them are Muslim and some of them are Christian.[5]

Geography
Marine biodiversity of Raja Ampat.

The oceanic natural resources around Raja Ampat give it significant potential as a tourist area. Many sources place Raja Ampat as one of their top ten most popular places for diving whilst it retains the number one ranking for underwater biodiversity.

According to Conservation International, marine surveys suggest that the marine life diversity in the Raja Ampat area is the highest recorded on Earth.[6] Diversity is considerably greater than any other area sampled in the Coral Triangle composed of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. 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 crown-of-thorns starfish eats Raja Ampat's corals, and the destruction this causes among reefs has posed a threat to tourism. The crown-of-thorns starfish, which "can grow as big around as a trash-can lid", has proliferated due to increasing nitrogen in the water from human waste, which in turn causes a spike in phytoplankton on which the starfish feed.[7] In 2019, local divers had begun the task of reducing starfish populations by injecting the starfish with a 10% vinegar solution; the dead starfish can then be eaten by local fish.[7]

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.

1,508 fish species, 537 coral species (a remarkable 96% of all scleractinia recorded from Indonesia are likely to occur in these islands and 75% of all species that exist in the world[8]), and 699 mollusk species, the variety of marine life is staggering.[9] Some areas boast enormous schools of fish and regular sightings of sharks, such as wobbegongs.

Raja Ampat Islands have at least three ponds containing harmless jellyfish, all in the Misool area.[10]

Climate
Weather in Raja Ampat.

The islands have a tropical climate, with temperatures ranging from 20 to 33 °C (68 to 91 °F).[11]

Ecology

Terrestrial

The islands are part of the Vogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests ecoregion.[12] The rain forests that covers the islands is the natural habitat of many species of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects. Two species of bird-of-paradise, the red bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea rubra) and Wilson's bird-of-paradise (Diphyllodes respublica), are endemic to the islands of Waigeo, Gam, and Batanta.[13]

Marine

Raja Ampat is considered the global center of tropical marine bio-diversity and is referred to as The Crown Jewel of the Bird's Head Seascape, which also includes Cenderawasih Bay and Triton Bay. The region contains more than 600 species of hard corals, equaling about 75 percent of known species globally, and more than 1,700 species of reef fish. Compared to similar-sized ecosystems elsewhere in the world, this makes Raja Ampat's biodiversity the richest in the world.[14] Endangered and rare marine mammals such as Dugongs, whales (such as blue or/and pygmy blue, bryde's, less known omura's,[15][16][17] sperm), dolphins, and orcas occur here.[18][19][20]

In northeast region of Waigeo island, local villagers have been involved in turtle conservation initiatives by protecting nests or relocating eggs of leatherback, olive ridley and hawksbill turtles. Their works are supported by local government, and NGOs.[21]

Recent events

The submarine world around the islands was the subject of the documentary film Edies Paradies 3 (by Otto C. Honegger), which has been broadcast by the Swiss television network Schweizer Fernsehen.[22]

In March 2017 the 90-meter cruise ship Caledonian Sky owned by British tour operator Noble Caledonia got caught in a low tide and ran aground in the reef. An evaluation team estimated that 1,600 square meters of the reef was destroyed, which will likely result in a compensation claim of $1.28m-$1.92m. A team of environmentalists and academics estimated much more substantial damage, with potential losses to Indonesia estimated at $18.6 million and a recovery time for the reef spanning decades.[23][24][25]

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See also
  • Raja Ampat languages

References
  1. Raja Ampat, Hasanuddin University sign MoU | The Jakarta Post
  2. "Luas Wilayah Kabupaten Raja Ampat Menurut Kecamatan, 2017". Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Raja Ampat. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  3. "Jumlah Penduduk Kabupaten Raja Ampat, 2010 - 2017". Badan Pusat Statistik Kabupaten Raja Ampat. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  4. Distrik Salawati Selatan Dalam Angka 2018 (Report). p. 19.
  5. Mitra Tarigan (June 30, 2014). "The Other Side of Raja Ampat".
  6. Doubilet, David (2007). Ultra Marine: In far eastern Indonesia, the Raja Ampat islands embrace a phenomenal coral wilderness. National Geographic, September 2007. Originally retrieved from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/indonesia/doubilet-text. Archived on 2008-04-09 at https://web.archive.org/web/20080409084522/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/indonesia/doubilet-text.
  7. Kelly, John (2019-06-23). "D.C.-area scuba divers dig out their old snorkels and fins to combat a coral eater". Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  8. Allard, Tom (2011-07-02). "Sea of trouble". The Age. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
  9. "A Marine Rapid Assessment of the Raja Ampat Islands, Papua Province, Indonesia" (PDF). www.conservation.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-10-25.
  10. Kakaban (2013-08-07). "Tujuh Danau Ubur-Ubur Unik di Indonesia". Retrieved 2014-11-05.
  11. Raja Ampat Biodiversity Resort (2016-10-20). "All about Raja Ampat". Retrieved 2016-11-30.
  12. "Vogelkop-Aru lowland rain forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  13. Charles R. 2019 Paradise Birds from New Guinea
  14. Silcock D.. 2013. Indonesia's Raja Ampat. X-Ray Mag | International Dive Magazine. Retrieved on September 25, 2017
  15. Ogata J. M.. 2017. Ambon – Banda Islands – Raja Ampat. Mermaid Liveaboards. Retrieved on September 25, 2017
  16. Lindbloom A.. 2017. Omura’s Whale. Mermaid Liveaboards. Retrieved on September 25, 2017
  17. Bird's Head Seascape. Omura’s Whale by Alex Lindbloom. Retrieved on September 24, 2017
  18. Kahn B.. Marine Mammal Species Biodiversity in Raja Ampat (2011-15). Bird's Head Seascape. Retrieved on September 24, 2017
  19. Heike Iris Vester I.H.. Tapilatu F. R.. 2017. HOME TO THE RICHEST REEFS ON EARTH, RAJA AMPAT IS ALSO A MECCA FOR WHALES. The Coral Triangle. Retrieved on September 25, 2017
  20. OceanSounds e.V. - Whale & Dolphin - Research & Conservation. Marine Mammals in Raja Ampat. Retrieved on September 25, 2017
  21. Leo R. 2019 Marine Life in Raja Ampat
  22. "Pesona Raja Ampat Difilmkan di Swiss". February 1, 2012. Archived from the original on February 2, 2012.
  23. Seto Wardhana (March 14, 2017). "Saving Raja Ampat waters with tourism".
  24. "Cruise ship smashes into coral in Raja Ampat". March 13, 2017.
  25. Gokkon, Basten (10 March 2017). "British-owned cruise ship wrecks one of Indonesia's best coral reefs". Guardian. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
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