Kelimutu National Park


Kelimutu National Park
Kelimutu National Park is located on the island of Flores, Indonesia. It consists of a region with hills and mountains, with Mount Kelibara (1,731 m) as its highest peak. Mount Kelimutu, which has the three coloured lakes, is also located in this national park. This natural attraction is a destination for tourists.
Some endagered plant species are protected in this national park, such as: Toona spp., Anthocephalus cadamba, Canarium spp., Diospyros ferra, Alstonis scholaris, Schleichera oleosa, Casuarina equisetifolia and Anaphalis javanica. Some endangered animals can also be found here, such as: Javan Rusa, Wild boar sp., Red Junglefowl, Elanus sp. and Drongo sp. (Dicrurus sulphurea).
The four endemic mammals in the park include two montane rodents: Bunomys naso and Hainald's Rat (Rattus hainaldi).
In this area, there is also an arboretum, a mini jungle (4,5 ha) represent flora biodiversity of Kelimutu National Park. The arboterum consists of 78 types of tree plants which are grouped into 36 families. Some of the Kelimutu's endemic flora collections are uta onga (Begonia kelimutuensis), turuwara (Rhododendron renschianum), and arngoni (Vaccinium varingiaefolium)

Geological details

The volcano contains three striking summit crater lakes of varying colors. Tiwu Ata Mbupu (Lake of Old People) is usually blue and is the westernmost of the three lakes. The other two lakes, Tiwu Nuwa Muri Koo Fai (Lake of Young Men and Maidens) and Tiwu Ata Polo (Bewitched or Enchanted Lake) are separated by a shared crater wall and are typically green or red respectively. The lake colors vary on a periodic basis. Subaqueous fumaroles are the probable cause of active upwelling that occurs at the two eastern lakes.
The lakes have been a source of minor phreatic eruptions in historical time. The summit of the compound 1639-m-high Kelimutu volcano is elongated two km in a WNW-ESE direction; the older cones of Kelido and Kelibara are located respectively three km to the north and two km to the south. The scenic lakes are a popular tourist destination.
Kelimutu is also of interest to geologists because the three lakes have different colors yet are at the crest of the same volcano. According to the local officer at Kelimutu National Park, the colour changes as a result of chemical reactions resulting from the minerals contained in the lake perhaps triggered by volcano gas activity. Kawah Putih lake in West Java, south of Bandung, is another crater lake in Indonesia with some similarities to the lakes at Kelimutu.

Tourism

In the early days of developing the local national park in the Kelimutu area, there were some disputes with local communities over the use of the resources. More recently, forest rangers have worked to develop better relations with nearby village communities and overall management has improved.[5]
Kelimutu is one of the mountains listed as a ribu in Indonesia which are mountains in Indonesia which are more than 1,000 meters high.
The area is said to have begun to attract attention after being noticed by a regional Dutch military commander, B. van Suchtelen in 1915 and became more well-known after Y. Bouman wrote about the site in 1929.[6]
The closest airports are Maumere, and Ende. There are regular flights to Maumere from Bali. The drive from Maumere to Moni, the town at the base of Kelimutu where accommodation is available, takes about 3 hours. 

Source : wikipedia.org

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