Tanjung Jabung
Location:
1°08'-1°40'S, 104°05'-l04°28'E; 60 km ENE of Jambi, on the east coast of Jambi Province, Sumatra.
Area:
c.175,000 ha.
Altitude:
0-20m.
Wetland type:
05, 06, 07, 11, 18 & 21.
Description of site:
One of the largest swamp forest reserves in Indonesia, forming part of the vast alluvial plain of eastern Sumatra. The reserve is unique for its vast area of hitherto undisturbed peat swamp forest (110,000 ha), and has the largest expanse of freshwater swamp forest within any reserve in Sumatra (c.60,000 ha). At its eastern boundary, the reserve is bordered by five villages and a muddy coast with a narrow fringe of mangrove forest (c.1,500 ha). The Air Hitam Laut River flows through the reserve, and the Beau River forms its southern boundary. Along these rivers, there is a fringe of Nypa fruticans, 5-50m wide, which gives way to a zone of Pandanus tectorius at about eight or ten km upstream from the coast. Behind these palm and pandanus fringes, there is a zone of riverine forest, 50-500ni wide, dominated by Mammea sp. The maximum tidal range at the coast is 2.0-2.5m; at 10km upstream, the range is still one metre. The forest is inundated for a large part of the year. The peat soil is typically dome-shaped. The rivers are up to 20m deep and contain acidic, peaty water. In the dry season, brackish water penetrates up to 10 km inland.
Climatic conditions:
Humid tropical climate with an average annual rainfall of 2,300 mm. There are five or six months with about 200 mm of rainfall, and two months with as little as 100 mm.
Principal vegetation:
Peat swamp forest with trees over 40m in height; freshwater swamp forest with a canopy at 50m and emergents up to 70m in height; riverine forest with trees up to 5Om in height and many palms, and riverine fringes of Nypa fruticans and Pandanus tectorius. Over 150 species of trees have been recorded. Species characteristic of the peat swamp forest include Tetramerista glabra, Gluta sp, Dyospyros bantamensis and Durio carinatus; species characteristic of the freshwater swamp forest include Alstonia pneumatophora, Antidesma montanum, Baccaurea bracteata and Blumeodendron tokbrai; species typical of the riverine forest include Oncosperma tiggilarium, Callophyllum sp. Mammea sp, Theysmanniodendron sp. Polyalthya sp and Licuala valida. The aquatic flora includes Susum anthelminticum, a floating riverine species which grows up to two metres in height and blocks the rivers about 15 km upstream from the coast. The principal plant communities in adjacent areas are peat swamp foreorest, freshwater swamp fst, rice paddies and other agricultural land.
Possible changes in land use:
There is a possibility that the coastal villages will encroach further into the protected area, unless adequate patrolling measures are taken. Major logging concessions are located to the west of the reserve and partly overlap with the southwestern portion of the reserve (67,500 ha).
Land tenure:
The wetland is state owned (PHPA), and is still inhabited by a Kubu tribe which has no contact at all with the outside world. Surrounding areas are privately owned by local people and spontaneous transmigrants from Sulawesi.
Conservation measures taken:
Protected as a Game Reserve since October 1935; the boundaries have been revised several times since then. The last revision occurred in 1985, when the coastal villages were excluded from the reserve. The area is regularly patrolled by PHPA (BKSDA Sub-section Nipah Panjang).
Conservation measures proposed:
It has been proposed that the sandy beach area excluded from the reserve in 1985 should be re-gazetted as Game Reserve, and that the northwestern boundary of the reserve should be realigned to follow the Air Hitam Dalam River.
Land use:
Game reserve. The area is inhabited by about 150 Kubu, an indigenous tribe of hunter-gatherers who may not even know the use of fire.
Disturbances and threats:
The principal threats are drainage of the peat swamp by drainage canals from the coastal villages, illegal logging, human disturbance at the roosts of migratory shorebirds on the sandy beach at Desa Cemara, illegal capture of False Garials Tomistoma sch!egelii, and capture of freshwater turtles (often accidental). The area fringing the eastern boundary is highly susceptible to forest fires. A fire in 1982 lasted for three months and destroyed at least 3,000 ha of primary forest. The fire was probably caused by uncontrolled burning on nearby cultivated land.
Economic and social values:
The Kubu tribe of hunter-gatherers is unique, especially as the tribe exists without any contact with the outside world apart from very occasional long distance approaches. The peat swamp serves as an important natural water storage reservoir in the dry season, providing the coastal villages and reclaimed land with water.
Fauna:
At least 34 species of freshwater fishes and brackish water fishes are known from the rivers. The reserve includes several important sites for waterbirds, the most important being the sandy beach near the mouth of the River Cemara. At least 24 species of shorebirds have been recorded, including the Asian Dowitcher Limnodromus semipa!matus and Nordmann's Greenshank Tringa guttifer. The area is very rich in mammals; species known to occur in the reserve include Tiger, Leopard Cat, Common Porcupine, Yellow-throated Marten, Malay Sunbear, Common Otter, Wild Boar, Bearded Pig, Tapir, Sambar, Lesser Mouse Deer, Greater Mouse Deer, Long-tailed Macaque, Pig-tailed Macaque, Silvered Leaf Monkey, Dark-handed Gibbon, Scaly Anteater, Siamang, Flying Lemur and Binturong (Panthera tigris, Felis benga!ensis, Hystrix brachyura, Manes flavigula, Lutra lutra, Helarctos malayanus, Sus scrofa, S. barbatus, Tapirus indicus, Cervui unicolor, Tragulus javanicus, T. napu, Macaca fascicularis, M. nemestrina, Presbytis cristala, Hylobates agilis, Manis javanica, Symphalangus syndaclylus, Cynocephalus variegatus and Arctitis binturong). A species of rhinoceros may still be present; footprints were reported in the mid 1970s, possibly of the Javan Rhinoceros Rhinoceros sondaicus. Both the Estuarine Crocodile Crocodylus porosus and False Gharial Tomistoma schlegelii still occur in the area. Other reptiles include the turtles Orlitia borneensis, Cyclemys dentata, Pelochelys bibronii and Chitra indica, the snakes Python reticulatus, Bungarius fasciatus, Boiga dendrophila, Cerberus rhynchops and Dendrophis pictus, and the lizards Draco sp, Varanus salvator, Tachydromus sexlineatus and Mabouya rudis. Amphibians include the toad Bufo subas per.
Special floral values:
No information.
Research and facilities:
Various faunal and floral surveys have been carried out in the reserve.
References:
IPB (1976b); IUCN (in prep); Karpowicz (1985); Nash & Nash (1985a); Silvius (1986); Silvius et al. (1984 & 1986).
Criteria for Inclusion:
1b, 1e, 2a, 2b, 3b.
Source:
Marcel J. Silvius.