Muara Sungai Salowatu
Location:
4°22'S, 120°22'E; 20 km north of Watampone, Bone, South Sulawesi.
Area:
200 ha.
Altitude:
Sea level.
Biogeographical Province:
4.24.12.
Wetland type:
06, 07 & 10.
Description of site:
A coastal area with about 140 ha of Nypa plantations, about 40 ha of other brackish swamps and marshes, and 20 ha of fish ponds and prawn ponds. The wetlands are tidal, with brackish to saline waters.
Climatic conditions:
Humid tropical climate.
Principal vegetation:
Nypa fruticans swamp.
Land tenure:
State owned (Indonesian Government).
Conservation measures taken:
None.
Land use:
The harvesting of Nypa for thatching purposes, aquaculture (fish ponds and prawn ponds), and a little hunting. The area is inhabited by less than a hundred people.
Disturbances and threats:
Hunting and the encroachment of agriculture.
Economic and social values:
No information.
Fauna:
The wetlands are important for a variety of waterbirds, and support a large mixed breeding colony of herons and egrets, located in very dense Nypa swamp. A survey in 1986 recorded the following:
100 Bubulcus ibis 100 Egretta picata,
100 E. garzetta 40 E. alba, 5 Ardea purpurea 33 Mycteria cinerea, 2 Haliaeetus leucogaster 40 Anas gibberifrons, 1,200 A. querquedula 80 Nycticorax nycticorax and N. caledonicus
Special floral values:
No information.
Research and facilities:
Interwader carried out a preliminary survey of the area in 1986, and has recommended that an aerial survey be conducted to assess the importance of the site for waterbirds.
References:
Uttley (1986).
Criteria for Inclusion:
1b, 2a, 2c, 3b.
Source:
Marcel J. Silvius.