Mount Merapi National Park

Mount Merapi National Park is a conservation area in the Province of Yogyakarta and Central Java Province which was established on May 4, 2004 as a protection for water sources, rivers and buffer systems for Sleman, Klaten, Boyolali and Magelang districts.

This national park stands at coordinates 07°22'33" - 07°52'30" LS and 110°15'00" - 110°37'30" BT with an area of 6.4 square kilometers at an altitude of 600 - 2,968 meters above sea level. The national park has a climate of type C according to Schmidt and Ferguson's rainfall classification is rather wet with a Q value of 33.3% - 66%. Rainfall varies between 875 - 2527 mm per year.

The topography of the area starts from ramps and mountains. In the north is a plateau that narrows and coincides with Mount Merbabu in Selo District, Boyolali.

The slopes of Merapi continue down to the south coast on the edge of the Indian Ocean across the city of Yogyakarta. Two hills standing in the south are Turgo Hill and Plawangan Hill which are part of the Kaliurang tourist area.

The area is covered by regosol, andosol, alluvial and litosol soil layers. Regosol soil is a type of young soil, especially in the Yogyakarta region. The main material is volcanic material and develops on the slope physiography. Andosol soil types are found in the Selo and Cepogo sub-districts in Boyolali.

Mount Merapi is the source of three rivers: Progo River in the west, Opak River in the south and Bengawan Solo River in the east. At least 27 rivers are upstream on Mount Merapi which flows into the three rivers.

The Merapi Ecosystem is a mountain tropical forest that is affected by volcanic activity. Some endemics include saninten (Castanopsis argentea), Vanda tricolor orchid, and Java eagle (Spizaetus bartelsi). This national park is also home to the Javan leopard (Panthera pardus).

Flora

The post-eruption survey in 2010 found at least 154 species of plants, although hot clouds struck an area, not all affected areas and the succession process of vegetation naturally continued. Vanda tricolor orchids are endemic to Mount Merapi

Species found not to be entirely mountainous, some introduced species are Pinus merkusii, Acacia decurens, Erythrina lithosperma, while the dominant understorey species is Eupatorium odoratum.

Some species in the mountainous plant group include the Schima wallichii, Cupressus sp., Quercus turbinata, Myrica javanica, Anaphalis longifolia, Habenaria tosariensis, Lespedeza junghuhniana and Rhododendron javanicum.

Fauna

The survey found 97 species of birds and 15 species of mammals where 17 species of birds and 4 species of mammals were protected by state regulations, 6 species had high conservation value by IUCN 2011, 9 species were monitored in trade in endangered species by CITES, 23 species of endemic Indonesia and 2 species of feral.

Long-tailed monkeys, jungle cats and ferrets have the most extensive distribution. Some mammalian species found indirectly are Javan hawk-eagle (Nisaetus bartelsi), Black eagle (Ictinaetus malayensis), Spotted kestrel (Falco moluccensis), Crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela), Green junglefowl (Gallus varius), Spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis).



Jungle cats (Prionailurus bengalensis), Deer (Muntiacus muntjak), Porcupine (Hystrix javanica and Hystix brachyura), Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus), Crab-eating macaque (Macaca fascicularis), Javanese Lutung (Trachypithecus auratus). Wild Boar (Sus scrofa).

Leopards (Panthera pardus melas) are reported to descend near settlements in the Sleman Regency and Magelang Regencies. Herpetofauna are garden lizards (Eutropis multifasciata), Golden Tree Frogs (Philautus aurifasciatus), and Kongkang Kolam (Rana chalconota) that are endemic.