Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

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Kakadu National Park is a protected area in the Northern Territory of Australia, 171 km southeast of Darwin.
Kakadu National Park is located within the Alligator Rivers Region of the Northern Territory of Australia. It covers an area of 19,804 km² (7,646 sq mi), extending nearly 200 kilometres from north to south and over 100 kilometres from east to west. It is the size of Slovenia, about one-third the size of Tasmania, or nearly half the size of Switzerland. The Ranger Uranium Mine, one of the most productive uranium mines in the world, is surrounded by the park.

The name Kakadu comes from the mispronunciation of Gaagudju, which is the name of an Aboriginal language formerly spoken in the northern part of the park. Kakadu is ecologically and biologically diverse. The main natural features protected within the National Park include:

• four major river systems:
  • the East Alligator River,
  • the West Alligator River,
  • the Wildman River; and
  • the entire South Alligator River;
• six major landforms
  • estuaries and tidal flats,
  • floodplains,
  • lowlands,
  • the stone country,
  • the outliers; and
  • the southern hills and basins;

• a remarkable variety and concentration of wildlife;
  • over 280 bird species
  • roughly 60 mammal species
  • over 50 freshwater species
  • over 10,000 insects species
  • over 1,600 plant species.

Aboriginal people have occupied the Kakadu area continuously for at least 40,000 years. Kakadu National Park is renowned for the richness of its Aboriginal cultural sites. There are more than 5,000 recorded art sites illustrating Aboriginal culture over thousands of years. The archaeological sites demonstrate Aboriginal occupation for at least 20,000 and possibly up to 40,000 years.

Kakadu wetlands

The cultural and natural values of Kakadu National Park were recognised internationally when the park was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This is an international register of properties that are recognised as having outstanding cultural or natural values of international significance. Kakadu was listed in three stages: stage 1 in 1981, stage 2 in 1987, and the entire park in 1992.
Approximately half of the land in Kakadu is aboriginal land under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, and most of the remaining land is currently under claim by Aboriginal people. The areas of the park that are owned by Aboriginal people are leased by the traditional owners to the Director of National Parks to be managed as a national park. The remaining area is commonwealth land vested under the Director of National Parks. All of Kakadu is declared a national park under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The Aboriginal traditional owners of the park are descendants of various clan groups from the Kakadu area and have longstanding affiliations with this country. Their lifestyle has changed in recent years, but their traditional customs and beliefs remain very important. About 500 Aboriginal people live in the park, many of them are traditional owners. All of Kakadu is jointly managed by Aboriginal traditional owners and the Australian Government’s Department of the Environment and Water Resources through a division known as Parks Australia. Park Management is directed by the Kakadu Board of Management.

Establishment

Kakadu Escarpment

Kakadu was established at a time when the Australian community was becoming more interested in the declaration of national parks for conservation and in recognising the land interests of Aboriginal people. A national park in the Alligator Rivers region was proposed as early as 1965, but took until 1978 for the Australian Government to make arrangements to acquire the titles over various tracts of land that now constitute Kakadu National Park.
Kakadu National Park was declared under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 (NPWC Act) in three stages between 1979 and 1991. The NPWC Act was replaced by the EPBC Act in 2000. The declaration of the park continues under the EPBC Act. Each stage of the park includes Aboriginal land under the Land Rights Act that is leased to the Director of National Parks or land that is subject to a claim to traditional ownership under the Land Rights Act. Most of the land that was to become part of Stage One of Kakadu was granted to the Kakadu Aboriginal land Trust under the Land Rights Act in August 1978 and, in November 1978, the Land Trust and the Director signed a lease for the land to be managed as a national park. Stage One of the park was declared on 5 April 1979.

Nourlangie Rock

Stage Two was declared on 28 February 1984. In March 1978, a claim was lodged under the Land Rights Act for the land included in Stage Two of Kakadu. The land claim was partly successful and, in 1986, three areas in the eastern part of Stage Two were granted to the Jabiluka Aboriginal Land Trust. A lease between the Land Trust and the Director of National parks was signed in March 1991.
In 1987, a land claim was lodged for the land in the former Goodparla and Gimbat pastoral that that were to be included in Stage Three of Kakadu. The other area to be included in Stage Three – the area known as the Gimbat Resumption and the Waterfall Creek Reserve – was later added to this land claim. The progressive declaration was due to the debate over whether mining should be allowed at Guratba (Coronation Hill) which is located in the middle of the area referred to as Sickness Country. The traditional owners’ wishes were ultimately respected and the Australian National Government decided that there would be no mining at Guratba.
In 1996, the land in Stage Three, apart from the former Goodparla pastoral leases, was granted to the Gunlom Aboriginal Land Trust and leased to the Director of National Parks to continue being managed as part of Kakadu.

The arrival of non Aboriginal people

Explorers

The Chinese, Malays and Portuguese all claim to have been the first non-Aboriginal explorers of Australia’s north coast. The first surviving written account comes from the Dutch. In 1623 Jan Carstenz made his way west across the Gulf of Carpentaria to what is believed to be Groote Eylandt. Abel Tasman is the next documented explorer to visit this part of the coast in 1644. He was the first person to record European contact with Aboriginal people. Almost a century later Matthew Flinders surveyed the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1802 and 1803.

The Ubirr Aboriginal Rock Art site

Phillip Parker King, an English navigator entered the Gulf of Carpentaria between 1818 and 1822. During this time he named the three Alligator Rivers after the large numbers of crocodiles, which he mistook for alligators.
Ludwig Leichhardt was the first land-based European explorer to visit the Kakadu region, in 1845 on his route from Moreton Bay in Queensland to Port Essington in the Northern Territory. He followed Jim Jim Creek down from the Arnhem Land escarpment, then went down the South Alligator before crossing to the East Alligator and proceeding north. A more plausible, if prosaic, explanation for the origin of the name of the park is that Leichhardt applied the colloquial German term for a cockatoo, although this is unlikely to sit well with the indigenous historians.

Rock art painting at Ubirr

In 1862 John McDouall Stuart travelled along the south-western boundary of Kakadu but did not see any people.
The first non-Aboriginal people to visit and have sustained contact with Aboriginal people in northern Australia were the Macassans from Sulawesi and other parts of the Indonesian archipelago. They travelled to northern Australia every wet season, probably from the last quarter of the seventeenth century, in sailing boats called praus. Their main aim was to harvest trepang (sea cucumber), turtle shell, pearls and other prized items to trade in their homeland. Aboriginal people were involved in harvesting and processing the trepang, and in collecting and exchanging the other goods.
There is no evidence that the Macassans spent time on the coast of Kakadu but there is evidence of some contact between Macassan culture and Aboriginal people of the Kakadu area. Among the artefacts from archaeological digs in the park are glass and metal fragments that probably came from the Macassans, either directly or through trade with the Cobourg Peninsula people.
The British attempted a number of settlements on the northern Australian coast in the early part of the nineteenth century: Fort Dundas on Melville Island in 1824; Fort Wellington at Raffles Bay in 1829; and Victoria Settlement (Port Essington) on the Cobourg Peninsula in 1838. They were anxious to secure the north of Australia before the French or Dutch, who had colonised islands further north. The British settlements were all subsequently abandoned for a variety of reasons, such as lack of water and fresh food, sickness and isolation. It is difficult to assess the impact of these settlements on the local Aboriginal people and the type of relationship that developed between them and the British. Certainly, some Aboriginal labour was used at the settlements. Exposure to new sickness was an ever-present danger. As in other parts of Australia, disease and the disruption it caused to society devastated the local Aboriginal population.

Buffalo hunters

Water buffalo in the wetlands

Water Buffalo had a big influence on the Kakadu region as well. By the 1880s the number of buffaloes released from early settlements had increased to such an extent that commercial harvesting of hides and horns was economically viable.
The industry began on the Adelaide River, close to Darwin, and moved east to the Mary River and Alligator Rivers regions.
Most of the buffalo hunting and skin curing was done in the dry season, between June and September, when buffaloes congregated around the remaining billabongs.
During the wet season hunting ceased because the ground was too muddy to pursue buffalo and the harvested hides would rot. The buffalo-hunting industry became an important employer of Aboriginal people during the dry-season months.

Missionaries

Missionaries also had a big influence on the Aboriginal people of the Alligator Rivers region, many of whom lived and were schooled at missions in their youth. Two missions were set up in the region in the early part of the century. Kapalga Native Industrial Mission was established near the South Alligator River in 1899, but lasted only four years. The Oenpelli Mission began in 1925, when the Church of England Missionary Society accepted an offer from the Northern Territory Administration to take over the area, which had been operated as a dairy farm. The Oenpelli Mission operated for 50 years.
The extent to which missions have influenced Aboriginal society is the subject of debate. Some writers and anthropologists argue that missionaries, in seeking to ‘civilise and institutionalise’ Aboriginal people, forced them to abandon their lifestyle, language, religion and ceremonies—indeed, the whole fabric of their lives. Others argue that, although criticism can be levelled at the methods used to achieve their goal, the missionaries did care about the welfare of Aboriginal people at a time when wider Australian society did not.

Salt water crocodile in Kakadu.

Pastoralists

The pastoral industry made a cautious start in the Top End. Pastoral leases in the Kakadu area were progressively abandoned from 1889, because the Victoria River and the Barkly Tablelands proved to be better pastoral regions.
In southern Kakadu much of Goodparla and Gimbat was claimed in the mid-1870s by three pastoralists, Roderick, Travers and Sergison. The leases were subsequently passed on to a series of owners, all of whom were unable for one reason or another to make a go of it. In 1987 both stations were acquired by the Commonwealth and incorporated in Kakadu National Park.
A sawmill at Nourlangie Camp was begun by Chinese operators, probably before World War I, to mill stands of cypress pine in the area. After World War II a number of small-scale ventures, including dingo shooting and trapping, brumby shooting, crocodile shooting, tourism and forestry, began.
Nourlangie Camp was again the site of a sawmill in the 1950s, until the local stands of cypress pine were exhausted. In 1958 it was converted into a safari camp for tourists. Soon after, a similar camp was started at Patonga and at Muirella Park. Clients were flown in for recreational buffalo and crocodile hunting and fishing.
Crocodile hunters often made use of the bush skills of Aboriginal people. By imitating a wallaby’s tail hitting the ground, Aboriginal hunters could attract crocodiles, making it easier to shoot the animals. Using paperbark rafts, they would track the movement of a wounded crocodile and retrieve the carcass for skinning. The skins were then sold to make leather goods. Aboriginal people became less involved in commercial hunting of crocodiles once the technique of spotlight shooting at night developed. Freshwater Crocodiles have been protected by law since 1964 and Saltwater Crocodiles since 1971.

Mining

Main article: Uranium mining in Kakadu National Park

The Ranger Uranium Mine

The first mineral discoveries in the Top End were associated with the construction of the Overland Telegraph line between 1870 and 1872, in the Pine Creek – Adelaide River area. A series of short mining booms followed.
The construction of the North Australia Railway line gave more permanency to the mining camps, and places such as Burrundie and Pine Creek became permanent settlements. The mining camps and new settlements drew many Aboriginal people away from Kakadu. No Aboriginal people are known to have worked in the mines but their exposure to alcohol and other drugs had a huge impact.
Small-scale gold mining began at Imarlkba, near Barramundi Creek, and Mundogie Hill in the 1920s and at Moline (previously called Eureka and Northern Hercules mine), south of the park, in the 1930s. The mines employed a few local Aboriginal people.
In 1953 uranium was discovered along the headwaters of the South Alligator River valley. Thirteen small but rich uranium mines operated in the following decade, at their peak in 1957 employing over 150 workers. No Aboriginal people were employed at any of these mines.
Early in the 1970s large uranium deposits were discovered at Ranger, Jabiluka and Koongarra. Following receipt of a formal proposal to develop the Ranger site, the Commonwealth Government initiated an inquiry into land use in the Alligator Rivers region. The Ranger Uranium Environmental Inquiry (known as the Fox inquiry) recommended, among other things, that mining begin at the Ranger site, that consideration be given to the future development of the Jabiluka and Koongarra sites, and that a service town be built (Fox et al. 1976, 1977). The Ranger mine and the service town (Jabiru) have had many and considerable impacts on Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people express varying opinions about mining. Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) is the operator of the Ranger uranium mine. ERA is majority owned by Rio Tinto, which holds 68.4% of ERA shares. The rest are publicly held and traded on the Australian Stock Exchange. ERA is one of the leading employers of Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. As at July 2012, ERA’s workforce of 630 full-time equivalent employees included 109 Indigenous employees, and 12 permanent Indigenous contractors, representing approximately 19%. ERA has a targeted Indigenous Employment Strategy which sets out measures and practical pathways to attract, train and retain Indigenous staff.

Climate

Mist in Kakadu on a billabong.

The Yellow Water billabong in July

Kakadu is located in the tropics, between 12° and 14° south of the Equator. The climate is monsoonal, characterised by two main seasons: the dry season and the wet season. The 'build up' describes the transition between the dry and the wet. During the dry season (from April/May to September), dry southerly and easterly trade winds predominate. Humidity is relatively low and rain is unusual. At Jabiru, the average maximum temperature for June–July is 32 °C. During the 'build up' (October to December) conditions can be extremely uncomfortable with high temperatures and high humidity. However, 'build up' storms are impressive and lightning strikes are frequent. In fact, the Top End of Australia records more lightning strikes per year than any other place on earth. At Jabiru the average maximum temperature for October is 37.5 °C.
The wet season (January to March/April) is characterised by warm temperatures and, as one would expect, rain. Most of the rain is associated with monsoonal troughs formed over Southeast Asia, although occasionally tropical cyclones produce intense heavy rain over localised areas. At Jabiru, the average maximum temperature for January is 33 °C. Annual rainfall in Kakadu National Park ranges from 1,565 mm in Jabiru to 1,300 mm in the Mary River region.
Most non Aboriginal people really only refer to the rain and dry seasons, but Aboriginal people Bininj/Mungguy identify as many as six seasons in the Kakadu region:

• Gunumeleng - mid-October to late December, pre-monsoon storm season with hot weather and building thunderstorms in the afternoons
• Gudjeuk - from January to March, monsoon season with thunderstorms, heavy rain, and flooding; the heat and humidity generate an explosion of plant and animal life
• Banggerreng - April, the "knock 'em down storm" season where floodwater recedes but violent, windy storms knock down grasses
• Yekke - from May to mid-June, relatively cool with low humidity, the Aboriginal people historically started burning the woodlands in patches to 'clean the country' and encourage new growth for grazing animals
• Wurrgeng - from mid-June to mid-August, the cold weather season with low humidity; most creeks stop flowing and the floodplains quickly dry out
• Gurrung - from mid-August to mid-October, hot dry weather with ever shrinking billabongs.

Periods of torrential rain and long dry spells mean that Kakadu can change its appearance according to the season, so is a place deserving of more than one visit.

Waterlilies such as the lotus flower abound in Kakadu National Park.

Flora

Main article: Flora of Kakadu National Park

Kakadu's flora is among the richest in northern Australia with more than 1700 plant species recorded which is a result of the park's geological, landform and habitat diversity. Kakadu is also considered to be one of the most weed free national parks in the world.

Grevillea

The distinctly different geographical areas of Kakadu have their own specialised flora. The environment referred to as ‘the Stone Country’ features ‘resurrection grasses’ that are able to cope with extreme heat and long dry spells followed by periods of torrential rain. Monsoon forests often develop in the cool moist gorges dissecting the stone country. The southern hills and basins support several endemic plants that are only found in Kakadu such as Eucalyptus koolpinensis near Jarrangbarnmi (Koolpin Gorge). Lowland areas form a large proportion of Kakadu National Park and are mainly covered in eucalypt-dominated open woodland with the ground layer consisting of a large range of grasses including spear grass, sedges and wildflowers.
The floodplains, which are inundated for several months each year, feature sedges such as spike rush as well patches of freshwater mangroves (itchy tree), pandanus and paper bark trees (Melaleuca). Varieties of water lilies, such as the blue, yellow and white snowflake, are commonly found in these areas. Estuaries and tidal flats are populated with varieties of mangroves (39 of the 47 Northern Territory species of mangrove occur in Kakadu) that are important for stabilising the coastline. Mangroves serve as feeding and breeding grounds for many fish species including the barramundi.
On the tidal flats behind the mangroves, hardy succulents (samphire), grasses and sedges grow. Isolated pockets of monsoon forest grow along the coast and river banks. These forests contain several impressive trees, among them the banyan fig, which can be recognised by its large, spreading aerial roots, and the kapok tree, which has a spiny trunk, large, waxy red flowers and pods full of cotton-like material.

Fauna

The diverse environments of Kakadu National Park supports a great array of animals, a number of which have adapted to particular habitats. Some animals in the park are rare, endangered, vulnerable or endemic. Responding to the extreme weather conditions experienced in the park, many animals are active only at particular times of the day or night or at particular times of the year.

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  Black wallaroos at Nourlangie Rock
  
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  Antilopine kangaroo in grassland at Kakadu National Park
  
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  Short-eared Rock-wallaby in Kakadu
  
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  Plumed whistling ducks
  
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  Black-necked Stork
  Kakadu National Park
  
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  Brolga and magpie geese
  
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  Saltwater crocodile
  
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  Australian darter
  

Mammals

About 74 mammal species—marsupials and placental mammals—have been recorded in the park. Most of them inhabit the open forest and woodlands and are nocturnal, making it difficult to see them. Others, such as wallabies and kangaroos (macropods, 8 species), are active in the cooler parts of the day and are easier to see.
Among the larger more common species are dingoes, Antilopine Kangaroos, Black Wallaroos, Agile Wallabys, and Short-eared Rock Wallabys. Smaller common mammals are northern quolls, brush-tailed phascogales, brown bandicoots, black-footed tree-rats, and black flying foxes. Dugongs are found in the coastal waters. However, recent surveys have revealed a disturbing decline of nearly all mammal species throughout Kakadu, including once common and widespread species such as northern tart bats.

Birds

Kakadu’s many habitats support more than 280 species of birds, or about one-third of Australia’s bird species. Some birds range over a number of habitats, but many are found in only one environment.
Some 11,246 km² of Kakadu’s savanna habitats has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports populations of the endangered Gouldian Finch, the vulnerable Red Goshawk, the near threatened Partridge Pigeon and Chestnut-backed Button-quail, and the restricted-range Hooded Parrot and Rainbow Pitta. The Kakadu Savanna IBA also supports Varied Lorikeets, Northern Rosellas, Silver-crowned Friarbirds, White-gaped, Yellow-tinted, White-lined, Bar-breasted and Banded Honeyeaters, Sandstone Shrike-thrushes, White-browed Robins, Canary White-eyes, and Masked and Long-tailed Finches.
Waterbirds include large populations of Magpie Geese, Wandering Whistling Ducks, Green Pygmy Geese, Comb-crested Jacana, Black-necked Stork, Australian Pelicans, Little Black Cormorant, Australian Darter, Nankeen Night Herons, Pied Herons, Black Bittern, Sarus Crane and Brolga.

Reptiles

Some 117 species of reptiles have been recorded in Kakadu. Being cold-blooded, these animals rely on heat from an external source such as the sun to regulate their body temperature. This is not to say that reptiles are active only during the day; in fact, few snakes can withstand Kakadu’s midday heat and most are active at night. Since the arrival of the Cane Toad in the park, many populations of reptiles have crashed. Reptiles which were once a common sight such as large goannas, Eastern brown snakes, Death Adders and many others are now rare. The iconic Frill-necked Lizard has also significantly dropped in numbers.

Estuarine Crocodile on the Yellow Waters.

Two species of crocodile occur in Kakadu: the Freshwater Crocodile (Crocodylus johnstonii) and the Estuarine, or Saltwater Crocodile (C. porosus). Freshwater Crocodiles are easily identified by their narrow snout and a single row of four large boney lumps called ‘scutes’ immediately behind the head. Estuarine Crocodiles do not have these scutes and their snout is broader. The maximum size for a ‘freshie’ is 3 metres, whereas a ‘saltie’ can exceed 6 metres.

Frogs

Kakadu’s 25 frog species are extremely well adapted to the region’s climatic extremes. Many remain dormant during rainless times. With the onset of the wet season, when the billabongs and swamps start to fill with water, the night air is filled with the sounds of frogs such as the northern bullfrog and the marbled frog. As the water builds up, frogs and tadpoles have an abundance of food, such as algae, vegetation, insects, dragonfly nymphs, and other tadpoles. Not all of Kakadu’s frogs are found in the wetlands: many live in the lowland forests.

Fish

Driving near Red Lily Lagoon at Gunbalanya

Fifty-three species of freshwater fish have been recorded in Kakadu’s waterways; eight of them have a restricted distribution. In the Magela Creek system alone, 32 species have been found. In comparison, the Murray–Darling river system, the most extensive in Australia, now supports only 27 native fish species. Although introduced fish have been found in most Australian waterways, none have been recorded in the park.

Insects

Despite the fact that Kakadu supports more than 10,000 species of insect, these creatures are often overlooked by visitors. Among the insect groups are grasshoppers, beetles, flies, termites, butterflies and moths, bees, wasps, ants, dragonflies and damselflies, caddis flies, non-biting midges and mayflies. The great variety of insects is a result of the varied habitats and relatively high temperatures throughout the year.
Perhaps the most striking insect-created features in the park are the termite mounds. The mounds in the southern part of the park are particularly large and impressive. Leichhardt’s grasshopper, in colours of orange, blue and black, is perhaps the most spectacular insect found in Kakadu. It is also found on the Arnhem Land plateau and in Gregory National Park.

Brumby, or free-roaming feral horses

Environmental issues and threats

Kakadu has seen several invasive species threaten the native habitat, particularly in recent decades. Introduced fauna including the water buffalo, wild pig and more recently, the cane toad have had major effects on habitat. Invasive weeds include Mimosa pigra, which covers 800 km² of the Top End, including vast areas of Kakadu, invasive para grass (Urochloa mutica) displaces the native food of much of Kakadu's birdlife. Salvinia molesta has infested the Magela floodplain. Brumbies also inhabit areas of the National Park, including Yellow Water. One last problem is the mining in the park which can impact a lot of the wild life's future.

The largest waterfall in the park, Jim Jim Falls

Landforms

There are six main landforms in Kakadu National Park: the Arnhem Land plateau and escarpment complex, known as the stone country; the outliers; the lowlands; the southern hills and basins; the floodplains; and the tidal flats. Each landform has its own range of habitats. Kakadu’s varied landscapes and the habitats they contain are features that contributed to its listing as a World Heritage Area.

The Mamukala wetlands

Most of Kakadu was under a shallow sea approximately 140 million years ago, with the escarpment wall formed from sea cliffs and Arnhem Land from a flat plateau above the sea. Currently the escarpment rises 330 metres above the plateau and extends approximately 500 kilometres along the East edge of the park and on into Arnhem Land. The escarpment varies from near vertical cliffs in the Jim Jim Falls area to isolated outliers and stepped cliffs in the North.
Chasms and gorges form a network that dissects the rocky platforms on the plateau. The plateau top is a harsh, dry environment where water drains away quickly and top soil is scarce in most areas. Sparse pockets of open forest and woodlands have developed in these areas. However creeks have carved deep gorges in the escarptment in which tall monsoon forests grow. These areas form microclimates for plants and animals and often serve as a refuge during the dry season. Allosyncarpia ternata, a large shady tree found only in the Kakadu and Arnhem Land, is the dominant plant species.
The outliers are essentially pieces of the Arnhem Land plateau that have become separated from the plateau complex by erosion. They were islands in the ancient seas that once covered much of Kakadu. The gently undulating lowland plains stretch over much of the Top End. Travelling anywhere in Kakadu, you cannot help noticing the lowlands—they make up nearly 70% of the park. The soils are shallow and often overlie extensive sheets of laterite (ironstone) and a thick profile of strongly leached rocks.

Mamukala

During the wet season, water carried down from the Arnhem Land plateau often overflows from creeks and rivers onto nearby floodplains. Alluvial soils carried in the floodwaters add nutrients to the floodplains. Nutrient-rich soils along with an abundance of water and sunlight make the floodplains an area of prolific plant and animal life. During the dry season the water recedes into rivers, creeks and isolated waterholes or billabongs. Kakadu’s wetlands are listed under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar Convention) for their outstanding ecological, botanical, zoological and hydrological features.
The southern hills and basins cover a large area in the south of the park, including the headwaters of the South Alligator River. Rocks here have been exposed from beneath the retreating Arnhem escarpment; they are of volcanic origin and are extremely old (2500 million years). This landform is characterised by rugged strike ridges separated by alluvial flats.

Nourlangie Rock

Kakadu’s coast and the creeks and river systems under tidal influence (extending about 100 kilometres inland) make up this landform. The shape of the estuaries and tidal flats varies considerably from the dry season to the wet season. During the dry season tidal action deposits silt along the river beds and banks. During the wet season the river beds are eroded by the floodwaters and large quantities of fresh and saline water flow out across the tidal flats, where silt is deposited. Large silt loads are also carried out to sea, some of the silt being deposited as a nutrient rich layer on the sea floor, contributing to the muddy waters that characterise Kakadu’s coastline.
The estuaries and tidal flats are home to an array of plants and animals adapted to living in the oxygen-deficient saline mud. The dominant habitats are mangrove swamps and samphire flats. Where freshwater springs occur along the coasts and river banks, isolated pockets of coastal monsoon rainforests form.

Aboriginal rock art sites

Aboriginal rock painting of Mimi spirits in the Anbangbang gallery at Nourlangie Rock

The art sites of Ubirr, Burrunguy (Nourlangie Rock) and Nanguluwur are internationally recognised as outstanding examples of Aboriginal rock art. These sites are found in rocky outcrops that have afforded shelter to Aboriginal inhabitants for thousands of years. The painting in these rock shelters were done for various reasons:

• Hunting - animals were often painted to increase their abundance and to ensure a successful hunt by placing people in touch with the spirit of the animal
• Religious significance - at some sites paintings depict aspects of particular ceremonies
• Stories and learning - stories associated with the Creation Ancestors, who gave shape to the world were painted
• Sorcery and magic - paintings could be used to manipulate events and influence people's lives; fun-for play and practice.

Aboriginal rock painting at Ubirr

Ubirr is a group of rock outcrops in the northeast of the park, on the edge of the Nadab floodplain. There several large rock overhangs that would have provided excellent shelter to Aboriginal people over thousands of years. Ubirr’s proximity to the East Alligator River and Nadab floodplains means that food would have been abundant and this is reflected in much of the rock art here. Animals depicted in the main gallery include barramundi, catfish, mullet, goanna, snake-necked turtle, pig-nosed turtle, Rock-haunting Ringtail Possum, and wallaby and thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger).
There are also images of the Rainbow Serpent said to have created much of the landscape as well as mischievous Mimi spirits and the story of the Namarrgarn Sisters. Many stories connected to Aboriginal rock are highly complex and linked to other stories. Often the true meanings have been lost, but they all have a purpose which is usually to serve as a lesson or a warning to the young or to those passing through the area.
Burrunguy, formally called Nourlangie Rock, is located in an outlying formation of the Arnhem Land Escarpment. There are a number of shelters in amongst this large outcrop linked by paths and stairways. The shelters contain several impressive paintings that deal with creation ancestors. Some of the stories connected to these artworks are known only to certain Aboriginal people and remain secret.
Anbangbang Billabong lies in the shadow of Nourlangie Rock and is inhabited by a wide range of wildlife which would have sustained traditional Aboriginal people well.
Nanguluwur is a small art site, near Nourlangie, which displays several rock art styles. These include hand stencils, dynamic figures in large head-dresses carrying spears and boomerangs, representations of Namandi spirits and mythical figures, including Alkajko, a female spirit with four arms and horn-like protuberances. There is also an interesting example of ‘contact art’ depicting a two-masted sailing ship with anchor chain and a dinghy trailing behind.

Human impacts

Fishing in the Yellow Water billabong

Human impacts during the 19th and 20th century have been significant. Introduction of Domestic Asian Water Buffalo from Southeast Asia has resulted in damage to the fragile floodplains and wetlands. Since then, buffalo have largely been eradicated from the area so the land is now rehabilitating itself. Crocodile hunting which has been banned since 1972 made a huge impact on crocodile populations. In the 30 or so years that they have been protected, however the crocodile population has recovered so successfully that some consider there to be an over population.
Mining has an obvious impact on the landscape, but only one operational uranium mine (Ranger) remains. Mine operators are required to completely rehabilitate the area once the operation is wound down. Some small scale logging occurred in the early part of the 20th century, but little evidence of this remains. Tourism represents a significant human impact to Kakadu National Park with hundreds of thousands of visitors arriving annually. Infrastructure such as roads, tracks, interpretive signage and shelter, accommodation, telecommunications and other services must be provided to support this activity.

Termite cathedral mounds in an area blackened by the park's annual winter bushfires.

Fire management

Fire is part of the landscape of Kakadu National Park, as the park contains large areas of woodland and grassy plains that are subject to long periods of dry hot weather. The flora of the region has adapted to frequent fires. Fires in northern Australia are less threatening than in southern Australia as many of the trees are largely fire resistant while other plants simply regenerate very quickly.
Controlled burning is practiced by the national park in consultation with traditional owners who have used fire as a land management tool for thousands of years. Fire is an important hunting tool for Aboriginal people using it to flush out prey. The other benefit is that once the fire has gone through an area the tender shoots of the fast regenerating grasses attract wallabies into a clearly defined area. Birds of prey such as Whistling Kites also rely on fire to flush out small animals and are usually found in large numbers circling a fire front. Other species such as white-throated grasswrens have declined because of too many fires. Aboriginal people understand that fire is necessary to ‘clean up’ the landscape and believe that many small fires are preferable to one large fire.

Tourism

The Crocodile Hotel at Jabiru

Kakadu National Park is a major tourist attraction in Australia’s north. Visitation in 2005 was 202,000. Kakadu’s dramatic landscape, Aboriginal cultural significance and diverse and abundant wildlife are what visitors are drawn to. There are many beautiful waterfalls and gorges within the park that are popular with visitors, such as Maguk, Gunlom Falls, Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls.
Kakadu National Park has some of the best examples of Aboriginal rock art in Australia. The sites of Nourlangie and Ubirr are among the most visited locations in the park. It is possible to view some of Kakadu’s diverse wildlife at places like Yellow Water Billabong, Cooinda on board a wildlife cruise or at Mamukala Wetlands or Anbangbang Billabong. The Kakadu region is one of the world’s best for bird watching as approximately 30 percent of Australia’s bird species can be seen here.

No swimming sign

Large saltwater crocodiles are also commonplace and visitors are likely to see them at Yellow Water and East Alligator River so it was no coincidence that the Crocodile Dundee films were shot here. Visitors are urged to exercise caution around crocodiles as they have been responsible for a number of fatal attacks. Recreational fishing is a popular activity inside Kakadu National Park. The main target species is Barramundi and the most popular locations are Yellow Water, the South Alligator and the East Alligator River. Hunting is not allowed in Kakadu National Park.
There are several accommodation options in the park, mostly found in the town of Jabiru, as well as a range of services to cater to visitor’s needs. Visitors can experience Kakadu National Park with a recognised tour operator or they can drive themselves. Many of the park’s sites are accessible by standard two wheel drive vehicles, but areas like Twin and Jim Jim Falls and Gunlom require four wheel drive vehicles. Visitors can experience Kakadu National Park via the Nature’s Way tourism drive which is a loop from Darwin to Jabiru then onto Katherine and back to Darwin covering approximately 900 km.

River crossing on the East Alligator River

Park management

The Kakadu National Park is proclaimed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) and is managed through a joint management arrangement between the Aboriginal traditional owners and the Director of National Parks. The Director manages Commonwealth national parks through Parks Australia, which is a part of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Title to Aboriginal land in the park is held by Aboriginal land trusts. The land trusts have leased their land to the Director of National Parks for the purpose of a national park for the enjoyment and benefit of all Australians and international visitors. Traditional owners have also expected that having their land managed as a national park would assist them in looking after their land in the face of growing and competing pressures. They saw a national park as establishing a way to manage the land that could protect their interests and be sympathetic to their aspirations. Parks Australia and the Aboriginal traditional owners of Kakadu are committed to the principle of joint management of the park and arrangements to help this happen are highlighted in Kakadu’s Plan of Management.

Twin Falls

The EPBC Act provides for boards of management to be established for parks on Aboriginal land. The Kakadu Board of Management, which has an Aboriginal majority (ten out of fifteen members), representing the Aboriginal traditional owners of land in the park, was established in 1989. The Board determines policy for managing the park and is responsible, along with the Director, for preparing plans of management for the park. The Plan of Management is the main policy document for the park and strives to balance strategic or long-term goals and tactical or day to day goals. Day-to-day management of Kakadu is carried out by people employed by Parks Australia, which is a branch of the Australian Government’s Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Approximately one-third of the staff in Kakadu are Aboriginal people.

The Mamukala billabong

Park use fee

Kakadu National Park re-introduced a park use fee from April 2010, to help manage the natural and cultural values of the park environment and improve visitor services.
Like many World Heritage sites around the world, including Yellowstone National Park, Serengeti National Park, Stonehenge, Pompeii and Herculaneum and the Pyramids of Egypt - the park use fee helps to maintain world-best management practices and facilities for the more than 200,000 visitors who experience Kakadu each year.
The $25 fee (which is inclusive of GST) applies to all interstate and international visitors aged 16 years and over. All Northern Territory residents and children under 16 are exempt.
Tickets and more information will be available on the Kakadu National Park tourism website.

General facilities

Kakadu National Park is linked to Darwin by the Arnhem Highway and to Pine Creek and Katherine by the Kakadu Highway. Both roads are sealed all weather roads although may be cut off periodically during periods of heavy rain.
The town of Jabiru has several accommodation options, a service station, police, a medical clinic and a shopping centre with a range of outlets. The town was built for the Uranium mine that was established prior to the founding of Kakadu National Park and provides infrastructure for the mine’s workforce as well as the national park activities and tourism. Jabiru has a small airport from which scenic flights operate daily. There are no scheduled air services between Jabiru and Darwin however.
Other small tourism centres such as Cooinda and South Alligator provide limited facilities. Cooinda, 50 km south of Jabiru on the Kakadu Highway is the site of Gagudju Lodge Cooinda, Yellow Water Cruises and the Warradjan Cultural Centre. Fuel and limited provisions are available at Cooinda and there is also a small airstrip for scenic flights. South Alligator approximately 40 km west of Jabiru on the Arnhem Highway includes a hotel and service station. The Border Store near Ubirr Art Site and Cahills Crossing, 50 km north of Jabiru, is a general store.

Deosai National Park

Deosai is a National Park located in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. It is one of the highest plateaus in the world with height over 4,000 metres above the sea level, covering an area of about 3,000 square kilo meters. It is snow-bound from November to May. In the summer months when the snow clears up KJTI organises jeep treks from June to September. There is a famous bridge on the river call Bara Pani meaning big river. It is accessible from Skardu  on one side and Astore Valley in the west. Deosai is well known for its spring season when it is covered by a carpet of millions of flowers and a wide variety of butterflies.

The jeep track from Astore Valley is comparatively easy but the dust track route to Skardu is hair-raising. There is a lake named Shausar Lake meaning ‘white lake’ in local language. The lake is at a height of 4,140 m. Its approximate length is 2.3 km (1.4 miles) and width 1.8 km (1.2 miles) with more than 40 m depth.

Deosai Plains make up one of the last frontiers of natural habitat for the Himalayan Brown Bear, a creature that once roamed the mountains freely. The Deosai National Park was established in 1993 to secure the survival of the bear and its habitat. Having long been a prize kill for poachers and hunters, the bear, Pakistan's largest omnivore, now has a hope for survival in Deosai where its number has increased from just 19 in 1993 to 40 in 2005.

The Deosai Plains are also home to the Himalayan Ibex, Red Fox, Golden Marmot, Wolf, the Ladakh Urial, the Snow Leopard, and over 124 resident and migratory birds. Birds in the park include the Golden Eagle, Lammergeier, Griffon Vulture, Laggar Falcon, Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel, Indian Sparrowhawk and Snowcock.

In July and August, KJTI jeep treks organises one day camp at Bara Pani which is an experience of a life time at an height of 4000 meters, higher than any mountain in Europe.

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park is one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It covers an area of 19,633 square kilometres (7,580 sq mi) in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in northeastern South Africa, and extends 360 kilometres (220 mi) from north to south and 65 kilometres (40 mi) from east to west. The administrative headquarters are in Skukuza. Areas of the park were first protected by the government of the South African Republic in 1898, and it became South Africa's first national park in 1926.
To the west and south of the Kruger National Park are the two South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. In the north is Zimbabwe, and to the east is Mozambique. It is now part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a peace park that links Kruger National Park with the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, and with the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique.
The park is part of the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere an area designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an International Man and Biosphere Reserve (the "Biosphere").
The park has nine main gates allowing entrance to the different camps.

Geography

 

The park lies in the north-east of South Africa, in the eastern parts of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces. Phalaborwa, Limpopo is the only town in South Africa that borders the Kruger National Park. It is one of the largest national parks in the world, with an area of 19,485 square kilometres (7,523 sq mi) The park is approximately 360 kilometres (220 mi) long, and has an average width of 65 kilometres (40 mi). At its widest point, the park is 90 kilometres (56 mi) wide from east to west.
To the north and south of the park two rivers, the Limpopo and the Crocodile respectively, act as its natural boundaries. To the east the Lebombo Mountains separate it from Mozambique. Its western boundary runs parallel with this range, roughly 65 km distant. The park varies in altitude between 200 m in the east and 840 m in the south-west near Berg-en-Dal. The highest point in the park is here, a hill called Khandzalive. Several rivers run through the park from west to east, including the Sabie, Olifants, Crocodile, Letaba, Luvuvhu and Limpopo Rivers.

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

I am sure, would not be readers who do not know the national park, the best known national park in the world is one of the most beautiful natural scenery assets belonging to the United States. With wild penampkan berbatunya, making this place into one object that may have you pertimbngkan for next year's holiday.

The road to the Grand Canyon from the south crosses a gently rising plateau that gives no hint at what is about to unfold. You wonder if you have made a wrong turn. All at once an immense gorge a mile deep and up to 18 miles wide opens up. The scale is so vast that even from the best vantage point only a fraction of the canyon's 277 miles can be seen.
Nearly five million people travel here each year; 90 percent first see the canyon from the South Rim with its dramatic views into the deep inner gorge of the Colorado River. So many feet have stepped cautiously to the edge of major overlooks that in places the rock has been polished smooth. But most of the park's 1,904 square miles are maintained as wilderness. You can avoid crowds by hiking the park's many trails or driving to the cool evergreen forests of the North Rim where people are fewer and viewing is more leisurely. The Grand Canyon boasts some of the nation's cleanest air, with visibility on clear days averaging 90 to 110 miles.
It's hard to look at the canyon and not be curious about geology. Rock that dates back 1.8 billion years lies at the bottom. Exactly how the river formed the canyon is still unclear, but geologists generally agree that most of the cutting occurred within the last five million years.

Gunung Papandayan adalah gunung yang memanjang di selatan kota Bandung. Gunung ini terletak di Kabupaten Garut cukup populer di kalangan warga Jawa Barat karena banyaknya wisatawan dan pendaki yang mengunjungi gunung ini.

Untuk mendaki gunung ini bisa melalui cisurupan (garut), melalui jalur pengalengan (sedep) atau melalui cileleuy

Mendaki melalui cisurupan adalah jalur yang paling menyenangkan, menyenangkan dalam arti tidak perlu jalan banyak, tapi sudah sampai di objek wisata. Karena melalui cisurupan, pendakian akan dihemat dengan menggunakan angkutan bak terbuka. Sehingga kita hanya perlu hiking 1 jam saja untuk melihat kawah papandayan. Untuk mengapai puncaknya pun tidaklah sulit, kita hanya perlu berjalan kaki 2 jam. Track pun lumayan landai.

Obyek wisata disini yang sangat special adalah kawah papandayan yang masi mengepulkan asap belerang, selebihnya hanyalah pemandangan alam, dan hamparan luas hutan. Lumayan menyenangkan. Jika anda menyukai alam.

Jika anda ingin camping anda dapat camping di puncak gunung, atau di pondok selada, Namun pondok selada masi tertutup untuk camping dikarenakan rawan longsor.

Menurut kami jalur yang paling menyenangkan adalah pergi lewat cisurupan dan kembali lewat cisurupan lagi. Karena melalui cisurupan, fasilitas transportasi cukup tersedia. Sehingga anda tidak akan menemukan kesulitan apabila ingin pulang. Cukup melelahkan juga jika anda harus berjalan kaki turun gunung.

Kami sangat-sangat tidak menyarankan anda mencoba untuk turun lewat jalur cileleuy, Karena anda akan mencapai kebun teh, yang luasnya berhektar2, dan jalan nya pun berkelok-kelok, yang parah nya anda akan sampai di desa terpencil, dimana tidak ada angkot, jalan raya pun sangat jauh dari desa tersebut. Serasa terdampar di tempat terpencil. Tidak ada truk sayur kosong disini, karena mengangkut hasil bumi dari lading para petani. Tidak ada angkot ataupun ojek. Karena didesa ini hanya ada motor trail, dan mobil-mobilan (mobil tua).

Jika anda seorang backpacker sejati.
Berikut panduan nya
Rute dari Jakarta (terminal rambutan) – Kota garut (terminal guntur) – angkot sampai pertigaan cisurupan – cisurupan kawah

Budget
Jakarta – garut Rp 30.000 bus ac, mau hemat nebeng mobil sayur 10rb saja (tidak direkomendasi)
Terminal guntur – cisurupan 5.000 (tariff turis) sebenarnya orang desa Cuma bayar 3 – 4 rb saja
Mobil kap terbuka sampai ke atas kawah 5.000 juga
Pintu masuk 2.000,- jika loket belum buka, anda bisa menitipkan ke warung.

Pantai Sanur BALI (SANUR BEACH)

Pantai Sanur adalah sebuah tempat pelancongan pariwisata yang terkenal di pulau Bali. Tempat ini letaknya adalah persis di sebelah timur kota Denpasar, ibukota Bali. Sanur berada di Kotamadya Denpasar.
Karena memiliki ombak yang cukup tenang, maka pantai Sanur tidak bisa dipakai untuk surfing layaknya Pantai Kuta . Tak jauh lepas Pantai Sanur terdapat juga lokasi wisata selam dan snorkeling. Oleh karena kondisinya yang ramah, lokasi selam ini dapat digunakan oleh para penyelam dari semua tingkatan keahlian.
Pantai Sanur juga dikenal sebagai Sunrise beach (pantai Matahari terbit) sebagai lawan dari Pantai Kuta.
Karena lokasinya yang berada di sebelah timur pulau Bali, maka pantai Bali ini menjadi lokasi yang tepat untuk menikmati sunrise atau Matahari terbit. Hal ini menjadikan tempat wisata ini makin menarik, bahkan ada sebuah ruas di pantai Sanur ini yang bernama pantai Matahari Terbit karena pemandangan saat Matahari terbit sangat indah jika dilihat dari sana.
Sepanjang pantai Bali ini menjadi tempat yang pas untuk melihat Matahari terbit. Apalagi sekarang sudah dibangun semacam sanderan yang berisi pondok-pondok mungil yang bisa dijadikan tempat duduk-duduk menunggu Matahari terbit. Selain itu, ombak di pantai ini relatif lebih tenang sehingga sangat cocok untuk ajang rekreasi pantai anak-anak dan tidak berbahaya.
Selain itu, pengunjung bisa melihat Matahari terbit dengan berenang di pantai. Sebagian kawasan pantai ini mempunyai pasir berwarna putih yang eksotis. Dilengkapi dengan pohon pelindung, pengunjung bisa duduk-duduk sambil menikmati jagung bakar ataupun lumpia yang banyak dijajakan pedagang kaki lima.

Sepanjang tempat wisata pantai Bali ini sekarang sudah dilengkapi dengan penunjang wisata berupa hotel, restoran ataupun kafe-kafe kecil serta art shop. Salah satu hotel tertua di Bali dibangun di pantai ini. Hotel ini bernama Ina Grand Bali Beach yang terletak persis di tepi pantai. Selain itu, sepanjang garis pantai juga dibangun semacam area pejalan kaki yang seringkali digunakan sebagai jalur jogging oleh wisatawan ataupun masyarakat lokal. Jalur ini terbentang ke arah selatan melewati pantai Shindu, pantai Karang hingga Semawang sehingga wisatawan bisa berolahraga sekaligus menikmati pemandangan pantai di pagi hari.

Pulau Derawan, Kalimantan Timur

Kepulauan Derawan adalah sebuah kepulauan yang berada di Kabupaten Berau, Kalimantan Timur. Di kepulauan ini terdapat sejumlah obyek wisata bahari menawan, salah satunya Taman Bawah Laut yang diminati wisatawan mancanegara terutama para penyelam kelas dunia.
Kepulauan Derawan memiliki tiga kecamatan yaitu, Pulau Derawan, Maratua, dan Biduk Biduk, Berau.
Sedikitnya ada empat pulau yang terkenal di kepulauan tersebut, yakni Pulau Maratua, Derawan, Sangalaki, dan Kakaban yang ditinggali satwa langka penyu hijau dan penyu sisik.
Secara geografis, terletak di semenanjung utara perairan laut Kabupaten Berau yang terdiri dari beberapa pulau yaitu Pulau Panjang, Pulau Raburabu, Pulau Samama, Pulau Sangalaki, Pulau Kakaban, Pulau Nabuko, Pulau Maratua dan Pulau Derawan serta beberapa gosong karang seperti gosong Muaras, gosong Pinaka, gosong Buliulin, gosong Masimbung, dan gosong Tababinga.
Di Kepulauan Derawan terdapat beberapa ekosistem pesisir dan pulau kecil yang sangat penting yaitu terumbu karang, padang lamun dan hutan bakau (hutan mangrove). Selain itu banyak spesies yang dilindungi berada di Kepulauan Derawan seperti penyu hijau, penyu sisik, paus, lumba-lumba, kima, ketam kelapa, duyung, ikan barakuda dan beberapa spesies lainnya.
Kepulauan Derawan telah dicalonkan untuk menjadi Situs Warisan Dunia UNESCO pada tahun 2005.

Pegunungan Karst Bantimurung, Sulawesi Selatan

Taman Nasional Bantimurung mempunyai pemandangan alam yang paling indah. Karena di taman nasional ini, terdapat sumber air yang tidak pernah kering. Sehingga berbagai jenis tanaman dapat bertahan di saat musim kemarau yang panjang.
  Taman Nasional Bantimurung-Bulusaraung (atau disingkat TN Babul) terletak di Sulawesi Selatan, seluas ± 43.750 Ha. Secara administrasi pemerintahan, kawasan taman nasional ini terletak di wilayah Kabupaten Maros dan Kabupaten Pangkajene Kepulauan (Pangkep).  Secara geografis areal ini terletak antara 119° 34’ 17” – 119° 55’ 13” Bujur Timur dan antara 4° 42’ 49” – 5° 06’ 42” Lintang Selatan. Secara kewilayahan, batas-batas TN Babul adalah sebagai berikut : Sebelah Utara berbatasan dengan Kabupaten Pangkep, Barru dan Bone, Sebelah Timur berbatasan dengan Kabupaten Maros dan Kabupaten Bone, Sebelah Selatan berbatasan dengan Kabupaten Maros dan Sebelah Barat berbatasan dengan Kabupaten Maros dan Kabupaten Pangkep. Taman nasional ini ditunjuk menjadi kawasan konservasi atau taman nasional berdasarkan Keputusan Menteri Kehutanan Nomor : SK.398/Menhut-II/2004 tanggal 18 Oktober 2004. Saat ini dikelola oleh Balai Taman Nasional Bantimurung-Bulusaraung, yang berkedudukan di kecamatan Bantimurung, Maros, Sulawesi Selatan.
 Taman Nasional Bantimurung-Bulusaraung memiliki berbagai keunikan, yaitu: karst, goa-goa dengan stalaknit dan stalakmit yang indah, dan yang paling dikenal adalah kupu-kupu. Bantimurung oleh Alfred Russel Wallace dijuluki sebagai The Kingdom of Butterfly (kerajaan kupu-kupu. Taman Nasional ini merupakan salah satu tempat tujuan wisata yang menyuguhkan wisata alam berupa lembah bukit kapur yang curam dengan vegetasi tropis, air terjun, dan gua yang merupakan habitat beragam spesies [termasuk [kupu-kupu]].
 Taman Nasional ini memang menonjolkan kupu-kupu sebagai daya tarik utamanya. Di tempat ini sedikitnya ada 20 jenis kupu-kupu yang dilindungi pemerintah dan ditetapkan melalui Peraturan Pemerintah No. 7/1999. Beberapa spesies unik bahkan hanya terdapat di Sulawesi Selatan, yaitu Troides Helena Linne, Troides Hypolitus Cramer, Troides Haliphron Boisduval, Papilo Adamantius, dan Cethosia Myrana. Antara tahun 1856-1857, Alfred Russel Wallace menghabiskan sebagian hidupnya di kawasan tersebut untuk meneliti berbagai jenis kupu-kupu. Wallace menyatakan Bantimurung merupakan The Kingdom of Butterfly (kerajaan kupu-kupu). Menurutnya di lokasi tersebut terdapat sedikitnya 250 spesies kupu-kupu.
 Selain di kawasan Bantimurung, Taman Nasional Bantimurung-Bulusaraung memiliki berbagai macam lokasi ekowisata yang menarik. Di sana terdapat lebih dari 80 Gua alam dan Gua prasejarah yang tersebar di kawasan karst TN Bantimurung-Bulusaraung.

Danau Sentani, Papua(sentani lake)

Danau Sentani di bawah lereng Pegunungan Cycloops yang terbentang antara Kota Jayapura dan Kabupaten Jayapura, Papua. Landskap Danau Sentani dengan gugusan pulau di tengahnya merupakan salah satu yang terindah di Indonesia.
Danau Sentani adalah danau yang terletak di Papua Indonesia. Danau Sentani berada di bawah lereng Pegunungan Cagar Alam Cycloops yang memiliki luas sekitar 245.000 hektar. Danau ini terbentang antara Kota Jayapura dan Kabupaten Jayapura, Papua. Danau Sentani yang memiliki luas sekitar 9.360 hektar dan berada pada ketinggian 75 mdpl. Danau Sentani merupakan danau terbesar di Papua.
Di danau ini juga terdapat 21 buah pulau kecil menghiasi danau yang indah ini. Arti kata Sentani berarti "di sini kami tinggal dengan damai”. Nama Sentani sendiri pertama kali disebut oleh seorang Pendeta Kristen BL Bin ketika melaksanakan misionaris di wilayah danau ini pada tahun 1898.

Pantai dreamland, Bali

Dreamland atau lebih dikenal sebagai Pantai Dreamland merupakan salah satu pantai terindah di Bali selain Pantai Kuta. Pantai yang terletak tidak jauh dari daerah Uluwatu di Pulau Dewata ini sudah sangat terkenal karena keindahannya. Keindahan dan kebersihan pantai menambah daya tarik pengunjung, bukan hanya dari dalam negeri tapi juga turis manca negara.
Pantai Dreamland adalah sebuah tempat pariwisata yang terletak di sebelah selatan Bali di daerah bernama Pecatu. Pantai Dreamland dikelilingi oleh tebing-tebing yang menjulang tinggi, dan dikelilingi batu karang yang lumayan besar di sekitar pantai. Lokasi pantai ini berada dalam kompleks Bali Pecatu Graha (Kuta Golf Link Resort) yaitu sekitar 30 menit dari pantai Kuta.
Pantai Dreamland sendiri hampir mirip dengan pantai Kuta. Pasir putih dan celah karang yang terjal menjadi pemandangan yang begitu memikat mata untuk dipandang. Lokasi berpasir putih bersih di pantai sempit tepat di bawah dinding karang curam cocok untuk menikmati matahari tenggelam atau sekedar menyaksikan atraksi para peselancar. Ombaknya yang tinggi dan besar banyak diminati oleh para penggemar olahraga selancar air (surfing), bahkan Dreamland sudah dijadikan semacam surfing spot baru untuk kawasan Bali.

. Baluran, Jawa Timur

Baluran adalah Afrikanya Indonesia, Taman Nasional ini merupakan perwakilan ekosistem hutan yang spesifik kering di Pulau Jawa, terdiri dari tipe vegetasi savana, hutan mangrove, hutan musim, hutan pantai, hutan pegunungan bawah, hutan rawa dan hutan yang selalu hijau sepanjang tahun. Sekitar 40 persen tipe vegetasi savana mendominasi kawasan Taman Nasional Baluran. Taman Nasional Baluran adalah salah satu Taman Nasional di Indonesia yang terletak di wilayah Banyuputih, Situbondo, Jawa Timur, Indonesia (sebelah utara Banyuwangi). Nama dari Taman Nasional ini diambil dari nama gunung yang berada di daerah ini, yaitu gunung Baluran. Gerbang untuk masuk ke Taman Nasional Baluran berada di 7°55'17.76"S dan 114°23'15.27"E. Taman nasional ini terdiri dari tipe vegetasi sabana, hutan mangrove, hutan musim, hutan pantai, hutan pegunungan bawah, hutan rawa dan hutan yang selalu hijau sepanjang tahun. Tipe vegetasi sabana mendominasi kawasan Taman Nasional Baluran yakni sekitar 40 persen dari total luas lahan.

ora beach

Pantai Ora berada di Desa Saleman, Kecamatan Seram Utara, Maluku Tengah. Ora Eco Resort merupakan satu – satunya penginapan yang ada di pantai ini. Penginapannya  seperti saung – saung yang mengambang diatas air.
Ora Eco Resort juga memiliki salah satu fasilitas yang sayang untuk dilewatkan ketika berkunjung kesini, yaitu tour menggunakan kapal untuk mengelilingi kawasan Pantai Ora.  Dengan bimbingan guide, kamu bisa akan berjalan-jalan melihat tebing, goa, snorkeling, hingga ke muara tempat pertemuan antara air tawar dan air laut.

Malenge Island

Pulau Malenge merupakan salah satu dari Taman Nasional Kepulauan Togean, kompleks wisata bahari dari Sulawesi Tengah. Pulau Malenge terdiri dari dua bagian pulau, yaitu Pulau Papan yang dihuni suku Bajoe dan Pulau Kadoda
Selain memiliki gugusan pantai yang indah dan pemandangan alam yang memesona, Pulau ini terbilang unik dengan kondisi alamnya yang masih diliputi hutan tropis yang rimbun.