Ujung Kulon National Park, Java, Indonesia Photograph by John Morrison   Indonesia: Island of Java Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   16,100 square miles (41,700 square kilometers) -- about the size of Maryland and Hawaii combined Critical/Endangered

· The Ghosts of Tigers
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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The Ghosts of Tigers

These tropical rain forests are notable not only for the animals that still live here, but also for those that have long disappeared. This ecoregion was once home to the Javan tiger, now extinct. Unless this habitat is protected, the same story might someday be told about Javan rhinoceros. This ecoregion harbors one of only two remaining populations of this magnificent mammal.

Special Features

This ecoregion encompasses the lowland moist forests of western Java Island in Indonesia. Truly born of fire, the islands of Java and nearby Bali were formed as a result of tectonic and volcanic activity. Even today these islands are among the most active volcanic islands in the world, posing a natural hazard to biodiversity in the region. Java’s natural habitats--including the rainforests of this ecoregion--are a mere shadow of what they once were. Vast tracts of natural forests once included extensive evergreen rain forest, semi-evergreen rain forest, moist deciduous forest, and dry deciduous forest. The differences in forest types are caused by variations in rainfall. This ecoregion also contains limestone forests and swamplands. Unfortunately, only five percent of the original natural habitat remains.

	Although the Javan rhinoceros and the more-familiar Indian (or greater one-horned) rhinoceros are similar in many ways, the Javan species is smaller and has much smoother skin than the knobby-skinned Indian species.

Wild Side

Although the Javan tiger will never be seen again, the ecoregion is still inhabited by 98 mammal species. The larger of the two known populations of the critically endangered Javan rhinoceros is found in the western part of the ecoregion. Other species include the slow loris (a small primate), fishing cat, Javan pig, banteng (a wild ox), Javan gibbon, and the globally threatened surili leaf monkey. Of the more than 350 bird species that live here, nine species are endemic or near-endemic, including the Javan plover, Sunda lapwing, Sunda coucal, black-winged starling, Javan white-eye, and the white-bibbed babbler.

Cause for Concern

Java is one of the most densely populated islands in the world--which explains why so little natural habitat remains. Fire, erosion, illegal logging, and farming are major threats to remaining forests. In freshwater swamps, the introduction of the fire-resistant exotic plant called Mimosa pigra has formed impenetrable thickets. A proposed new dam would also destroy the only extensive area of freshwater swamp left in Java.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.