UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Indonesia

UNESCO's Description

This famous Buddhist temple, dating from the 8th and 9th centuries, is located in central Java. It was built in three tiers: a pyramidal base with five concentric square terraces, the trunk of a cone with three circular platforms and, at the top, a monumental stupa. The walls and balustrades are decorated with fine low reliefs, covering a total surface area of 2,500 m 2 . Around the circular platforms are 72 openwork stupas, each containing a statue of the Buddha. The monument was restored with UNESCO's help in the 1970s.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q29070 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

These volcanic islands are inhabited by a population of around 5,700 giant lizards, whose appearance and aggressive behaviour have led to them being called 'Komodo dragons'. They exist nowhere else in the world and are of great interest to scientists studying the theory of evolution. The rugged hillsides of dry savannah and pockets of thorny green vegetation contrast starkly with the brilliant white sandy beaches and the blue waters surging over coral.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography and climate

The park comprises a coastal section of western Flores, the three larger islands of Komodo, Padar and Rinca, 26 smaller islands and the surrounding waters of the Sape Straights. The islands of the national park are of volcanic origin. The terrain is generally rugged, characterized by rounded hills, with altitudes up to 735 m (2,411 ft). The climate is one of the driest of Indonesia with annual rainfall of 800 to 1,000 mm (31 to 39 in). Temperatures in the dry season from May to October are around 40 °C (104 °F).

History

The island of Padar and part of Rinca were established as nature reserves in 1938.

Komodo Island was declared a nature reserve in 1965, and in January 1977 as a biosphere reserve under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme.

In 1980 the islands of Komodo, Padar, Rinca and Gili Motong and the surrounding waters were declared a national park, for a total of 75,000 ha (190,000 acres; 750 km2).

In 1984 the national park was extended to 219,322 ha (541,960 acres) in order to include the marine area Mbeliling / Ngorang (31,000 ha or 77,000 acres), and Wae Wuul / Mburak Recreation Parks (3,000 ha or 7,400 acres) on mainland Flores. The marine zone covers 60% of the national park area.

Tourism

Scuba diving is popular because of the park's high marine biodiversity. Six well-known diving sites are Manta Alley, Crystal Rock and Castle Rock, Batu Bolong, Yellow Wall, the Cauldron and Tatawa Besar.

The development of ecotourism, largely marine-based, is the main strategy to make the park self-financing and generate sufficient revenue through entrance fees and tourism licenses to cover operational and managerial costs. To this end, a joint venture between TNC and a tourism operator were granted a tourism concession, that also entails extensive park management rights. This concession has generated an ongoing controversy.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q4520 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Built in the 10th century, this is the largest temple compound dedicated to Shiva in Indonesia. Rising above the centre of the last of these concentric squares are three temples decorated with reliefs illustrating the epic of the Ramayana , dedicated to the three great Hindu divinities (Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma) and three temples dedicated to the animals who serve them.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

The Prambanan temple is the largest Hindu temple of ancient Java, and the first building was completed in the mid-9th century. It was likely started by Rakai Pikatan and inaugurated by his successor King Lokapala. Some historians that adhere to dual dynasty theory suggest that the construction of Prambanan probably was meant as the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty's answer to the Buddhist Sailendra dynasty's Borobudur and Sewu temples nearby, and was meant to mark the return of the Hindu Sanjaya dynasty to power in Central Java after almost a century of Buddhist Sailendra dynasty domination. Nevertheless, the construction of this massive Hindu temple signified a shift of the Mataram court's patronage, from Mahayana Buddhism to Shaivite Hinduism.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q47721 (CC0).

Visiting Prambanan Temple

Prambanan is a complex of massive ancient Hindu temples (candi) in Central Java, Indonesia. It was built by the Mataram Kingdom, rulers of central Java and defeaters of the Sailendra Dynasty.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Prambanan (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UNESCO's Description

This national park, located in the extreme south-western tip of Java on the Sunda shelf, includes the Ujung Kulon peninsula and several offshore islands and encompasses the natural reserve of Krakatoa. In addition to its natural beauty and geological interest – particularly for the study of inland volcanoes – it contains the largest remaining area of lowland rainforests in the Java plain. Several species of endangered plants and animals can be found there, the Javan rhinoceros being the most seriously under threat.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography

Ujung Kulon National Park covers an area of 1,056.95 km2 (408.09 sq mi), of which 443.37 km2 (171.19 sq mi) is marine.

Most of the park landmass lies on the mainland, specifically the Ujung Kulon Peninsula, with the highest elevation of 480 m (1,570 ft) at Mt. Payung in the southwest of the peninsula. The eastern area of the park is marked by the Honje mountain range, with several low-lying mountains and the highest peak at Mt. Honje at 620 m (2,030 ft).

History

The Ujung Kulon area was first introduced to the Western world by Dutch-German botanist, Franz W. Junghuhn in 1846, during one of his expeditions. Since then, scientists have started gaining interest in the peninsula's biological abundance. Several years later, this supposed first trip to Ujung Kulon was included in a scientific journal.

However there are not many written records regarding Ujung Kulon before the eruption of Mount Krakatoa in 1883.

Following the Krakatoa eruption and the ensuing tsunami, which was reported to be 15 meters high, many of the peninsula's settlements were destroyed and never completely rebuilt. The eruption also obliterated much of the local flora and fauna, leaving an average 30 cm (12 in) layer of volcanic ash across the area.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q4522 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Excavations here from 1936 to 1941 led to the discovery of the first hominid fossil at this site. Later, 50 fossils of Meganthropus palaeo and Pithecanthropus erectus/Homo erectus were found – half of all the world's known hominid fossils. Inhabited for the past one and a half million years, Sangiran is one of the key sites for the understanding of human evolution.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

1883: The Dutch paleoanthropologist Eugène Dubois undertook preliminary fieldwork at Sangiran. However, Dubois did not find many fossils of interest so he shifted his attention to Trinil in East Java where he found significant discoveries.

1934: The anthropologist Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald started to examine the area. During excavations in the next years fossils of some of the first known human ancestors, Pithecanthropus erectus ("Java Man", now reclassified as part of the species Homo erectus), were found here. About 60 more human fossils, among them the enigmatic "Meganthropus", have since been found. Sangiran 2, for example, was discovered by von Koenigswald at the site.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q842328 (CC0).

Visiting Sangiran

For solo travel, see Travelling alone.

Solo the short name for Surakarta, is a major city in Central Java. Together with Yogyakarta, these two great cultural centres are heirs of the Mataram kingdom that was split in 1755. Both centres are good bases for trips to nearby UNESCO World Heritage sites like the temple complexes of Borobudur and Prambanan.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Solo (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UNESCO's Description

Lorentz National Park (2.35 million ha) is the largest protected area in South-East Asia. It is the only protected area in the world to incorporate a continuous, intact transect from snowcap to tropical marine environment, including extensive lowland wetlands. Located at the meeting-point of two colliding continental plates, the area has a complex geology with ongoing mountain formation as well as major sculpting by glaciation. The area also contains fossil sites which provide evidence of the evolution of life on New Guinea, a high level of endemism and the highest level of biodiversity in the region.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q4516 (CC0).

Visiting Lorentz National Park

Lorentz National Park (Indonesian: Taman Nasional Lorentz) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwestern and central Papua province of Indonesia, which is located on the western half of the island of New Guinea.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Lorentz National Park (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UNESCO's Description

The 2.5 million hectare Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra site comprises three national parks: Gunung Leuser National Park, Kerinci Seblat National Park and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. The site holds the greatest potential for long-term conservation of the distinctive and diverse biota of Sumatra, including many endangered species. The protected area is home to an estimated 10,000 plant species, including 17 endemic genera; more than 200 mammal species; and some 580 bird species of which 465 are resident and 21 are endemic. Of the mammal species, 22 are Asian, not found elsewhere in the archipelago and 15 are confined to the Indonesian region, including the endemic Sumatran orang-utan. The site also provides biogeographic evidence of the evolution of the island.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Geography and climate

Gunung Leuser National Park in the north of the island is 150 km long, over 100 km wide and is mostly mountainous. 40% of the park is steep, and over 1,500 m. 12% of the park only, in the lower southern half, is below 600 meters but for 25 km runs down the coast. Eleven peaks are over 2,700 m and the highest point is Gunung Leuser reaching 3,466 metres. The area surrounding Gunung Leuser is known as the Leuser Ecosystem.

Kerinci Seblat National Park in the centre extends 350 km down the back of the Bukit Barisan, averaging 45 km width and 2000 m above sea level. The northern half has a lower eastern mountain range, between 800 and 1500 m. Three quarters of the park is steep. The highest point, and highest volcano in Indonesia, is the Mount Kerinci, standing at 3,805 m.

Location and size

The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra consists of three national parks: Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP) (8629.75 km2), Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) (13,753.5 km2) and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) (3568 km2). The total area of the rainforest is 25,000 km2. The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra was chosen because, first, it represents significant area of forests on the island of Sumatra, because of the biodiversity of lowland and mountain forest. This once vast island of tropical rainforest has been condensed to secluded areas in the space of 50 years.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q4521 (CC0).

UNESCO's Description

Built for the extraction, processing and transport of high-quality coal in an inaccessible region of Sumatra, this industrial site was developed by the Netherlands East Indies’ government in the globally important period of industrialisation from the late 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. The workforce was recruited from the local Minangkabau people and supplemented by Javanese and Chinese contract workers, and convict labourers from Dutch-controlled areas. It comprises the mining site and company town, coal storage facilities at the port of Emmahaven and the railway network linking the mines to the coastal facilities. The Ombilin Coal Mining Heritage was built as an integrated system that enabled the efficient deep-bore extraction, processing, transport and shipment of coal. It is also an outstanding testimony of exchange and fusion between local knowledge and practices and European technology.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

Coal was discovered there by Dutch engineer Willem Hendrik de Greve in 1868. Mining started at the open-pit mine in 1892 after the construction of a railway. In the pre-independence period, coal production peaked in 1930, at more than 620,000 tonnes a year. Prisoners/Kettingganger (Dutch for people in chains) from Java and Sumatra who were transported to the mining site with their legs, hands, and necks chained up, were the main miners. Coal production fulfilled 90 percent of the Dutch East Indies’ energy needs.

In 1942–1945, the mine was controlled by Japan, and the mine declined. From 1945–1958, the mine was managed by the directorate of mining and in 1958–1968, by the bureau of state mining companies. In 1968, it became the Ombilin production unit of the state coal mining company.