Flora & Fauna
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Indonesia is a big country. Its 13,000 islands sprawl in an arc stretching 3000 miles along the equator and covering two major biological regions, its western half forms part of the Oriental zone, while the eastern islands fall within the Australasian Zone. This mean that the zoology and biology of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java and Bali are very similar to mainland Asia, while Irian Jaya and its neighboring islands have many characteristics in common with Australia. |
| From the beginning of time, Indonesia, has always been rich in plant life. Early fossils show the island floral diversity, which has since multiplied into an area comprising more than 144 hectares of tropical rainforest which occupied 10 percent of the archipelago's area. More than 40,000 types of flora - nearly 15 percent of the estimated species in the world - have been recorded in the Indonesian area, while many areas still remain unexplored and many species undiscovered. |  |
Nycticebus Coucang (Sumatra rain forest) |
In Marco Polo's book of Marvels, he tells of the strange "unicorn" sighted in the jungle of what is known as Java. This was the first documented evident that proved the existence of the rare Java rhino only one of the unique and wonderful species found exclusively in the Indonesian archipelago. At least more than 1,500 birds, 500 mammals, and 5,000 species of fish have been documented and there are still many species unexplored and undiscovered. |