Aketajawe Lolobata

Aketajawe Lolobata National Park is a national park on Halmahera, the biggest land in the North Maluku Province of Indonesia. The park is considered by Bird Life International to be vital for the survivor of at least 23 endemic birds species. Aketajawe Lolobata wich has an area of 167.300 hectares is the part of the Wallcea Biodiversity Hotspot.

Aketajawe Lolobata is a protected forest which combines 2 separated main areas (group or Aketajawane and group of Lolobata), and has both species and habitat from biogeography unit of Halmahera Management Unit. The expected conservation form the combination of these areas are :

• Protection agains ecosystem biodiversity representative and from lowland up to the upland, and covering the native representative of important on shore habitat in Halmahera island.
• The protection of community watershed, agriculture industry and other, nevertheless this area is the best choice of Tugutil forest community to sustain their traditional life.

The vegetation of the national park consist primarily of lowland and montane rainforest. The forest is characterized by a high level of biodiversity, including agathis sp., Calophyllum inophyllum, Octomeles sumatrana, Koordersiodendron pinnatum, Pometia pinnata,  Intsia bijuga, Canarium mehenbethene gaerta, and Palaquium obtusifolium.

For 51 mammal species found in North Maluku, 28 are found on Halmahera island of which 7 are endemic to this region and one, the Ornate Cuscus (Palanger sp.), is endemic to the island.

From 243 birds species in North Maluku, 211 have been recorded on Halmahera island of which 24 are endemic, including Wallace's Standardwing. Halmahera Cuckoo-shrike, Sombre Kingfisher, White Cockatoo, Invisible Rail, Blue and White Kingfisher (Halcyon diops), Dusky-brown Oriole, Mollucan Goshawk, Dusky Scrubfowl, Long-billed Crow, Grey-headed Fruit-dove, Ivory-breasted Pitta, and Purple Dollarbird.

Reptiles and amphibians in the park include the Callulos dubia, Caphixalus montanus, and Hydrosaurus werneri.

Other endemic fauna on Halmahera includes 2 Grasshopper species, 3 Dragonfly species, 1 Butterfly species, and 20 land mollusc species.

The park is home to a semi-nomadic community of people known as Tobelo Dalam or Forest Tobelo. They share acommon language with the coastal village communities of the Tobelo people. Their number is estimated to be around 2.000.

In 1981, the National Conservation Plan proposed the designation of four protected areas : Aketajawe, Lolobata, Saketa, and Gunung Gamkonora. The 1993 Indonesian Biodiversity Action Plan recommended the designation of an integrated protected area. Survey work by BirdLife in 1994 - 1996 identified Aketajawe-Lolobata as an Important Bird Area.

The 1995 the Aketajawe and Lolobata areas, were proposed as National Park. In 1999 a large forest area of 7.264.707  hectares has been classified as a State Forest Area, which included the Aketajawe and Lolobata Forest Groups. In 2004 a National Park has been declared with a total area of 167.300 hectares, which is formed by the Aketajawe Protected Forest Group (77.100 ha) in the district of Central Halmahera and Kota Tidore Kepulauan, and Lolobata Forest Group (90.200 ha) in East Halmahera district.

Threats to the national park are posed by illegal logging and mining. Between 1990 to 2003, forest declined in North Maluku from 86 % to just under 70 %, whit much of it occuring in the lowlands (below 400 m asl). As a result, species with large amounts of their range at low elevations were most strongly affected.


Declared by Minister of Forestry No.  397/Menhut-II/2004. October 18, 2004.