tree fern in the mist..

Dicksonia blumei, unfortunately i forgot the vernacular name.
it has yellowish-gold scale encircling the trunk and lower part of fronds.

Gunung Gede Pangrango NAtional Park, West Java
is one of two remaining pocket of mountain forest in West Java. the other in Gunung Halimun Salak National Park, with lower elevation

salak mountain

Mount Salak... taken from old building of HErbarium (BO)goriense
beautiful morning, perfect time to take the picture, clear blue sky, only cirrus cloud accompanying the weather.
thin fog raised from cold earth as the sun goes up. it shadowing deep trees- carpeted valley between main ridge.
& now coz BO already moved to Cibinong, the chance to get this magical moment would be very rare.. well i miss those moment...

Heavy storm effect at Bogor Botanical Garden

correct guys....
this image was real.. not manipulated by AdoBe Photoshop

at mid of 2006, big storm crushed the beatiful face of Bogor Botanical Garden.
and the result is obvious, Myristicaceae section is like a mess.. lot of big trees unrotted from their massive soil. and like te root this picture tell, the soil anchored to the root so tight and at last exposed the the air.

ujungkulon

(picture was taken at Kalejetan, 1 remote location side by side of Indian Ocean)

2000 A.D. Februari
3 young men from Biology UI from class of 98 make a "great" (i prefer that word than "stupid") trip to UjungKulon national park at the west part of Java.

why?
sensation? to curious bout UK? or doesn't have anything else to do in their lives? i think they just wanna step their foot on new place.. that's it
let's see at left side is Prasdianto with yellow and green bag, in the middle is Deden, our native speaker of Sunda (thank God we have them), and at right side is myself, a simple person

and guess what is the result?

well at least when they get home...
1 people get malaria
1 people get dengue
& 1 other people write the story and let the world know

both of them is still live.... until now

neap tide

guess what hapenned when neap tide come...

correct... everything exposed !!!
even this beautiful sponge on Pramuka Island, (part of Kepulauan Seribu National Park, also known as thousand's island)

else... green area of seagrass, dominantly by big-sized, edible-bearing fruit Enhalus acoroides and small sized, carpet forming Thalassia hemprichii.

it scrapping the sand beneath with help the root. in Ecosystem, rule of the seagrass meadow is very important. it make the ocean wave slower and helps stabilize the substrate. and become feeding ground of dugong (Dugong dugon), very fragile sea mammals.

red-shirt man on the picture act as background is my friend Halim.. at 2003, he was a student of Public Senior High School 69 Jakarta, based on Pramuka island (as the only public school at the Jakarta bay). oftenly he accompany myself to explore the biodiversity of Pramuka, especially coral reef area

river of kalitoko

so pure...
the nature of kalitoko...

landscape image of river..
flowing slow.. from the source at the jungle to the gulf of mayalibit...
creating 1 special ecosystem: riparian (means: river-side forest)...

Blyth's hornbill

1 of the magical bird at Papua..
yes it's hornbill, Uniquely bird group from Sunda shelf which occupying high and open canopy of Indonesian forest..

Blyth's hornbill, a.k.a Rhyticeros plicatus is the sole species from the group that reached Papua and adjacent island

oftenly found couple, male and female, with loud flaping sound

coral reef...
yeah that word make raja ampat so famous as diving site.
no wonder, the location apart only c 50 nautical miles from Bird's Head Peninsula of Papua is a result of plates collision (Philippines, Asia, and Pacific)
and great diversity of this creature is one of the direct consequence

unfortunately.. even going snorkling, i didn't know how many species dwelled in the area

star fish

Protoreaster nodosus...
the name belongs to this beautiful creature..
yes my friend.. it is a sea star.. but with lot of spine at aboral (back) side
& trust me .. it's big (diameter c. 25 cm)

i found it at Mayalibit gulf, part of Waigeo teritory..
at some part of Indonesia, local people know it as "Bintang Jendral", means Star of the General

Soo.. this is me..
my self: Alex Sumadijaya

this photo was taken when i joined Widya Nusantara Expedition
from Indonesia Institute of Science..a.k.a.
LIPI in bahasa version

..... & the location is Warsamdin village, Waigeo island, Raja Ampat island, West Papua