Papua Explorers Eco Resort is situated in the islands of Raja Ampat, and it will be found on the northwestern point of the Bird’s Head Peninsula of West Papua. Raja Ampat translates into English as Four Kings. The title comes from neighbourhood mythology which informs about a girl who sees seven eggs. Four of those seven eggs hatch and become kings who occupy four of Raja Ampat’s most significant islands. All these are Salawati, Batanta, Waigeo and Misool. Whilst another few eggs at the mythology turned into a ghost, a lady, and a rock.
Raja Ampat is a magnificent archipelago featuring over 1,500 small islands. It’s a considerably new regency which separated from Sorong Regency in 2004. It has more than 40,000 km² of land and sea area. This also includes Cenderawasih Bay, the largest marine national park in Indonesia. It’s a part of the recently named West Papua (state) of Indonesia which was previously Irian Jaya.
The famous Dampier Strait is a wide water channel that divides the Raja Ampat islands of Waigeo and Batanta. Here we discover the hottest dive sites of Raja Ampat using their stunning appeal. It is named after British explorer William Dampier. Our hotel is directly at the coast of the Dampier Strait, in the south of Gam island.
Raja Ampat Population and Communities
History proves that it was a part of Tidore Kingdom, an influential kingdom from Maluku. Yet, after the invasion of Maluku, the Netherlands maintained it soon. The people of Raja Ampat live in tiny settlements that are spread around the region. Although traditional culture strongly exists, they are extremely welcoming to people. Their religion is dominantly Christian, and practically every village has a little church.
The most important job for individuals around this area has been marine since the sea dominates the space. The lifestyle at the cities of Raja Ampat is easy, and lots of the inhabitants are children. For this reason, it is so essential for us to enhance the livelihood of regional communities. Empower them in the journey of conservation and sustainable tourism is just as important. We invest in a sustainable, long-term relationship with all our neighbouring village Yenwaupnor and other surrounding villages of Raja Ampat.
The majority of our workers come in the Raja Ampat region. We instruct them in a variety of functions, including dive guides, captains, cooks, carpenters, electricians, woodcarvers and boat builders. Further, our Sunday school offers kids an enjoyable environment to learn English, maths, geography and conservation. We run field excursions to clean up beaches and examine healthy reefs with unhealthy reefs. Additional snorkel sessions with sharks and mantas give a terrific chance for those youngsters. It permits them to know the worth of their home so that they can protect it to the centuries.
Raja Ampat Biodiversity
Raja Ampat’s Biodiversity is legendary but not unexplainable. The area is located directly at the centre of this so-called Coral Triangle. It’s a roughly triangular area of the tropical marine waters. The site includes parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.
Even the Coral Triangle is known as the global epicentre of marine biodiversity. Not just for corals and fish, but many other marine organisms also and consequently a global priority for conservation. The area covers only a tiny section of the world’s oceanic location. Yet, it’s the vast majority of all known coral species in the world. It is habitat for roughly half of all Indo-Pacific reef fishes and nearly half of the planet’s reef fishes. Because of this, it encompasses the highest diversity of coral reef fishes on the earth. Over 3000 species of fish reside in the Coral Triangle. It also offers habitat to six from this world’s seven marine turtle species.
Raja Ampat’s biodiversity in numbers: Over 1,300 species of coral reef fish. Five species of endangered and rare sea turtles including the hawksbill sea turtle. Six hundred species of hard coral within the Bird’s Head Seascape–75 percent of the total for the whole world. Thirteen marine mammal species, including the dugong. Seven hundred species of mollusc–including seven giant clam species.
Above the Water
Even the Raja Ampat islands are mostly made from limestone. Many of the smaller islands possess rough shapes looking like small mushrooms during low tide. That is because seawater gradually hollows out the reduced parts. Despite the wild arrangement, tropical trees also have discovered nooks and crannies to place their roots.
On the bigger islands of Raja Ampat Indonesia, we locate lush rainforests with majestic trees. Also many other tropical crops, for example, wild orchids. Some islands have waterfalls and little mountain ridges. In these forests, we can detect other tropical bird species in addition to bats and respective butterflies. Even the jungles of Raja Ampat will also be home to the endemic birds of Paradise famous due to their awesome mating ceremonies. We can detect the two species Red Bird of Paradise and Wilson’s Bird of Paradise on bird-watching hikes.
The British explorer and biologist Alfred Russel Wallace visited Raja Ampat in the 19th century. Wallace is known for individually conceiving the theory of evolution through natural selection. He had been interested in Raja Ampat’s beauty (above the water, as diving had not been invented yet). With his fieldwork in Raja Ampat and different areas of Indonesia Wallace recognized the faunal divide, the Wallace Line. It divides the Indonesian archipelago into two separate pieces. Firstly, the western part in which the animals are mostly of Asian origin. And second, the eastern region in which the species reflects Australasia.
Before you plan a trip to Raja Ampat, be sure to read more about Raja Ampat and Indonesia by visiting Wonderful Indonesia.