Raja Ampat (The Four Kings island)

Located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula on the island of New Guinea, in Indonesia's West Papua province, Raja Ampat, or the Four Kings, is an archipelago comprising over 1,500 small islands, cays and shoals surrounding the four main islands of Misool, Salawati, Batanta and Waigeo, and the smaller island of Kofiau. It encompasses more than 40,000 km² of land and sea, which also contains Cenderawasih Bay, the largest marine national park in Indonesia. It is a part of the newly named West Papua (province) of Indonesia which was formerly Irian Jaya. The islands are the most northern pieces of land in the Australian continent.

According to Conservation International, marine surveys suggest that the marine life diversity in the Raja Ampat area is the highest recorded on Earth. Diversity is considerably greater than any other area sampled in the Coral Triangle composed of Indonesia, Philippines and Papua New Guinea. The Coral Triangle is the heart of the world's coral reef biodiversity, making Raja Ampat quite possibly the richest coral reef ecosystems in the world.

The area's massive coral colonies along with relatively high sea surface temperatures, also suggest that its reefs may be relatively resistant to threats like coral bleaching and coral disease, which now jeopardize the survival of other coral ecosystems around the world. The Raja Ampat islands are remote and relatively undisturbed by humans.

The high marine diversity in Raja Ampat is strongly influenced by its position between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, as coral and fish larvae are more easily shared between the two oceans. Raja Ampat's coral diversity, resilience, and role as a source for larval dispersal make it a global priority for marine protection.

1,309 fish species, 537 coral species (a remarkable 96% of all scleractinia recorded from Indonesia are likely to occur in these islands), and 699 mollusk species, the variety of marine life is staggering. Some areas boast enormous schools of fish and regular sightings of sharks, such as wobbegongs.

How To get There..?

The main airport in the area is sorong and internal flight are provided by merpati and express airlines from Jakarta, Makassar, Manado and Denpasar - Bali. on arrival at sorong airport, you can make your way to the Marina by taxi, where you can catch a boat to the island of birie the length of the boat trip is weather dependent and it mya vary from 1 to 2 hours. please note that a fee is payable when entering and leaving the island, except on monday the price is list here

source : Papuaparadise.com

Biodiversity Features in Raja Ampat

and the greater Bird’s Head Seascape (Dec 2010)

1,606 species of reef fish in the Bird’s Head Seascape

1,397 species of reef fish in Raja Ampat

35 species of endemic reef fish found only in the Birds Head Seascape

603 species of hard coral recorded in the Bird’s Head Seascape

75% of all known coral species in the world

10 times the number of hard coral species found in the entire Caribbean

57 species of Mantis Shrimp in the Birds Head Seascape

13 species of Marine Mammals in the Bird’s Head Seascape

5 species of endangered sea turtles in the Bird’s Head Seascape