Plant Cropping in Moluccas Island - Term Paper Example

Moluccas Introduction Moluccas, which also refers Maluku islands, are an archipelago in Indonesia. Although they are merely a few dots on the map of Indonesia, their influence on the history of this country is and world is extremely immense. Moluccas islands were the source of nutmeg and cloves spices about five hundred years ago. This made European explorers to sail around southern Africa and India in order to get these crops. Dutch, Portuguese, and English traders contested for these islands. The great international interest on these islands brought about varied mixture of religions such as Protestants, Muslim, and Catholic. These religions brought their powerful local customs in the islands. Dutch exercised a huge influence over the islands until the Indonesia war of late 1940s. The Dutch enlisted Ambonese Christians to be solders in order to appease the Indonesian. In addition, the Dutch offered the Indonesians education. The Ambonese protected the Dutch against Java-based independence movement. After Indonesia gained independence in 1949, Ambonese strongly believed they would form and own their state. Therefore, they continued fighting for a Republic of South Moluccas before facing defeat in the year 1950. The defeat made thousands of Ambonese soldiers in the Dutch colonial army to flee to Netherlands (BBC 1). Location The location of these islands is highly tectonic Halmahera Plate within the Moluccas Sea Collision Zone in Indonesia. Moluccas islands lies east of Sulawesi (Celebes), west of New Guinea, and east and North of Timor. The islands cover about 74,505 square kilometers of land. Moluccas are located in the southeastern region of the Indonesian archipelago. This location is near equator and its north of Australia and West of West Papua. The provincial city for these islands is the Ambon. Ambon is a hub of communication, trade, and other crucial services (Laksito 1). Web. http://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/3e1994f4c5.gif. These islands experience many volcanic eruptions. The soils of these islands are fertile with humid climate, which is beneficial for cultivation of spices such as cloves and nutmeg. Moluccas islands consist of two provinces. These include North Maluku (Maluku Utara) and Maluku. The main islands of North Maluku comprise of Halmahera, Bacan, Morotai, and Obi. Many of the Moluccas islands are mountainous. However, Tanimbar and Aru islands lie in swampy and low areas. Earthquakes are very frequent in Moluccas islands (Laksito 3). Place Moluccas lies Southeast Asia at a coordinates of 3° 9’S 129° 23’E. Astronomical location of Moluccas encompasses 6°08’north and 11°15’ south latitude. Similarly, the island lies 94°45’ to 141°05’ east longitude. Moluccas have an area about 32,000 square miles. Most of these islands have thick forests with active volcanoes. Seram is among distinctive islands in the Moluccas with 16 of more than 200 bird species endemic. This island is important habitant of biggest birds such as the two-watted cassowary. The Halmahera rain forests have large number of endemic species. Some of species include Bisa rat, masked flying fox, wild goats, parrots, and three species of cuscus. Moluccas’s flora comprise of meranti trees and varieties of orchids. The average population is less than 1.7 million people. This represents a 19 people per square kilometer. However, the distribution of people in this island is uneven (Laksito 2). Movement The main mode of movement in Moluccas islands comprise of air and sea transport. These mode of transport link different regions of the island together. Sea transport has been the hub of sea transport since ancient times. This has enabled the islands to trade with overseas countries such as Middle East, China, and India. Sea transport in Moluccas islands is very crucial because it is not only beneficial to the region itself, but also it benefits neighboring countries such ad Australia. Australia uses Moluccas as a heart for sea transport. The bulk of transport in the south of Moluccas is through shallow Lombok Strait in the west and the Ombai Strait. Boat transport such as Pelni services within the island is irregular. The only boat that connect Ternate to Ambon is its fortnightly southbound. Wooden boats and ferries also serve the people of Moluccas islands (Laksito 2). Air transport in Moluccas Island is very impressive. Merpati and Trigana Air are the principal regional flights around this region. Ambon and Ternate are the region’s air hubs. These regions have several connections with Jakarta on daily basis. This occurs mostly through Makassar or Sulawesi. People always book Merpati, which flies to Nusa Tenggara once per week. Four Pelni liners visit Ambon two times in a week from Bau Bau. These four liners include southeast Sulawesi (12 hours), Makassar (31 to 36 hours), Surabaya (60 t0 68 hours), and Jakarta/ Tanjung Priok (four days). Ambon, Moluccas capital, is always busy, throbbing metropolis with its languid charm (Laksito 1). Human Environment Interaction Plant Cropping Moluccas Island is rich in fertile volcanic soils. The people of this region have been practicing cultivation of nutmeg and clove groves in the history of Moluccas. Rain forests have been a target of human subsistence extraction. Destructive activities such as practice of small-scale swidden cultivation, the extraction of palm sago, and logging have harmed the rain forests in Moluccas. Agricultural practices have forced the people of this island to deplete thick rain forests in order to create enough lands for growing of crops. Deforestation has severely affected islands of Todore, Banda, and Ternate. This huge denudation on small islands has contributed to development of inter-island trade. The negative effect of this kind of trade is that small islands rely on the forests of larger ones to obtain fuel, timber, sago, and thatch. Swidden agriculture has been a destroyer of important valuable resources. Since seventies, people of Moluccas have cut large areas of forest cover for plantation. People have destructed the natural vegetation prompting Moluccas people to adopt commercial estate plantations. These plantations occur widely in Seram, Halmahera, and Yamdena. In these regions, the government has granted 30,000 hectares of land (Ellen 2). Commercial Logging Logging presents a great challenge to the rain forests in Moluccas islands. Cutting down trees for sale is a source of livelihood for the people of Moluccas. Timber from Moluccas islands is of great quality, which attracts many traders. This has put many forests in Moluccas islands under huge threats of extinction. People have opened small islands such as Taliabu, Morotai, Bacan, Halmahera, and Obi for systematic felling. With open land, Moluccas faces an imminent danger of soil erosion, and desertification. Soil erosion can contaminate clean water with silt. In addition, destruction of rain forests exerts pressure of water catchment areas. Destruction of these catchment areas can lead to water shortages in many parts of Moluccas islands (Ellen 3). Felling of trees has detrimental effects to the biodiversity. For instance, logging threatens rare species such as orchids and fauna. Population movement in Moluccas Island has exacerbated the practice of cutting down trees for extraction of timber. Inter-island migration is common in this region of Indonesia. The incoming population has to clear forests in order to establish their settlement. Clearing of forests leaves the environment vulnerable to desertification and soil erosion (Ellen 2). Fishing Fishing in Moluccas Island is a huge and booming business. Fishes are sources of food for the people of Moluccas. Fishes provide the inhabitants of this island with proteins. Sufficient waters of Indian Ocean make the people of this region to practice fishing throughout the year. Majorly, the anglers employ traditional fishing methods in the shores of Indian of Ocean. Fishing has contributed to development of fish and other sea biotic canning industries in the Moluccas Island. Some of the sea animals, which Moluccas islanders catch, include shrimp, crab, tuna, and sea cucumber. Sub-Regions Moluccas Island has a variety of sub-regions. The sub-regions of Moluccas include Halmahera, Aru, Buru, Tidore, Serum, Ambon, Ternate, and Kai Islands. Halmahera is the largest of all the group of Moluccas Islands. Halmahera lies between latitudes 30N and 30S. The people of this region refer it as Gilolo or Jailolo. It is K-shaped and resembles Sulawesi. Halmahera has white sandy beaches, thick forests, and spectacular Mt. Mamuya. This makes Halmahera a stunning scenic site. The island covers a huge area approximately 17,000 square kilometers. Ambon islands have a surface area of about 775 square kilometers (Laksito 2). Ambon is also the capital city of Moluccas Islands. This city is the center of all activities of the islands. Work Cited BBC. Ambon's troubled history. Web. 06 June 2012 < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/292830.stm. Ellen, Roy. The human consequences of deforestation in the Moluccas. Web. 06 June 2012 < http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/rainforest/mol_intro.html. Laksito, Kunto. Indonesia. Web. 06 June 2012< http://www.ic.keio.ac.jp/en/download/jjwbgsp/2007/2_Indonesia.pdf. Read More