Indonesian marine and coastal biodiversity: Present status

88-97Indonesia is an archipelagic state, its territory stretches from 6º N to 10º S and from 95º E to 142º E, comprises about 18,110 islands with a coastline of about 108,920 km. About 78 % of the Indonesian territory is covered by waters with shallow seas in the western and eastern parts, the Sunda and Sahul plates, separated by the deep Banda Sea. The diversity of Indonesian marine life is hard to be precisely reported, new species are still being described and many more are still unknown. The Indonesian coastal zone is rich in tropical marine ecosystems such as estuarial beaches, mangroves, coral reefs, seagrass, algal beds and small island ecosystems which are homes of different varieties of living communities with various types of association as well as richness in species diversity. Other coastal habitats such as sandy and muddy shores, sand or mud flats, although hosting relatively poorer biodiversity but they are scientifically interesting. Each of these marine ecosystems, with their associated habitats, supports a wealth of marine biodiversity which are not well explored and very poorly documented. The data of marine organisms herewith presented shows that information on many marine taxa, especially animals, are very poor