Togian Islands 3.79

The Togian Islands are an archipelago of 56 islands and islets, in the Gulf of Tomini, off the coast of Central Sulawesi, in Indonesia. The three largest islands are Batudaka, Togian, and Talatakoh. There are 37 villages on the islands, with one settled by the Bajau people, more commonly known as the sea gypsies.Geology and ecologyFormed by volcanic activity, the islands are covered by rainforest and surrounded by coral reef formations, which provide habitat and breeding areas for hawksbill turtle, green turtle and the dugong. The Tonkean macaque is found in the islands' forests. The Togian hawk-owl, discovered in 1999, is endemic to the islands. The Togian white-eye, another endemic bird species, was described in 2008. Non-venomous jellyfish are also found in Togian Islands, the unique one is jellyfish with red little spots.National ParkOn 2004, the government established a part of Togean Islands as a National Park consists of 292,000 hectares of sea water, 70,000 hectares of land and 10,659 hectares reservation of forests and mangroves.