During the 19th and early 20th century, large portions of the island were richly wooded, with indigenous sago, coconuts and cloves abundantly produced. The Dutch purposefully exterminated the native nutmeg trees: a large grove still remained as late as the 1870s but it had disappeared by the onset of World War I. It is the easternmost point naturally inhabited by primates, in the form of a black macaque which also occurs on Sulawesi. The world's largest bee, the giant mason bee, occurs here and on nearby Halmahera.
