DANUM VALLEY CONSERVATION AREA

Danum Valley Conservation Area is a 438 square kilometres tract of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia. It has an extensive diversity of tropical flora and fauna, including such species as the rare East Sumatran rhinoceros, Bornean orangutans, gibbons, mousedeer, clouded leopards and over 270 bird species. Activities offered are jungle treks, river swimming, bird watching, night jungle tours and excursions to nearby logging sites and timber mills.^[1]

Sunrise in Danum Valley, Borneo

Footbridge to the tropical rainforest in Danum Valley

The area holds unique status in the sense that before it became a conservation area there were no human settlements within the area, meaning that hunting, logging and other human interference was non existent making the area almost unique. It is managed by Yayasan Sabah for conservation, research, education, and habitat restoration training purposes.

Geography

The nearest town, Lahad Datu is about 82 km away (about a 2 hours drive on mainly logging roads). Danum Valley Field Centre is a research establishment for scientists and education purposes, and a nursery for propagating Dipterocarpus trees by the 100,000s. There is one lodge, the Borneo Rainforest Lodge, for tourists. From here visitors can do guided walks through lowland rainforest trails, and many people go there mainly for bird watching. Other activities include night walks and drives. The valley is bowl-shaped, with a maximum land height of 1093m.

Natural History

Fauna

The lowland tropical rainforest is home to many birds and mammals. It is the only place where the enigmatic spectacled flowerpecker has been recorded. Bornean orangutans, Müller's Bornean gibbons, and other primates, including Horsfield's tarsier, as well as deer, wild cats and the rare Bornean pygmy elephant may be seen.

Varanus salvator, about 1.5m long

Play media

Wild orangutan at Danum Valley

Other notable species that inhabit the area are the sun bear and Bornean rhinoceros. The rich insect fauna has been one of the main areas of research in which the Danum Valley Field Centre has been active, and the land snail fauna is also considered one of the richest in the world, with at least 61 species recorded from a 1-km-plot.^[2]

FloraEdit

Flora is primarily that of the Borneo lowland rain forest habitat, with dipterocarp treespredominating. In places the forest canopy reaches a height of over 70 meters.^[3] The greatest diversity of Dipterocarpus species occur on Borneo. Species endemic or native to the island include D. acutangulus, D. applanatus, D. borneensis, D. caudatus, D. caudiferus, D. confertus, D. conformis, D. coriaceus, D. costulatus, D. crinitus, D. elongatus, D. eurynchus, D. fusiformis, D. geniculatus, D. glabrigemmatus, D. globosus, D. gracilis, D. grandiflorus, D. hasseltii, D. humeratus, D. kerrii, D. mundus, D. ochraceus, D. palembanicus, D. sarawakensis, D. tempehes, D. validus and D. verrucosus. The valley is home to over 15,000 plant species, though 94% of the plants belong to the dipterocarp genus. Other flora seen in the valley are pitcher plants.

See also

• Borneo lowland rain forest ecoregion
• Deforestation in Borneo

References

1. ^ "Danum Valley". Tourism Malaysia. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
2. ^ Schilthuizen, M. & H.A. Rutjes, 2001. Land snail diversity in a square kilometre of tropical rainforest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Journal of Molluscan Studies, 67: 417-423
3. ^ "Danum Valley Field Centre". Tawau. 25 March 2014. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014.

External Links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Danum Valley Conservation Area.

• sabahtourism.com
• abcSabah.com
• borneoforestheritage.org.my
• canadiancarlsons.com
• Tourism Malaysia - Danum Valley

Wikipedia 

KAYAN MENTARANG NATIONAL PARK

Kayan Mentarang National Park is a densely forested national park in North Kalimantan province, Borneo Island, Indonesia. The national park is named after a great dispersed Mentarang mountain trails plateau of Apau Kayan which covers the entire park from Datadian area in south region to Apau Ping area in mid region until Long Bawan in north region.

Kayan Mentarang National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Floating Gasoline Station in Kayan river at Kayan Mentarang National Park
Kayan Mentarang NP Location of Kayan Mentarang NP in Borneo
Location	North Kalimantan, Indonesia
Coordinates	3°12′N 115°30′E
Area	13,605 km2
Established	1996
Governing body	Ministry of Forestry

Geography

Kayan Mentarang National Park is located at the border between Indonesia and Malaysia. The park is central to the WWF Heart of Borneo initiative, which aims to protect the transboundary highlands of Borneo, which straddle the three Southeast Asian nations of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam.

Until recently it has been difficult for tourists to enter this huge National Park, with difficulties often encountered at the local rural Malaysian-Indonesian border checkpoint. However, as the Heart of Borneo initiative has progressed agreements have been put in place which promotes movement of tourists into Kayan Mentarang National Park from Malaysia via Bakelelan in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.

Ecology

Animals found in the park include the mammals such as Malayan pangolin, the long-tailed macaque, the proboscis monkey, the Bornean gibbon, the greater slow loris, the western tarsier, the clouded leopard, the marbled cat, the flat-headed cat, the Oriental small-clawed otter, the sun bear, and the Hose's palm civet.

Other protected species include the rhinoceros hornbill, the helmeted hornbill, Bulwer's pheasant, and the wrinkled hornbill.

Human Habitation

Archaeological remains in the park including stone tools and graves indicate that the area was inhabited over 350 years ago. Currently there are about 20,000-25,000 Dayak peopleliving around the park, from various tribes including the Kenyah, Punan, Lun Daye and Lun Bawang.^[1]

See also

• List of national parks of Indonesia
• Geography of Indonesia

References

1. ^ Indonesian Ministry of Forestry: Kayan Mentarang National park, retrieved 6 July 2011

External Links

• "'New mammal' seen in Borneo woods", BBC News
• "'How to Visit Kayan Mentarang'"
•  Media related to Kayan Mentarang National Park at Wikimedia Commons
• "'The work of WWF in Kayan Mentarang National Park'"
• "'Remote expeditions in Kayan Mentarang National Park'"

Wikipedia 

KUTAI NATIONAL PARK

Kutai National Park is a lowland national parklocated on the east coast of Borneo Island, in the East Kalimantan province of Indonesia, ranging approximately 10 to 50 km north of the equator.

Kutai National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Kutai NP Location of Kutai NP in Borneo
Location	East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Nearest city	Samarinda
Coordinates	0°22′N 117°16′E
Area	1,986 km2
Established	1982
Governing body	Ministry of Forestry

Geography

The park is located north of the Mahakam river and includes several lakes: Danau Maau, Santan, Besar and Sirapan. It is adjacent to the towns of Bontang and Sangatta and 120 km north of the provincial capital Samarinda. There are several traditional Bugis settlements within the national park.^[1]

Orangutan in the Kutai forest

The Kutai National Park extends over an area of 2,000 km², part of the former Kutai Game Reserve which has been protected since the 1970s. However this status did not prevent the logging of a third of the forest in subsequent years and the following introduction of mining companies. In an attempt to prevent further deforestation the Kutai National Park was established in 1982. Nevertheless, the great Borneo fires of 1982/83 destroyed large sections of the forest, and the constant encroachment of people along the eastern boundary continues to reduce the true park area. Approximately only 30% of the primary growth forest remains.

There are two main point for tourist access to the park. Sangkima is on the road between Sangatta and Bontang and thus is accessible by car or bus. The area has a number of old formal national park buildings. There is a large loop walking track, with sections of elevated boardwalk to what was one of the largest trees known in the park. Given the ease of accessibility and being adjacent to the road, this area of park is continually under pressure from the encroachment of people.

Prevab is the second tourist area, approximately 25 minutes boat ride up the Sangatta River from Kabo Pier (a boat ramp on the northern bank, on the western side of the town of Sangatta). Access to the park is gained by road travel to Kabo Pier and the short river trip in a ketinting (a traditional small boat for navigating rivers). The more remote nature of this section sees the jungle in fairly good condition with little disturbance of the area.

Ecology

Kutai National Park is dominated by a Dipterocarpaceae lowland tropical rainforest and has 958 species of flora, including 8 of the world's 9 genus of Dipterocarpaceae family, 41 species of orchids and 220 species of medical plants. The other vegetation types include coastal mangrove forest, freshwater swamp forest and kerangas forest.

The park provides habitat to 10 species of primates, 90 species of mammals and 300 species of birds.^[2] Some of them are orangutan, Malayan sun bear, sambar deer, banteng, maroon leaf monkey, white-fronted leaf monkey, Hose's leaf monkey, proboscis monkey, Bornean gibbon, clouded leopard, black flying squirrel, marbled cat, flat-headed cat, yellow-throated marten, otter civet, and smooth-coated otter.^[3]

The number of orangutans was found to have decreased dramatically, from 600 recorded in 2004 to about 60 in 2009.^[4] However a survey conducted in 2010 identified over 2,000 orangutans to be inhabiting the park.^[5]

See also

• List of national parks of Indonesia

References

1. ^ CIFOR:Bugis settlers in East Kalimantan's Kutai National Park, 1996, retrieved 2009-09-12
2. ^ "Kutai National Park hosts 958 species of flora". September 22, 2011.
3. ^ Indonesian National Parks on geocities retrieved 2009-09-12
4. ^ Borneo Orangutan Survival News, retrieved 2009-09-12
5. ^ Nurni Sulaiman:More than 2,000 orangutans inhabit Kutai National Park in The Jakarta Post 6 August 2010, retrieved 28 October 2010

External Links

• Official site

Wikipedia