Bukit Lawang is a small tourist village on the bank of Bahorok River in

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. Situated approximately 86 km northwest of the city of

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...

, Bukit Lawang is known for the largest

animal sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. Pattrice Jones, co-founder of VINE Sanctuary defines an animal sanctuary as "a safe-enough place or relationship within the cont ...

of Sumatran orangutan (around 5,000 orangutans occupying the area) and also the main access point to the Gunung Leuser National Park from the east side. The Bukit Lawang rehabilitation centre for orangutans was founded in 1973. Its main purpose was to preserve the decreasing number of orangutan population due to hunting, trading and

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...

. The centre closed in 2002 as the place was getting too touristy and unsuitable for animal rehabilitation. A flash flood hit Bukit Lawang on 2 November 2003. The disaster destroyed the local tourist resorts and had a devastating impact to the local tourism industry in the area. Around 400 houses, 3 mosques, 8 bridges, 280 kiosks and food stalls, 35 hotels and guest houses were destroyed by the flood; 239 people including 5 tourists were killed, and around 1,400 locals lost their homes. Local authorities and an environmental NGO attributed it to

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...

. Thanks to several international cooperation agencies, the site was rebuilt and re-opened again in July 2004. The area is slowly regenerating and offers truly wonderful escapes and the chance to see an abundance of wildlife.

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* * {{coord, 3, 33.05, N, 98, 7.42, E, source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Populated places in North Sumatra Primate sanctuaries