Tanjung Puting National Park is a national park in Indonesia located in the southeast part of

West Kotawaringin Regency West Kotawaringin Regency ( id, Kabupaten Kotawaringin Barat) is one of the thirteen regencies which comprise the Central Kalimantan Province on the island of Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. The population of West Kotawaringin Regency was 235,803 ...

in the Indonesian province of

Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Tengah) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya and in 2010 its population was over 2.2 million, while the 20 ...

(Central

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

). The nearest main town is the capital of the Regency,

Pangkalan Bun Pangkalan Bun is the capital of West Kotawaringin Regency in Borneo, Indonesia. It has a population of around 200,000 It is also the administrative headquarters of South Arut (''Arut Selatan'') district (''kecamatan''). Pangkalan Bun is serve ...

. The park is famous for its

orangutan Orangutans are Hominidae, great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in ...

conservation.

Geography

Landscape of theTanjung Puting National Park - Indonesia 2

The park is composed of 416,040 hectares of dryland dipterocarp forest, peat swampforest,

heath forest Heath forest is a type of tropical moist forest found in areas with acidic, sandy soils that are extremely nutrient-poor. Notable examples are the Rio Negro campinarana of the Amazon Basin in South America, and the Sundaland heath forests (also k ...

, mangrove and coastal beach forest, and

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

. The park may be accessed from

Kumai Kumai is a port in Central Kalimantan province in Indonesia, on the island of Borneo. It lies on the Kumai River. It was from here that the '' M/V Senopati Nusantara'' set out on its ill-fated voyage in December 2006. Administratively, Kumai i ...

by speedboat along the

Kumai River The Kumai River is a river of Central Kalimantan province, Borneo island, Indonesia.Sungai Kumai
- Geonames.org.

and then the Sekonyer River to Camp Leakey, a journey that takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes at best. The Kumai River forms the northern border of the park. Beyond that the peat forest has been removed to make way for oil palm plantations. Despite being a protected national park, approximately 65% of the park's primary forest is degraded. It is the loss of natural habitat that is the greatest threat to the wildlife. Friends of National Parks Foundation is an Indonesian NGO that has been working to restore the habitat in the Pasalat and Beguruh regions of the park since 1997. It also operates a conservation education centre in Pasalat. Four research centers have been established within the park for the study and rehabilitation of orangutans and other primates. Camp Leakey, founded in 1971 with assistance from the Leakey Foundation, was the first of these centers. It was here where Dr. Birute Galdikas began her career studying the behavior of rescued and orphaned orangutans that were reintroduced into the wild. Her research was highlighted as the cover article of National Geographic in October 1975. Dr. Galdikas is now considered one of the world’s leading experts on orangutan behaviour and is the founder and president of the Orangutan Foundation International. Orangutan Foundation runs Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station, supporting Indonesian and international research students. This national park facility has been developed and maintained by Orangutan Foundation and provides facilities to study the park’s diverse flora and fauna. Orangutan Foundation have been awarding small research grants to individual students for many years, with a focus on supporting Indonesian students.

Ecology

The park was set aside in the 1930s by the Dutch colonial government for the protection of the

s and proboscis monkey, and was designated as a UNESCO

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

in 1977 and a national park in 1982. In addition to orangutans and proboscis monkeys, the park is also home to gibbons, macaques,

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called the mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China. In the early 19th century, a cl ...

sun bear The sun bear (''Helarctos malayanus'') is a species in the family Ursidae (the only species in the genus ''Helarctos'') occurring in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the smallest bear, standing nearly at the shoulder and weighin ...

s, wild boars, porcupines, and sambar deer. The park also features many reptiles, including

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant mem ...

monitor lizard Monitor lizards are lizards in the genus ''Varanus,'' the only extant genus in the family Varanidae. They are native to Africa, Asia, and Oceania, and one species is also found in the Americas as an invasive species. About 80 species are recogn ...

s, and

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pr ...

s, birds, including hornbills and kingfishers, and insects, such as the giant Bornean butterfly. The Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station was established in 2005 for the study of all wild species found in the park.Orangutan Foundation http://www.orangutan.org.uk/research/pondok-ambung Today Tanjung Puting National Park is a popular

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

destination, with many local tour companies offering multi-day boat tours to view wildlife and visit the research centers. The park was home to 105,000 people as of 1997. The park was heavily damaged by fires in 1997 and 1998, and today remains threatened by illegal logging,

illegal mining Illegal mining is mining activity that is undertaken without state permission, in particular in absence of land rights, mining licenses, and exploration or mineral transportation permits. Illegal mining can be a subsistence activity, as is the c ...

, and forest clearing for agricultural uses. Conservation efforts by Indonesian NG
Friends of the National Parks Foundation
is leading towards a slow but progressive reforestation of damaged areas. Their reforestation work has seen the planting of thousands of saplings in the area to recreate habitat for the endemic wildlife in the area.

Gallery

Image:Tanjung_Puting30477.jpg, Male

(''Pongo pygmaeus'') at Camp Leakey rehabilitation center Image:Tanjung_puting0222.jpg,

Bornean bearded pig The Bornean bearded pig (''Sus barbatus''), also known as the Sunda bearded pig or simply bearded pig, is a species in the pig genus, '' Sus''. It can be recognized by its prominent beard. It also sometimes has tassels on its tail. It is found ...

(''Sus barbatus'') endemic to the Philippines, Sumatra and Borneo Image:Tanjung putingh0613.jpg, Female proboscis monkey (''Nasalis larvatus'') Image:Tanjung_puting90178.jpg,

Bornean white-bearded gibbon The Bornean white-bearded gibbon (''Hylobates albibarbis''), also known as the Bornean agile gibbon or southern gibbon, is a species of gibbon endemic to southern Borneo. It is an endangered species, due to the undergoing logging of the tropical ...

(''Hylobates albibarbis''), endemic to the south of Borneo Image:Tanjung Puting Nepenthes90123.jpg, Pitcher plant (''

Nepenthes ampullaria ''Nepenthes ampullaria'' (; Latin ''ampulla'' meaning "flask") is a very distinctive and widespread species of tropical pitcher plant, present in Borneo, the Maluku Islands, New Guinea, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sumatra, and Thailand.McPhe ...

'') Image:Oriental dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca)- Tanjung Puting National Park - Indonesia.jpg, Oriental dwarf kingfisher (''Ceyx erithaca'') Image:Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) - Tanjung Puting National Park - Indonesia 1.jpg, proboscis monkey (''Nasalis larvatus'') File:Wikiearth-Bekantan Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting.jpg,

References

External links

Orangutan Foundation InternationalThe Orangutan FoundationThe Friends of National Parks Foundation
{{authority control Geography of Central Kalimantan National parks of Indonesia Biosphere reserves of Indonesia Protected areas established in 1939 Primate research centers Primate sanctuaries 1939 establishments in the Dutch East Indies Tourist attractions in Central Kalimantan Protected areas of Kalimantan Research institutes in Indonesia West Kotawaringin Regency