Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is a national park in Sumatra,

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 ...

. The park located along the

Bukit Barisan The Bukit Barisan or the Barisan Mountains are a mountain range on the western side of Sumatra, Indonesia, covering nearly 1,700 km (1,050 mi) from the north to the south of the island. The Bukit Barisan range consists primarily of v ...

mountain range, has a total area of 3,568 km², and spans three provinces:

Lampung Lampung ( Lampung: ), officially the Province of Lampung ( id, Provinsi Lampung) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra. It has a short border with the province of Bengkulu to the northwest, and ...

Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bencoolen Residency area from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was fi ...

, and

South Sumatra South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The province spans and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census. The capital of the province is Palembang. The prov ...

. Together with Gunung Leuser and Kerinci Seblat national parks it forms a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004. It comprises three Indonesian national parks on the island of Sumatra: Gunung Leuser National Park, Kerinci Seblat National Park and the Buki ...

. A singnboard cantaining a welcome message to Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park a few kilometers away from the citi of

Liwa, Indonesia Liwa is the capital of West Lampung Regency, Lampung province, 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 island ...

West Lampung Regency West Lampung Regency is a regency of Lampung Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Until 2012 it had an area of 4,950.4 km2 of which forests occupied some 57% of the total area (as of 2011). It had a population of 418,560 people at the 2010 census. Ho ...

, the secondary forest of Bukit Barisan National Park is designated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

as aworld heritage.

Flora and fauna

The national park stretching along the Bukit Barisan mountain range is in average only 45 km wide but 350 km long. The northern part is mountainous with its highest point at Gunung Pulung (1,964 m), while its southern section is a peninsula. It is covered by montane forest, lowland tropical forest, coastal forest and mangrove forest. Plants in the park include

Nipa palm ''Nypa fruticans'', commonly known as the nipa palm (or simply nipa, from ms, nipah) or mangrove palm, is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the only palm considered adapt ...

, '' Casuarina equisetifolia'', '' Anisoptera curtisii'' and ''

Gonystylus bancanus ''Gonystylus bancanus'' is a species of tree in the family Thymelaeaceae, growing to over tall. Distribution and habitat ''Gonystylus bancanus'' is native to Borneo, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Its habitat is in lowland swamp ...

'', as well as

Sonneratia ''Sonneratia'' is a genus of plants in the family Lythraceae. Formerly the Sonneratia were placed in a family called Sonneratiaceae which included both the ''Sonneratia'' and the ''Duabanga'', but these two are now placed in their own mono ...

, Pandanus,

Shorea Fruit of a ''Shorea'' species ''Shorea'' is a genus of about 196 species of mainly rainforest trees in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus is named after Sir John Shore, the governor-general of the British East India Company, 1793–1798. T ...

and

Dipterocarpus '' D. retusus'' in Köhler ''Dipterocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants and the type genus of family Dipterocarpaceae. ''Dipterocarpus'' is the third-largest and most diverse genus among the Dipterocarpaceae. The species are well known for ...

species. Large flowers in the park include the ''

Rafflesia arnoldii ''Rafflesia arnoldii'', the corpse flower or giant padma, is a species of flowering plant in the parasitic genus ''Rafflesia''. It is noted for producing the largest individual flower on Earth. It has a strong and unpleasant odor of decaying ...

'', '' Amorphophallus decus-silvae'', '' Amorphophallus titanum'' and the world's largest orchid the ''

Grammatophyllum speciosum ''Grammatophyllum speciosum'', also called giant orchid, tiger orchid, sugar cane orchid or queen of the orchids, is a species of orchid native to Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi) and Malaysia. It has ...

''. The park is home to many endangered and threatened species, including: *

Sumatran elephant The Sumatran elephant (''Elephas maximus sumatranus'') is one of four recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In 2011, IUCN upgraded the conservation status of the Sumatran elephant from endang ...

(about 500 animals, or 25% of the total remaining population of this subspecies live in the park) *

Sumatran striped rabbit The Sumatran striped rabbit (''Nesolagus netscheri''), also known as the Sumatra short-eared rabbit or Sumatran rabbit, is a rabbit found only in forests in the Barisan Mountains in western Sumatra, Indonesia, and surrounding areas. It is threaten ...

(most recent records of this poorly known species have been from the park) *

Sumatran rhinoceros The Sumatran rhinoceros (''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis''), also known as the Sumatran rhino, hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros, is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros. It is the o ...

(an estimated 17-24 Sumatran rhinos live in the park; approximately the same number live in Gunung Leuser National Park, along with approximately 30-35 in Way Kambas National Park, comprising a total population of fewer than 100 animals * Sumatran tiger (approximately 40 adult tigers or 10% of the remaining Sumatran tigers live in the park). Other animals in the park are the

Malayan tapir The Malayan tapir (''Tapirus indicus''), also called Asian tapir, Asiatic tapir and Indian tapir, is the only tapir species native to Southeast Asia from the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra. It has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since ...

siamang The siamang (, ; ''Symphalangus syndactylus'') is an arboreal, black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The largest of the gibbons, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching in height, a ...

Sumatran surili The black-crested Sumatran langur (''Presbytis melalophos'') is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to Sumatra in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat los ...

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 weighing ...

and

lesser mouse-deer The lesser mouse-deer, lesser Malay chevrotain, or kanchil (''Tragulus kanchil'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae. Distribution The lesser mouse-deer is found widely across Southeast Asia in Indochina, Myanmar (Kra I ...

. There are over 300 species of bird in the park, like the critically endangered Sumatran ground-cuckoo.

Conservation and threats

The area was first protected by the Dutch East Indies government in 1935, that declared the South Sumatra I Nature Reserve.Levang, Patrice et al. (2012)
"Landless Farmers, Sly Opportunists, and Manipulated Voters: The Squatters of the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park"
in ''Conservation and Society'', vol.10, issue 3, pg.243-255. The area became a national park in 1982. Since the 1970s there have been numerous squatters established within the park, and despite forced evictions in the early 1980s, their numbers increased since 1998. In 2006 it was estimated that the squatter encroachment by about 127,000 people covered an area of 55,000 ha. For the period between 1972 and 2006, it is estimated that 63,000 ha of primary forest cover has been lost. This represents 20% of the forests lost to illegal agriculture. The

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...

found that more than 450 km² of park land is being used for growing coffee, and the organisation is now working with multinational coffee companies to help them avoid buying illegally grown coffee. In 2021 this situation is still pending.How Your Cup of Coffee Is Clearing the Jungle
It seemed like an easy crime to stop: protected Indonesian rainforest, cut for coffee farms. But a globalized economy can undermine even the best-laid plans.

References

{{authority control National parks of Indonesia World Heritage Sites in Indonesia ASEAN heritage parks Protected areas established in 1982 Protected areas of Sumatra Geography of Lampung Geography of Bengkulu Geography of South Sumatra Tourist attractions in Lampung Tourist attractions in South Sumatra Tourist attractions in Bengkulu 1982 establishments in Indonesia

Flora and fauna

Conservation and threats

See also

References