Tanjung Puting
National Park
Tanjung Puting is one of the natural
wonders of the world. You may not believe this after you have been there
only one day or two days or three days, but after the fourth or fifth day
something happens. You are captivated completely by the purity of the air,
the openness of the night sky with the most remarkable view of the Milky
Way, the magnificence and dignity of the gentle orangutans, the thundering
downpours that instantly cool the air, and the clarity of the brilliant
crimson sunsets. Tanjung Puting is the largest and most diverse protected
example of extensive coastal tropical heath and peat swamp forest which
used to cover much of southern Borneo. The area was originally declared
as a game reserve in 1935 and a National Park in 1982. While the Park has
checkered history of weak protection, nonetheless, it remains substantially
wild and natural.
Tanjung Puting is covered by a complex mosaic of
diverse lowland habitats. It contains 3,040 sq km2 of low lying swampy
terrain punctuated by blackwater rivers which flow into the Java Sea. At
the mouth of these rivers and along the sea coast are found Nipa/mangrove
swamps. Mangroves teem with animal life. Tanjung Puting also includes tall
dry ground tropical rain forest, primarily tropical heath forest, with
a canopy of 40 meters (120 feet) with "emergents" exceeding 50
meters (150 ft) in height, seasonally inundated peat swamp forest with
peat in layers two meters deep, open depression lakes formed by fire, and
open areas of abandoned dry rice fields now covered with elephant grass
and ferns. The tropical heath forest which is called "kerangas"
in parts of Borneo, is only found on very poor, typically white-sandy soils
and is characterized by medium-sized trees.
The best known animals in Tanjung Puting
are the orangutans, made famous through the efforts of Orangutan Research
and Conservation Program, which is based at the landmark Camp Leakey research
station. Tanjung Puting also boasts the bizarre looking proboscis monkey
with its "Jimmy Durante" nose as well as seven other primate
species. Clouded leopards, civets, and Malaysian sun bears cavort in the
park as do mouse deer, barking deer, sambar deer, and the wild cattle known
as banteng. Tanjung Puting hosts over 220 species of birds, including hornbills,
deep forest birds and many wetland species. Tanjung Puting is well known
for its "bird lakes, " seasonal rookeries for a half a dozen
species of endangered waterbirds, including the only known Bornean nesting
grounds for white egrets. Tanjung Puting also has two species of crocodiles,
dozens of snakes and frogs, numerous threatened species, including the
fortune-bringing and highly endangered "dragon" fish also known
as the Arwana (bony-tongue). Among the most flamboyant of these animals
are the many species of colorful birds,butterflies, and moths found in
the Park.
Tanjung Puting sits on a peninsula
that juts out into the Java Sea. The peninsula is low lying and swampy
with a spine of dry ground which rises a few feet above the omnipresent
swamp. Towards the north of Tanjung Puting is characterized by gentle hills
and gold-bearing alluvial plains. Maps of the region commonly portray a
ridge of mountains coming down into Tanjung Puting. This ridge does not
exist, in fact, nowhere does the altitude rise above 100 feet in Tanjung
Puting.
Tanjung Puting is a veritable hothouse of ecodiversity. The diverse habitat
zones shelter slightly different fauna and flora providing a great variety
of microhabitats for plants and animals and thus, the opportunity for many
species to be present in close proximity. In a Bornean context, tropical
heath forest by itself is not representative of the largest trees, the
tallest canopy, or the most diverse ecosystem.
Tropical swamp ecosystems are little
represented in protected areas throughout Southeast Asia but are omnipresent
in Tanjung Puting. In the peat swamp forest, many trees have stilt roots
or aerial roots as adaptations to frequent flooding.
Aside from its remarkable biological
attributes, Tanjung Puting is highly important for the well-being of the
surrounding local human population. The wetlands provide vital ecological
services such as flood control, stream control regulation, erosion control,
natural biological filtration system, and seasonal nurseries for fish which
are the major source of local animal protein. Many of these services have
an impact well beyond the local area. For instance, the waters surrounding
Tanjung Puting attract fishing vessels from many different parts of Indonesia.
In addition, local people benefit from a great variety of forest products
including honey, waxes, aromatic woods, fibers for ropes and cloth, medicinal
plants, fuel oils, thatching materials, rattan, firewood, incense, wild
rubber, edible latexes, resins, natural pesticides, fungicides and possible
virocides.
For the above reasons and many other
reasons not noted, Tanjung Puting is recognized as one of the most important
and outstanding provincial treasures in Kalimantan Tengah. The national
government has also made a strong commitment to protect the forest, its
wildlife and to manage the park wisely. Tanjung Puting has increasingly
gained international prestige and recognition. As a result, more and more
visitors from throughout the world are experiencing a fresh new outlook
on nature and an appreciation of the tropical rain forest which was humankind's
original "Garden of Eden."
The peat swamp and fresh water swamp
forest associations present in Tanjung Puting were at one time extensive
along the south coast of Borneo from Banjarmasin in the east to the Kapuas
River near Pontianak in the west. These swamps extended up the northwest
coast of Sarawak and Brunei and as far as the Klias peninsula in Sabah.
In Sarawak in general, peat swamp forests are very well developed and they
are still very important there as a natural resource. In Kalimantan, however,
much of the swamp habitat has been converted, both permanently and on shifting
cultivation basis, to rice fields. Swamp habitats, as found in Tanjung
Puting, are becoming more difficult to find. Although Tanjung Puting has
suffered some encroachment from human activity, the Park area is still
wild and pristine. The vegetation supports a large population of animals,
making this one of the most important areas in Southeast Asia for the preservation
primates, birds, reptiles and fish.
Back to Home Page
Source : A Guidebook to Tanjung Puting National Park,
Kalimantan Tengah (Central Borneo), Indonesia, by Dr. Birute M.F. Galdikas
and Dr. Gary L. Shapiro, published by PT Gramedia Putaka Utama and the
Orangutan Foundation International, 1994. © All Rights Reserved.