Sabangau National Park (sometimes spelled Sebangau) is a national park in

Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west ...

, a province of Indonesia in

Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...

, the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n part of the island of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

established in 2004. Between 1980 and 1995 the site was a massive logging concessions area. After 1995, the park became a site for illegal logging, which resulted in up to 85 percent of the 568,700-hectare total park area being destroyed. By 2012, less than 1 percent of the park's total area has been reforested and at the current rate, it will take several centuries to restore it to its pre-logged state.

Geography

The national park is centered on Sabangau River, a

blackwater river A blackwater river is a type of River#Classification, river with a slow-moving channel flowing through forested swamps or wetlands. Most major blackwater rivers are in the Amazon Basin and the Southern United States. The term is used in fluvial ...

. It flows through the Kelompok Hutan Kahayan or Sabangau

peat swamp forest Peat swamp forests are tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Large areas of th ...

(5,300 km²), between the Katingan and Kahayan rivers. The peat swamp forest is a dual ecosystem, with diverse tropical trees standing on a 10m - 12m layer of

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

- partly decayed and waterlogged plant material - which in turn covers relatively infertile soil. The severely degraded eastern part of the forest, between the Sabangau and the Kayahan, is officially designated for agriculture. However, since the failure of the Mega Rice Project, which drained large areas of

forest in an attempt to create rice paddies, no further efforts are being made to make it suitable for this purpose. The forest has been damaged by legal and illegal forestry. There is no longer any continuous

forest cover Forest cover is the amount of trees that covers a particular area of land. It may be measured as relative (in percent) or absolute (in square kilometres/ square miles). Nearly a third of the world's land surface is covered with forest, with clos ...

where orangutans may cross the river. A satellite view shows a grid of logging roads throughout most of the forest. However, the western part is now protected as either National Park or National Laboratory Research Area. A study of the area shows that the hydrological integrity of the forest has been maintained, and it is therefore ecologically resilient, although since it is close to the regional capital Palangkaraya it remains at risk.

Ecology

The forest is home to the world’s largest

orangutan Orangutans are 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 the genus ...

population, estimated at 6,910 individuals in 2003, and other rare or unique species. The total agile gibbon population in the Sabangau catchment is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, but is declining fast. Efforts are underway to establish long-term ecological monitoring in the forest. Vulnerable bird species include the large green pigeon (''Treron capellei'') and possibly

Storm's stork Storm's stork (''Ciconia stormi'') is a medium-sized stork species that occurs primarily in lowland tropical forests of Malaysia, Indonesia and southern Thailand. It is considered to be the rarest of all storks,Hancock JA, Kuschlan JA, Kahl, MP. ...

(''Ciconia stormi'') and lesser adjutant (''Leptoptilus javanicus'').Birdlife.org Hutan Kahayan
/ref> Some 150,000 ha of swamp forest has been recognised as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

References

External links

Orangutan Foundation
{{authority control Geography of Central Kalimantan National parks of Indonesia Tourist attractions in Central Kalimantan Protected areas of Kalimantan Important Bird Areas of Kalimantan Katingan Regency Pulang Pisau Regency Palangka Raya Borneo lowland rain forests Borneo peat swamp forests Sunda Shelf mangroves Sundaland heath forests