Tourism General
The Berbak National Park comprises an area of 190.000 ha. of peat (110,000 ha) and freshwater swamp (60,000 ha). A smaller part consists of mangrove forest. The park is situated on the east coast of Sumatra in the province Jambi.
Nine months of the year large areas of the park are flooded. Therefor, the best time to visit the park is during the dry season from June till October. Berbak is very hot and humid.
The park's inaccessibility makes it one of the best refugees for several endangered animals. Berbak might be considered as one of the best Tiger and Tapir reserves in Indonesia. Moreover, it's avifauna is very rich.
The park is inhabited by the a group of approximately 150 original inhabitants of the east Sumatra swamps: the nomadic Kubu tribe.
Tourism Access
Boats leave Jambi for Nipah Panjang and from Nipah Panjang to Desa Air Hatam Laut (expensive!), the entrance of the park. Desa Air Hitam Laut can be reached in approximately five hours, although travel time may double during the wet season.A PHPA permit is obligatory and available from the PHPA office in Jambi.
The park is also accessible by the river Sungai Batang Hari.
Tourism Accomodation
Simple accomodation in Nipah Panjang.
Several possibilities in Jambi.
Tourism Flora
Nypa fruticans, Pandanus tectorius, Mammea spp.
Tourism Fauna
Berbak is most famous for it's variety of birds: 250 species belonging to 49 families. A sail along the rivers in the park is the easiest way to watch the birds.
Apart from birds you find several other animals but in lower numbers than in the lowland forests.
Tourism Mammals:
Sumatran Tiger, Malayan Tapir, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Malayan Sunbear, Clouded Leopard, Leopard Cat, Siamang, Agile Gibbon, Common Otter (Lutra lutra), Hairy-nosed Otter (Lutra sumatranus), Yellow-throated Marten (Martes flavigula), Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), Banded Palm Civet (Hemigalus derbyanus), Long-tailed Macaque, Pig-tailed Macaque, Pangolin, Greater Slow Loris, Banded Leaf Monkey, Banded Linsang (Prionodon linsang), Large Flying Fox, Cream-colored or Common Giant Squirrel (Ratufa affinis), Silvered Leaf Monkey, Bottle-nose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).
Tourism Reptiles
False Ghavial, Estuarine Crocodile, River Terrapin, Bornean Terrapin, Black Marsh Turtle, Reticulated Python, Rough-necked Monitor (Varanus rudicollis), Water Monitor.
Tourism Birds
White-winged Wood-Duck, Chinese Egret (Egretta eulophotes), Lesser Adjutant, Milky Stork, Storm's Stork, Asian Dowitcher, Nordmann's Greenshank (Tringa guttifer), Wrinkled Hornbill, Wallace's Hawk-eagle, Helmeted Hornbill, Great Hornbill, Shikra (Accipiter badius), Chinese Goshawk, Crested Goshawk, Besra (Accipiter virgatus), Asian Pied Hornbill, Black Hornbill, Jerdon's Baza (Aviceda jerdoni), Black Baza (Aviceda leuphotes), Barred Eagle-owl (Bubo sumatranus), Rhinoceros Hornbill, Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo), Black-winged Kite, Spotted Kestrel (Falco moluccensis), White-bellied Sea-eagle, Brahminy Kite, Grey-headed Fish-eagle, Black Eagle, Buffy Fish-owl, Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot, Black-thighed Falconet, Brown Boobook, Collared Scopsowl, Reddish Scopsowl (Otus rufescens), Osprey, Oriental Honey-buzzard, Red-breasted Parakeet, Long-tailed Parakeet, Blue-rumped Parrot (Psittinus cyanurus), Crested Serpent-eagle, Blyth's Hawk-eagle (Spizaetus alboniger), Changeable Hawk-eagle, Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), Silvery Pigeon (Columba argentina), Oriental Hobby, Argus Pheasant.
Tourism Fishes:
Arowana, Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides).
Berbak National Park
Kerinci Seblat National Park
The Kerinci Seblat National Park comprises an area of 1.5 million ha in four provinces: West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu and South Sumatra. A large part of the biggest national park of Sumatra lies above 400 m and is relatively cool. The park probably contains the largest contiguous population of the Sumatran Rhino, estimated at between 250 and 500 individuals.
Due to the fact that a large part of Bukit Barisan Mountain range, including it's highest peak the Gunung Kerinci (3,805m), lies in the park, Kerinci Seblat consists of very mountainous terrain. In the mountains you will find hot springs and many rivers with rapids and scenic waterfalls. Especially around the crater-lakes of Gunung Tujuh (2604m) and Gunung Kerinci, the landscape is very beautiful.
East of Gunung Kerinci lies lake Bento, the highest freshwater swamp in Sumatra. Ladeh Panjang is probably the highest peat swamp woodland (altitude 2,000 m).
The relatively flat Kerinci valley cuts the park in two and forms the main entrance to the area. The valley is situated at an altitude of 800 m and has a population of about 300,000 people.
More than 4,000 plant species, including 300 species of orchids and the rare Javan Edelweiss (Anapahalis javanica) grow in the park. The world's biggest flower, the Rafflessia arnoldi and the tallest flower, the Bunga bangkai raksasa (Amorphophallus titanum) are also find here. In the forests grow trees of the Shorea and Dipterocarpus family.
