Have you heard about Sentarum Lake National Park?
Sentarum Lake National Park is one of Indonesia’s national parks on the island of Borneo (Kalimantan), precisely located in Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan.
The 132,000-hectare area is the Sentarum Lake National Park area is traversed by the Kapuas River. The area around this longest river in Indonesia has a very original ecosystem and is a habitat for various flora and fauna, including several endangered species.
Sentarum Lake National Park is a Nature Conservation Area that can be used for research, cultural education, cultivation, tourism, and recreation purposes.
Sentarum Lake National Park has been listed in the Heart of Borneo (HoB) initiative which was declared in 2007. HoB is an initiative of three countries, which are Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam to manage highland tropical forest areas in Borneo based on the principles of conservation and sustainable development.
The Indonesian Institute of Sciences categorizes the habitat types in the Lake Sentarum National Park area based on the knowledge of the surrounding community, which are:
- Dwarf Swamp Forest
Its vegetation characteristics consist of trees 5 to 8 meters tall and inundated by 8 to 11 months in a year.
Several types of plants that live in this area are Putat (Baringtonia acutangula), and Kebesi (Memecylon edule), Mentagis (Ixora mentangis), and Kayu Tahun (Carallia bracteata). - Reed Forest
This forest is also called the swamp forest where dwarf plants grow as high as 10 to 15 meters. This area is submerged in water as high as 3 to 4 meters for 4 to 7 months so that the trees that are visible are only the crowns. The vegetation that dominates is Kamsia which is overgrown with epiphytes, Menungau (Vatica Menungau), Kenarin (Diospyros coriacea), and Menungau (Vatica Menungau). - Pepah Forest / Upright Swamp Forest / High Swamp Forest
This area is covered with relatively high vegetation, between 25 and 35 meters. When there is an overflow of water or a flood, there will be a puddle of 1 to 3 meters for 2 to 4 months. Examples of existing plants are emang, melaban and kelansau trees. - Edge Forest / Riparian Forest
This type of forest is located on the edge of a large river. Because of its location, standing water can reach 6 months. Examples of vegetation that grow in this area are red rengas (Gluta renghas) and tembesu (Fagrarea fagrans). - Peat Swamp Forest
Peat swamp is a type of ecosystem that is located in a rather high area and experiences inundation for 1 to 4 months every year, but the puddle is quite shallow, which is less than 1.5 meters. The species of plants in this region are Kapur (Dryobalanops abnormis), Bintangur (Callophylum spp.) and Terindak (Shorea seminis). - Lowland Hill Forest
Some of the plant species in this area come from the Dipterocarpaceae family, such as tengkawang rambai (Shorea smithiana), resak (Vatica micrantha), keruing (Dipterocarpus retusus) and coconut (Dipterocarpus spp) - Seashell Forest / Heath Forest
Shell forest is a forest that is located on extreme or vulnerable land, and is very sensitive to disturbances such as forest fires. The plants in this forest depend on humus on the forest floor which is very thin, so they grow stunted with thin stems. The Danau Sentarum National Park area has an abundance of flora and fauna. Ranging from familiar species to endangered species can be found in this area.
There are about 675 species of flora that grow in this national park area. The flora that dominates the Putat Swamp Forest are shrubs and dwarf trees that are always inundated with water. The tree height ranges from 5 to 8 meters.
Several types of flora here are the belantik (Baccaurea bracteata), sieving (Croton sp), putat (Barringtonia acutangula), pungu (Creteva religiosa), mackerel (Eugenia spp.), Years (Garcinia sp), and mentangis (Randia sp).
There are two types of fishes that can be found in this national park, those that can be consumed and freshwater fish. There are 265 species of freshwater fishes that have been identified, such as tapah fish (Wallago leeri) and linut fish (Sundasalax cf. mixrops).
Meanwhile, some types of fish that can be consumed include jelawat fish (Leptobarbus hoeveni Blkr), lais, belida, toman fish, and catfish. There are also ornamental fish such as the super red siluk fish which is commonly referred to as the super red Arowana (Scleropages formosus) which is an endangered species and has a habitat in this national park area.
