Betung Kerihun National Park (Transborder Rainforest Heritage of Borneo)

Description

a. Physical features Betung Kerihun National Park located in Sub district of Embaloh Hulu, Embaloh Hilir and Putussibau, District of Kapuas Hulu, Province of West Kalimantan. BKNP covers an area of 800,000 Ha. The Park is approximately 27.60% of the total area of Kapuas Hulu District, around 40% of the total protected area in the district, or 5.5% of the total area of Kalimantan Barat Province (14,807,700 Ha). In general, the climate in BKNP exhibits a very high rainfall, being the typical of wet inland Kalimantan. The average annual rainfall is around 2,863 to 5,517 mm, and the number of rainy days is between 120 and 309 per year. Drier months occur between June and September with approximately 100 mm rainfall per month. The driest year happened in 1976 with annual rainfall of 2,863 mm and 120 rainy days during the year, while the wettest year occurred in 1988 with up to 5,517 mm rainfall and 184 rainy days during the year. On the whole, the Park belongs to type A (wet) in Schmidt and Ferguson classification, with Q=2.6%. The topography of BKNP is mainly hilly and mountainous, with altitude ranging from 150 to 2,000 m asl. The largest part of the Park is located at altitude between 200 and 500 m asl (38%). followed by altitude between 500 and 700 m asl (28.14%), between 700 and 1,000 m asl (15.90), between 1,000 and 1,500 m (11.19%), less than 200 m asl (5.34%), and up than 1,500 m asl (0.92%). With its mountains and hills, the Park is characterized by steep slopes (45% and up) in up to 61.15% of its area. Moderate slopes (25-45%) occur in around 33.08% of the Park area, while slopes of less than 25% occur in 5.77% of the Park area. BKNP area has at least 179 peaks, consisting of 65 peaks in the Embaloh watershed, 36 in the Sibau-Menjakan watershed, 26 in the Mendalam watershed, and 52 in the Hulu Kapuas/Koheng/Bungan watershed. Prominent peaks in the Embaloh watershed are Mt. Betting (1,150 m asl) and Mt. Condong (1,240 m asl); in the Sibau-Menjakan watershed, Mt. Lawit (1,770 m asl); in the Kapuas/Koheng, Mt. Jemuki (1,375 m asl) and Mt. Cemaru (1,118 m asl); in the Bungan watershed, Mt. Kerihun (1,790 m asl) and Mt. Dayang (1,645 m asl). The hydrology of BKNP is characterized by hundreds of streams and big rivers which form the Kapuas watersheds. Kapuas watersheds cover 9,874,910 Ha or around 67% of Kalimantan Barat Province area (14,680,700 Ha). On the whole, Kapuas watershed can be divided into five smaller sub-watersheds, namely Embaloh in the west area of the Park, Sibau-Menjakan and Mendalarn in the middle area, and Hulu Kapuas/Koheng and Bungan in the eastern area. Key rivers are Embaloh River (95 km long), Sibau River (25 km), Menjakan River (65 km), Mendalam River (30 Km), Hulu Kapuas/Koheng (100 km), and Bungan River (50 km) The soil types of BKNP are varied. Organosol and decomposed Glei soils are dispersed in the Embaloh upriver sub-district. Alluvial soils occur in the Mendalam River areas, Sibau and Embaloh Rivers, while podzolic yellow-red, and complex podzolic yellow-red and latosol, which dominate the Park areas are identified are found in Puttusibau and in the Embaloh upriver sub-district. b. Biological features b.1. Flora Borneo, the richest of the Sunda islands floristically both in terms of total species richness and diversity (MacKinnon et al., 1996), has a flora richness which includes both Asian and Australian elements. In BKNP, the Asian element is generally seen in the lowland forest up to the lower montane forest. Meanwhile, the upper montane is generally inhabited by species of Australasian families, such as Leptospermum, Phyllocladus and Styphelia (Steenis, 1972). The vegetation and floristic composition in BKNP can generally be divided into the following types: 1) Lowland dipterocarp forest 2) Alluvial forest 3) Swamp forest. 4) Old secondary forest 5) Hill dipterocarp forest 6) Limestone forest 7) Sub-montane forest 8) Montane forest On the whole, the 8 forest ecosystems of BKNP harbor at least 1,254 flora species. The family of Dipterocarpaceae has the most species of all flora families of BKNP (120 of a total 267 dipterocarp species found in Borneo). Other families having many species in BKNP include Euphorbiaceae (99 species), Myrtaceae (66), Annonaceae (38), Myristicaceae (31), and Burseraceae (21). Flora richness of BKNP also includes a large variety of orchid species. At ]least 97 species have been identified in the Park. Another flora richness of BKNP is its palm species. At least 49 species of palm have been identified in the Park area. Meanwhile, 133 species of bryophyte under 3 classes have been identified in BKNP (Sujadmiko, 1999). Nineteen families and 65 species of bryophyte belong to Hepaticopsidae, 1 family and 2 species belong to Anthocerotopsidae, whereas 19 families and 66 species belong to Bryopsidae. b.2. Fauna Like Borneo' fauna in general, BKNP's rich fauna is characteristically Asian in origin. It shares most of its fauna with the Asian mainland and the other Sunda islands, but shares few species with Sulawesi and the eastern islands which have a somewhat different faunal composition. The Park harbors not least than 652 fauna species. Of them, at least 54 are mammal species. Mammal species of BKNP also includes 8 primate species, namely Pongo pygmaeus, Hylobates muelleri, Presbytis frontata, P. rubicunda, Macaca nemestrina, M. fascicularis, Nycticebus coucang and Tarsius bancanus. The distribution of Pongo pygmaeus, one of the two species of orangutan found in Indonesia is interestingly concentrated in the western part of BKNP area, especially in Embaloh Watershed, which border Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary (LEWS) of Sarawak, Malaysia. Therefore, the establishment of BKNP-LEWS Biodiversity Conservation Area is considered very relevant for the conservation of Orangutan. Seventeen species of bats and 17 species of rodent, including Cheiromeles torquatus, which has been declared extinct in Java, are also members of the mammal diversity of the Park. The Park harbors high herpetofauna diversity. At least 112 species, comprising 59 species of amphibian, 25 species of reptilia, 24 species of squamata, and 4 species of testudinata, have been identified in BKNP. Meanwhile, the Park provides habitats for 300 species of bird. The dominant species belong to family names of Muscicapidae, Pycnonotidae, and Timaliidae. Twenty five species are Bornean endemics and 6 species are newly found species to Indonesia. The fish diversity of BKNP is also high. At least 186 species of fresh¬water fish have been identified. Thirteen fish species have been identified endemic to Borneo. Finally, insect diversity of BKNP is interesting. At least 170 insects have been identified in the Park. Justification of Outstanding Universal Values Betung Kerihun National Park (BKNP) is located at the headwaters of the Kapuas River in the far interior of Kalimantan Barat (;Western Kalimantan) Province. The site covers an area of 800,000 Ha and borders the 200,000 Ha Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary (LEWS) in Sarawak, Malaysia. Together the two protected areas form one of the first trans-border parks in Southeast Asia. The topography of BKNP area ranges from lowland elevations at about 200 m asl to mountains almost 2,000 m asl high. At such the site serves as an important water catchments area. Three out of Borneo's great rivers, the Rejang and Lupar River in Sarawak, Malaysia, and the Kapuas River in Kalimantan, Indonesia, have their origins here. Meanwhile, the Park's eight types of forest ecosystems, ranging from lowland dipterocarp forest, alluvial forest, swamp forest, old secondary forest, hill dipterocarp forest, limestone forest, sub-montane forest, to montane forest, provide habitats for the valuable Bornean biodiversity. Initial surveys have discovered thousands of species of flora and fauna, including 67 threatened flora species and 81 threatened fauna species under the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Threatened flora species under the list include Dipterocarpus cornutus (CR), Dipterocarpus gracilis (CR), and Dipterocarpus grandiflorus (CR), and threatened fauna species include the orangutan Pongo pygmaeus (EN) and False Gavial Tomistoma schlegelii (EN). The surveys also reveal Bornean endemic species, such as Muntiacus atherodes, Presbytis frontata, Presbytis rubicunda and Reithrosciurus macrotis. Forests of BKNP are also important for indigenous inhabitants of the region, a variety of Dayak tribes who live from hunting, collecting non-timber forest products and subsistence farming based on a pattern of shifting cultivation.