Danau Sentarum National Park (Indonesia)

Abstract

Danau Sentarum National Park (>132,000 ha) is located on an average elevation of 35 m ASL in the floodplain of the upper Kapuas River in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. The area consists of a series of interconnected seasonal lakes (ca. 25%), interspersed with swamp forest (ca. 32%), inland ombrogenous peat swamp forest (ca. 16%; dated at >30,000 years BP, the oldest peat swamp in Indonesia) with very high carbon stocks, dry lowland forest on isolated hills, shifting agriculture, and settlements. It is a hot spot for endemism of wetland flora and fauna, populations of threatened species, and is highly important for productive fisheries that form the main livelihood for local communities. Declared Indonesia's second Ramsar Site in 1999, its status was upgraded to that of Taman Nasional (i.e., National Park) in 1999, which includes the 132,000 ha core area, along with a 65,000 ha buffer zone proposed in 1997 that is disputed and partly earmarked for oil palm estate development. The main threats to the integrity of DSNP are fires, habitat conversion along the periphery, direct overexploitation of resources, and a recurrent plan to construct a dam on the Tawang River at the outlet of the lakes.