| Sabangau National Park | |
|---|---|
 Sabangau River and surrounding peat swamp forests | |
  Location of Sabangau National Park in Borneo Show map of Central Kalimantan Sabangau National Park (Kalimantan) Show map of Kalimantan Sabangau National Park (Indonesia) Show map of Indonesia | |
| Location | Central Kalimantan,Indonesia |
| Nearest city | Palangka Raya |
| Coordinates | 2°35′S113°40′E / 2.583°S 113.667°E /-2.583; 113.667 |
| Area | 5,687 km2 (2,196 sq mi)[1] |
| Established | 2004[1] |
| Governing body | Ministry of Forestry |
Sabangau National Park (sometimes spelledSebangau) is a national park inCentral Kalimantan, aprovince of Indonesia inKalimantan, theIndonesian part of the island ofBorneo 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.[2]
The national park is centered on Sabangau River, ablackwater river. It flows through the Kelompok Hutan Kahayan or Sabangaupeat swamp forest (5,300 km2), between theKatingan andKahayan rivers. The peat swamp forest is a dual ecosystem, with diverse tropical trees standing on a 10m - 12m layer ofpeat - 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 theMega Rice Project, which drained large areas ofpeat forest in an attempt to create rice paddies, no further efforts are being made to make it suitable for this purpose.[3][4]
The forest has been damaged by legal andillegal forestry. There is no longer any continuousforest cover 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,[5] although since it is close to the regional capitalPalangkaraya it remains at risk.
The forest is home to the world’s largestorangutan population, estimated at 6,910 individuals in 2003, and other rare or unique species. The totalagile gibbon population in the Sabangau catchment is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, but is declining fast.[6] Efforts are underway to establish long-term ecological monitoring in the forest.[7][8]
Vulnerable bird species include thelarge green pigeon (Treron capellei) and possiblyStorm's stork (Ciconia stormi) andlesser adjutant (Leptoptilus javanicus).[9] Some 150,000 ha of swamp forest has been recognised as anImportant Bird Area (IBA) byBirdLife International.[10]