Sebangau National Park

Vast peat-swamp forest with one of the largest wild orangutan populations

Sebangau is the headline attraction of Palangka Raya — a national park of peat-swamp forest, black-water rivers, and one of the densest populations of wild Bornean orangutans on the island. The park starts at the village of Kereng Bangkirai, about half an hour south of town, where small wooden klotok boats run trips up the Koran River into the forest.

Trips range from half-day river runs to multi-day overnights at simple posts. Wildlife is easier to see than in many Bornean parks because the canopy is lower; alongside orangutans there are gibbons, proboscis monkeys, and a long list of birds. Bring binoculars and DEET.

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Sebangau was logged hard through the 1990s and 2000s and was officially declared a national park in 2004 once the scale of damage to the peat hydrology — and to the resident orangutan population — became clear. Today it covers around 568,000 hectares of peat-swamp forest south of Palangka Raya and is home to an estimated 6,000 wild Bornean orangutans, one of the largest remaining populations in the world. The visit is by river boat from the village of Kereng Bangkirai, gliding up black-water channels lined with pandanus and pitcher plants.

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