Sebangau
Peat Swamp Forest Holding One Of The Largest Wild Orangutan Populations Anywhere, On Carbon Rich Peat Metres Deep That Burns Underground When It Is Drained · Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan
Sebangau is PEAT SWAMP - forest standing on waterlogged organic soil metres deep - and two things about it matter. THE FIRST IS THAT IT HOLDS ONE OF THE LARGEST WILD ORANGUTAN POPULATIONS ANYWHERE, estimated in the thousands, more than Tanjung Puting, in a forest that was illegally logged so heavily through the 1990s that it was written off before being protected in 2004. THE SECOND IS THE PEAT ITSELF. Drained peat dries, and DRY PEAT BURNS UNDERGROUND, slowly, for months, almost impossible to put out - the 2015 fires across Kalimantan produced a regional haze emergency and released a staggering quantity of carbon. THE RESTORATION WORK HERE IS LARGELY DAM-BUILDING: blocking the old logging canals to re-wet the peat. You arrive by boat up the blackwater Sebangau river from near Palangkaraya, and almost nobody does - there are no feeding stations here, so the orangutans are genuinely wild and you may well see none at all.
Sebangau, Palangkaraya and Katingan, Central Kalimantan, Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
ACCESS IS BY BOAT, usually from KERENG BANGKIRAI near PALANGKARAYA, which has flights from Jakarta, Surabaya and Banjarmasin. TRIPS ARE ARRANGED THROUGH OPERATORS OR THE PARK OFFICE IN PALANGKARAYA rather than at a gate - day trips upriver are common and OVERNIGHT STAYS AT RESEARCH AND GUARD POSTS are possible but must be arranged in advance. A PARK ENTRY FEE APPLIES AND A GUIDE IS REQUIRED. ORANGUTAN SIGHTINGS ARE FAR FROM GUARANTEED - this is genuinely wild forest with no feeding stations, which is the difference between Sebangau and Tanjung Puting and is worth understanding before you book. WATER LEVELS GOVERN ACCESS. THE DRY SEASON CARRIES FIRE AND HAZE RISK, which can close the park and the airport alike.