Interesting activity to do in Danau Sentarum National Park Heart of Borneo

Things to do in Lake Sentarum National Park

Borneo has a very high biodiversity, It has a large  tropical rainforests, especially at the center of the island.  One of the rainforest name is the Danau Sentarum National Park, located at the center of Borneo Island or commonly called as The Heart of Borneo, this lake is a protected area due to its status as a national park  and as one of central spot of Borneo  biodiversity, especially freshwater flora and fauna. Read this article maybe can make you arrange a trip and travelling to this unique tropical rainforest ecosystem at the heart of Borneo area. This rainforest is so unique because the water in this lake has a very extreem water fluctuation. Other than the uniqueness of this ecosystem, there are so many interesting things you can do in Danau Sentarum National Park, here are some activity you can do in Danau Sentarum National Park.

Fishing

This lake is the main source of West Kalimantan freshwater fish, more than 50% of the province's freshwater fish comes from Lake Sentarum. Based on Balai Besar National Park Betung Kerihun Danau Sentarum data, there are more than 260 species of fish can be found in Lake Sentarum. Lake Sentarum ecosystem condition is still relatively natural to ensure the availability of feed for fish. Catching fish is the best activity you can do in Lake Sentarum, there are so many fishing spots that promise a lot of fish to catch. Various types of fish can be found here, ranging from seluang (Rasbora subtilis) which is one of the favorite consumption fish to tapah fish whose size can reach a length of one meter.

Fhising activity by Local Community of Danau Sentarum National Park

This lake is the main source of West Kalimantan freshwater fish, more than 50% of the province's freshwater fish comes from Lake Sentarum.

Communities catch fish with a variety of unique fishing gear, some fishing equipment used by people around Sentarum lake for example:
- using waring
- using bubu
- net
- fishing rod
Some of the favorite fishing spots around the Sentarum Lake are Semujan hill, Lake Merebung, even around the Tekenang Hill (near the National Park Management Office)  store potential fish.
Read also: 5 Freshwater Fish You Should Catch in Borneo

Photo hunting and Community Activities

What photo object do you like? What are animal pictures, cultural photos, or landscapes? All types of photo objects can be found in Lake Sentarum and surrounding areas. While travelling in this national park, you can take so many photos about culture of malayan and dayaknese, you can visit the villages in and around the lake sentarum where most of the people work as fishermen. The daily activities of the community as a fisherman is quite interesting, for example catching fish with traditional tools such as bubu, waring and fishing line. People also process their own fish catches, some fish are processed into salted fish or crackers, and some fish sold fresh fish.

If you are interested in hunting animal photos, you can hunt some mammals such as proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus), Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), and Kelempiau (Hylobates mullerii). If you are brave enough, you can hunting a sun bear. In addition to these well-known mammals, Lake Sentarum also hosts more than 140 species of mammals, just ask local people where is the best spot to find them.

Proboscis Monkey Population of Danau Sentarum National Park (Credit: Imanul Huda)

One of the most interesting object to photo on the lake sentarum is its birds, therefore, in addition to photo hunting, Lake Sentarum is a very interesting place for birdwatching.

Bird Watching

Stork Population around The Danau Sentarum National Park (Credit: Imanul Huda)

Danau Sentarum has a very high  biodiversity, including its birds diversity. With an area of about 128.000 hectares, Dana Sentarum is home to more than 300 species of birds. Not only local birds, various types of migratory birds also make this lake as winter habitat. Some interesting bird species to be observed in this lake such as Hornbill, Storm's Stork, and various types of eagles. For migratory birds, one of the most interesting is the Oriental Honey Buzzard which is a migratory bird from Japan.

Kayaking

Kayaking can be done around the community residential location or around Bukit Tekenang. Tekenang Hill located at the center of the lake, there is a resrort of Betung Kerihun National Park's management. This resort is the best choice for stay at night in the national park. At this resort, you can easily boating around Tekenang hill while watch the variety of animals or you can just enjoying the beuty of this place.

Research

Lake Sentarum is one of the Ramsar Site (an international agreement for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands) in Indonesia. Sentarum lake has a very unique ecosystem due to its water condition every year, this lake are flooded in the rain season, and drying in the dry season. Ecosystem Type of ecosystem found in the area of Danau Sentarum National Park, among others; Representative of lake wetland ecosystem, freshwater swamp forest, lowland forest, peat forest, tropical rainforest of Borneo, and so forth. The diversity of ecosystem types leads to a high diversity of species, both wildlife and plants.

Sentarum lake has a very unique ecosystem due to its water condition every year, this lake are flooded in the rain season, and drying in the dry season.

Read also: Ornamental Plant from Peat forest in Heart of Borneo

The uniqueness of the Sentarum lake makes this lake as a very interesting research object for many researchers and institutions. It is noted that many institutions are conducting research on this lake, for example various universities (Tanjungpura University and Bogor Agricultural University), civil society organization such as CIFOR, WWF, PRCF and RIAK BUMI.

Hiking and Rock Climbing

Semujan Hill, Good location for Hiking and Rock Climbing

It might be a bit strange for hiking in the lake area, but this is one of the uniqueness of Sentarum Lake. The area of Sentarum Lake is like a waters with small islands which is actually a hill. Some hills in the area of this lake for example Bukit Tekenang and Bukit Semujan. Tekenang Hill is very popular to be the best place to take photos of waterscape (lake landscape) of Lake Sentarum. While Bukit Semujan, higher than Bukit Tekenang provides a more tempting challenge for people who are adventurous. In addition to hiking, Bukit Semujan also has rock cliffs that potential to be used as climbing cliff paths.

That's some interesting activities we can do in Sentarum lake. Various activities are primarily suitable for those of you who love adventure and are happy to travel to see culture and natural areas with a wealth of biodiversity. Coming to Lake Sentarum will not disappoint you.

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