Kalimantan Island

Kayan Mentarang National Park, North Kalimantan, Indonesia

The island is located in Indonesia and Malaysia, Southeast Asia. The area of this island is mainly woods with various wildlife in it. A wide variety of vegetations can be found, highland forests, lowland forests, and savanna. No less than 300 bird species are found here, along with 150 mammals and various amphibians, reptiles, and insects.

The widest area is the Kayan Mentarang National Park, covering 1.36 million hectare. It is the second biggest conservation forest in the world after the famous Amazon forest in South America. It has been playing a significant ecological role for Indonesia and Malaysia.

The inland tribes in this third biggest island in the world are mostly Dayak, roughly 27,000 people, which can be sorted into several groups of Dayak. Some of them are even still primitive. It can be seen from the way of their life which is still dependent on the nature resources.

In some parts of this island, the only transportation is by boat called ketinting. This boat is made out from wood with an engine installed on the back side. Besides, some other parts can be reached by aircrafts provided that there is a safe landing strip. The chain of unexposed hills, mountains, and rivers in the woodland makes it not possible for any ground transportation. The name of the island is Kalimantan or Borneo. (fila174)