IO – Tanjung Puting National Park (TNTP) is a national park located on the southwest peninsula of Central Kalimantan Province, precisely in Kotawaringin Barat. Ever since it has been designated as a nature reserve and wildlife reserve by the Government of the Dutch East Indies in 1937, Tanjung Puting has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Kalimantan.
With an area of 415,040 ha, TNTP has a wildlife reserve of 300,040 ha, a production forest of 90,000 ha, and a water area of 25,000 ha.
Based on Decree of the Minister of Forestry no. 687 / Kpts-II / 1996 dated 25 October 1996, Tanjung Puting has been designated as National Park. This nature reserve is primarily entitled for protection of orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and proboscis (Nasalis larvatus).
This National Park has several types of ecosystems, namely lowland tropical forest, dryland forest (kerangas forest), freshwater swamp forest, peat swamp forest, mangrove forest or mangrove, coastal forests, and secondary forests.
TNTP presents an adventure movie story with a winding river background and dense forest. You will float along the Sekonyer River with a klotok (traditional boat), while watching the animals roam around and wait for sunset.
One of the interesting spots in Tanjung Puting is Camp Leakey, where orangutans are preserved. Before heading to Camp Leakey there are also other camps such as Cape of Good Hope, Pondok Tanggui, Camp Pondok Ambung, and the last is Camp Leakey. This camp is the largest and was built in 1971. This place is a shelter for orangutans rescued from poaching.
Since orangutans are now threatened with extinction, Camp Leakey is heavily guarded against illegal deforestation and trade.
With this epic nature tour programme, many foreign tourists visit TNTP almost every day. “Unfortunately not many people know about Tanjung Puting, especially people from within Indonesian itself. As for foreign tourists they are very familiar with this tourist destination. About 26,000 foreign tourists have already visited this place. Therefore, there is now an increase in promotion and tourism visit in Tanjung Puting “said Drs.H. Gusti M Imansyah, Head of West Kotawaringin Tourism Office.
Tanjung Puting is a wildlife sanctuary, the flora and fauna are still intact and original. The animals are friendly with visitors and can interact with them as well. In addition, there is also a religious culture, for natural destinations as much as 28.
“We involve the community in events and encourage travel agents regarding the development of tourism in Tanjung Puting so that many tourists across the archipelago will want to visit us,” he concluded. (Pramita Hendra Nurcahyo)