Remember a few years ago when Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio secretly visited Gunung Leuser National Park? This is what makes us interested this time to discuss this national park.
Aceh itself is a province on the tip of Sumatra Island which has a variety of tourist attractions, ranging from marine tourism to natural tourism, and one of them is Gunung Leuser National Park.
Gunung Leuser National Park is one of the national parks in Indonesia that has been designated as a World Heritage Site.
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| Gunung Leuser National Park (Photo: goodnewsfromindonesia.id) |
The national park named after Mount Leuser in Aceh was established in 1997, and received the title of World Heritage Site in 2004.
Location of Gunung Leuser National Park
Gunung Leuser National Park is located in Aceh Province and covers an area of 1,094,692 hectares.
The area of Gunung Leuser National Park administratively covers several districts in Aceh and North Sumatra.
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| Gunung Leuser National Park entrance (Photo: goodnewsfromindonesia.id) |
In Aceh, the area includes Subulussalam, South Aceh, Aceh Singkil, Central Aceh, Southeast Aceh, Gayo Lues, Bener Meriah, and Aceh Temiang.
While in North Sumatra the Gunung Leuser National Park area includes Dairi, Karo, and Langkat.
Also read: Bukit Lawang Tourism.
The area of Gunung Leuser National Park reaches 830,268.95 hectares. This area consists of 75.27 percent in Aceh and 24.37 percent in North Sumatra.
History of Gunung Leuser National Park
Quoting from Kompas.com, Gunung Leuser National Park has been used as a center for biological research since the Dutch East Indies era.
Initially, in 1927, local Acehnese leaders asked the colonial government to protect the area in the Alas Valley.
In 1928, there was another proposal for the Dutch to protect the southern part of Singkil, along Bukit Barisan, and Rawa Pantai Meulaboh in the north. Then on February 6, 1934, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies signed the Tapaktuan Declaration.
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| The beauty of Gunung Leuser National Park seen from above (Photo: pendakigunung.top) |
On July 3, 1934, the Dutch East Indies established the Gunung Leuser Nature Reserve with an area of 142,800 hectares.
In 1935, the Netherlands established the Kluet Wildlife Reserve which covers an area of 20,000 hectares. Sekundur Wildlife Reserve was established in 1938 with an area of 213,985 hectares. In 1976, the Indonesian government added a new wildlife sanctuary, the Kappu Wildlife Reserve with an area of 150,000 hectares.
Then on March 6, 1980, Indonesia made one of these areas a national park with the name Gunung Leuser National Park.
Flora and Fauna of Gunung Leuser National Park
Gunung Leuser National Park has very diverse ecosystem types, ranging from coastal forests, swamps, and lowland forests, to subalpine mountains.
The Leuser Ecosystem area in this region reaches 2.2 million hectares, which has the upper reaches of 10 major rivers in Aceh.
From these conditions, Gunung Leuser National Park has and preserves a variety of rare flora and fauna.
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| Sumatran Orangutans (Photo: leuserconservation.org) |
The flora in Gunung Leuser National Park is closely related to the flora of Peninsular Malaysia, Kalimantan, Java, and even the Philippines. It is estimated that there are 3,500 species of flora in Gunung Leuser National Park.
This area also has rare and distinctive plants, such as giant umbrella leaves, rafflesia flowers, to Rhizanthes zippelnii which is the largest flower with a diameter of 1.5 meters. In addition, there are unique plants, namely figs or strangler plants.
Also read: The Beauty of Biodiversity in Wasur National Park.
While the fauna in Gunung Leuser National Park is in the form of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. As many as 65 percent of the 129 species of large and small mammals in Sumatra are found in Gunung Leuser National Park.
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| Sumatran Elephants (Photo: Google Maps/Sarjana Politik) |
Four species that are key animals in this national park are Sumatran Tigers, Sumatran Elephants, Sumatran Orangutans, and Sumatran Rhinos.
Attractions in Gunung Leuser National Park
Gunung Leuser National Park is very suitable to be used as an educational tourist destination. In addition to enjoying its natural beauty, visitors can also learn about biodiversity in this region at the same time.
Some of the tourist destinations in this region include:
- Alas River
This river can be used as a vehicle for rafting for visitors.
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| Alas River (Photo: tempatwisata.pro) |
The flow of this river is quite heavy towards South Aceh Regency. On the banks of the river, there is a traditional residential area.
- Gurah Recreational Forest
Natural beauty and various types of flora, lakes, waterfalls, and hot springs are presented in this recreational forest.
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| The beauty of the road to the top of Mount Leuser (Photo: Google Maps/Fajri Hs) |
The manager has also provided a special track for visitors who are interested in trekking. Visitors can also enjoy the beauty of nature, even camping in the forest area.
- Lau Pengurukan
Lau Pengurukan is perfect for visitors who like to explore natural caves.
In this area, there are many caves such as Water Gate Cave, Anfin Gate Cave, Guan Palonglong, Patu Cave, Pasa Cave, Rizak Cave, Pamuite Cave, and Pasugi Cave.
That's a little information about "Gunung Leuser National Park". Hopefully useful and a reference for you about Gunung Leuser National Park.
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