Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park

Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) – or the South Bukit Barisan National Park - spans over three of Sumatra’s provinces. They are: Lampung, South Sumatra and Bengkulu. Along with Mount Leuser and Kerinci Seblat, the combined national parks make up the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra inscribed in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which runs along the entire western spine of the island. The main objective of the national park is to protect the existence of Sumatra’s tropical rainforests along with all their biodiversity. Sumatran Elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus), Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) and Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) are among some of the rare and exotic fauna found in the area.

Starting as a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1935, the area became a National Park in 1982. Initially, South Bukit Barisan Park covered a total area of 356,800 hectares, but recent measurements using GIS recorded that the latest total area is in fact 324,000 hectares. The park is located at the southwestly end of Sumatra. Seventy percent of the park lies within the administrative areas of West Lampung and Tanggamus in the Lampung Province, while 74,822 hectares (about 23%) is located within the boundaries of Kaur district, in the province of Bengkulu. While the remainder of the park lies within the province of South Sumatra.