The Sumatran Rainforest Heritage Site (2.5 million ha) comprises three national parks: Gunung Leuser, Kerinci Seblat and Bukit Baristan Selatan. This site has immense potential for the long-term preservation of Sumatra’s unique flora and fauna, including many endangered species. The protected area is home to some 10,000 plant species, including 17 endemic genera, as well as over 200 mammal species and some 580 bird species, of which 465 are resident and 21 endemic. Of the mammal species, 22 are Asian species found nowhere else in the Indonesian archipelago, and 15 are native to the Indonesian region, including the orangutan endemic to Sumatra. The site also provides biogeographical evidence of the island’s evolution.
The Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) includes Indonesia’s highest volcano, Gunung Kerinci (3,805 m a.s.l.), and boasts many other physical features of outstanding natural beauty, including Lake Gunung Tujuh, the highest lake in Southeast Asia, numerous other volcanic and glacial highland lakes, fumaroles, waterfalls, cave systems and steep rocky scenery. Each of the three protected areas in the TRHS features a wide range of vegetation, from lowland rainforest to montane forest, extending to low subalpine forest, scrub and shrub forest, and covering an astonishing diversity of ecosystems.
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