About the Kinabatangan area

One of only 2 places on earth where 10 primate species are found

The Kinabatangan River is one of Borneo's longest and most majestic rivers.

Originating in south west of Sabah State, the Kinabatangan River flows for 560 km (347 miles) through eastern Sabah to the Sulu Sea on the east coast. The lower basin of the Kinabatangan River is the largest forest-covered floodplain in Malaysia, covering an area of almost 4,000 sq km.

The river and its surrounding rainforest wetlands make up one of the richest ecosystems on the planet. The floodplain itself is a rainforest wetland, and it is the largest remaining forested floodplain in Sabah. The lower reaches of the Kinabatangan contain some of the few remaining freshwater swamp rainforests and lakes in all of Southeast Asia and these evergreen swamp rainforests are crucial for conservation.

A forest of many forests
The region is home to saltwater mangrove forest, a riverine forest, and a dipterocarp forest - a type of dryland forest where the diversity of plant and animal life is most intense. It is these dipterocarp forests, which once covered most of Borneo, that have now been largely replaced by oil palm estates.

Periods of wet and dry
Cyclically hit by tropical monsoon rains each year, the floodplain alternates between life as dry land and flooded forest. Scientists prize this region of the Kinabatangan as a natural heritage site of international importance.

Haven for primates
The region is gaining increasing international fame for its biological diversity. The Kinabatangan is one of only two known places on earth where 10 primate species can be found. These include the orangutan, and several species that are endemic to Borneo, such as the proboscis monkey, the maroon langur and Bornean gibbon.

Much of the Kinabatangan remains a mystery
Sharks and rays, usually thought of as sea creatures, live in freshwater in the Kinabatangan but little is known about them. The plant and animal life along the river has yet to be fully studied.