Royal Belum State Park - Royal Forest

The Royal Belum State Park is a huge park in the northern parts of Peninsular Malaysia. It is part of the even bigger Belum-Temengor Forest Complex (BTFC) that is shared with Thailand. Together with Taman Negara National Park it is one of the oldest rainforest in world, dating back over 130 million years. Belum is a state park and not an official National Park. This means that local government is allowed to use the area for production forest and it is open for future development. There are efforts to get the government to gazette Belum as a national park, though up till now only a part of the huge forest is conserved and protected as state park. Belum has the potential to become one of Malaysia's premier eco-tourism destinations, if managed well.

The Royal Belum is composed mainly of pristine tropical rainforest, with many river systems, and small grassland areas, some abandoned agricultural plots, and Tasik Temengor, a large man-made lake. Forests found here include lowland dipterocarp, hill dipterocarp and lower montane types with a distinctive northern element as the area borders Thailand. The Royal Belum is part of the larger Belum-Temengor forest landscape, one of the largest blocks of forest in Peninsular Malaysia.

Wildlife surveys show that Royal Belum is an important habitat for large mammals like the seladang (Bos gaurus), Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni). The area is also home to the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), one of very few left in Peninsular Malaysia. Belum-Temengor is the only forest in Malaysia with all 10 species of Malaysian hornbills including large flocks of the plain-pouched hornbill (Rhyticeros subruficollis). 

Getting There
Getting to the lush Rainforest of Belum which situated about 300km from Kuala Lumpur, is to head overland via Kuala Kangsar (TR 1) and Grik (TR 76), and then onto the east-west highway (TR 4) to Banding Island (on Temenggor lake).

Visitor's Info :

Accommodation

There are quite a few decent resorts nearby Royal Belum State Park, the resorts are usually located at the shores of Lake Temenggoh. As most resorts are at a distance apart it is not easy to stay at one resort and eat at another resort, you are basicly limited to what the resort has to offer. Rule of thumb is that locals meals are of much better quality than western styled meals. Most popular resorts around Royal Belum State Park are; Belum Rainforest Resort (offers free WIFI in public areas), Belum Eco Resort and the Banding Lake Side Inn. The great thing about the resorts at Belum is that you can easily book a package deal that includes a 3D/2N or 4D/3N stay, breakfast and also all daily activities and tours. This means no difficulties finding a suitable tour up front (which is somewhat of a problem at Lake Kenyir, as there you can only participate in tours if there are enough people that are interested in that tour).

Facility

• Camp site
• Jetty
• Hanging Bridge
• Toilets
• Bathrooms
• Gazebo
• Open Hall
• Open Kitchen
• Wildlife Hide

Activity

• Jungle Trekking
• Overnight Stay at Wildlife Observation Hide (Bumbun)
• Visiting Orang Asli (aborigines) Settlement
• Angling / Fishing
• Bird Watching
• Boating
• Camping
• Swimming
• Waterfalls
• Traditional Bamboo Rafting

For further information, please contact :

Perak State Park Corporation
Tingkat 1, Kompleks Kerajaan Negeri
Daerah Hulu Perak
33300 Gerik, Perak Darul Ridzuan

Tel: 605-791 4543
Fax:605-791 2641

         

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