Endau Rompin National Park
Endau Rompin National Park is a tropical rainforest protected area in Malaysia covering an approximate area of 870 km², effectively making it is the second largest national park in Malaya after Taman Negara with approximately 26 km of trail as well as the second national park proclaimed by the government of Malaysia. It is located south of the state of Pahang and to the northeast of Johor. The park is one of the oldest tropical rainforests in the world and features rock formations some 248 million years old. Apart from that, the park contains the largest remaining population of the threatened Sumatran rhinoceros species on the Malay Peninsula. Johor Second Highest peak, Gunung Besar is in this park.
The park takes it name from the Endau and Rompin rivers that flow through the park. Other rivers that flow through the parks are Selai and Jasin.
During the monsoon season that covers from November till March, the park is closed to the public. Further, fishing is banned from September till October during mating season.
The first scientific study of the area was conducted in 1892 by H.W. Lake and Lieutenant H.J. Kelsall. With the aid of the study, the forest complex of Endau-Kluang was gazetted as a forest reserve in 1933. Later in 1972, the forest reserve was expanded to include Lesong forest reserve in Pahang.[1]
In the same year, the federal government came up with a proposal to federally protect 2,000 km² of the complex as a national park. Unfortunately at that time, there was no legal mechanism to create national park. In 1980, the National Parks Act 1980 (Malaysia) was passed by the Malaysian Parliament. However, dispute between federal and state power prevented the creation of a national park in the area.[2]
Five years later, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks proposed roughly the same areas to be gazetted as wildlife sanctuary to protect the endangered Sumatran rhinoceros.[2]
In the early 1980s, logging was a major concern in Johor. It was discovered in the decade that the logging had came up to the boundary of the forest reserve and threatened to devastate the area. The Malaysian Nature Society, in effort to promote public awareness surrounding the issue of Endau Rompin conducted a scientific study in 1984 into the area, completely financed by the public. The expedition discovered 25 new species. In the same year, the government of Johor finally allowed 251.95 km² of the area to be gazetted as a national park. The national park was further enlarged after Pahang and Johor agreed to such action. In 1993, the Endau Rompin National Park was finally created with the total area of approximately 900 km² of forest cover.
