Gunung Leuser National Park is one of the biggest national parks in Indonesia (950,000 hectare). Actually, it’s a collection of various nature reserves and forests: Nature Reserve Gunung Leuser, Nature Reserve Kappi, Nature Reserve Kluet, Sikundur Langkat Wildlife Reserve, Ketambe Research Station, Singkil Barat and Dolok Sembilin.

Most parts of the national park lie in the region Aceh Tenggara (SE Aceh). Other parts are situated in the region east Aceh, south Aceh, and Langkat (a part of North Sumatra).

The Gunung Leuser National Park comprises more than 100 kilometres of the Bukit Barisan Mountains. Because of that, the park consists of steep, almost inaccessible mountainous terrain.The altitude ranges from 0 metre, in Kluet (South Aceh), to 3,381 metre, on top of the Gunung Leuser (Southeast Aceh). The Alas river cuts the park into an eastern and western half.

Apart from mountains you find several other ecosystems: beach forest, swamp areas, lowland rainforest, alpine and mountain forest.

In Bohorok-Bukit Lawang is the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Station and in Ketambe stands the Ketambe research station. The research station is not open to tourists.

Because of the great differences in altitude and the diversity in soil, the Gunung Leuser National Park has an enormous wealth of plant species. About 8,500 different species grow in the beach, swamp, lowland, mountain and alpine woods of the park.

In the beach and swamp forest you find Casuarina trees (Casuarina sp.), Wild Nutmeq (Myristica sp.), Campfor or Kapur baros (Drybalancops aromatica), Nibung palms, Rotan (Calamus sp.), Mangrove trees or Api-api (Avicennia sp.) and Pandan (Pandanus sp.). Along the rivers grows Pometia pinnata.

In the lowland forest, trees like Meranti (Shorea sp.), Keruing (Dipterocarpus sp.), Camfor and Damar (Hopea sp.) and several wild fruit trees like Durian (Durio zibethinus), Mango or Mangga (Mangifera indica), Wild Banana, citrus fruit and wild jack fruit grow in abundance.

In the mountain and and alpine woods, several species of moss and wild flowers: Gentians, Primula’s, Strawberry, herbs, and wild orchids are found. The Rafflesia Arnoldi or Bunga padma (Rafflesia sp.) grows here also.

About 700 different species of animals (320 birds, 176 mammals and 194 reptiles and amphibians) live in the Gunung Leuser National Park.

In Ket lies lake Banko, the last place in North Sumatra where the Swamp Crocodile lives.

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