Endau-Rompin National Park (Malay: Taman Negara Endau-Rompin) is a protected tropical rainforest situated within a massif in the southern foothills of the Tenasserim Hills, straddling Segamat and Mersing Districts in northeastern Johor and Rompin District in southern Pahang. It covers a total land area of approximately 870 km2 (340 sq mi), making it the second-largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia after Taman Negara. It has approximately 26 km (16 mi) of trail. It is the second national park proclaimed by the government of Malaysia. Gunung Besar, the second-highest peak in Johor, is in the park.
The park takes its name from the Endau and Rompin rivers that flow through the park. Other rivers in the park are the Segamat, Selai, and Jasin.
There are two official entry points to the park: the Kampung Peta entrance located along the eastern boundary in Mersing District, and the Selai entrance at the southwestern boundary in Segamat District.
During the monsoon season from November till March, the park is closed to the public. Fishing is banned from September till October during the mating season.
History
Jasin River joins Endau at Kuala Jasin.
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. At that time there was no legal mechanism to create a national park. In 1980, the National Parks Act 1980 (Malaysia) was passed by the Malaysian Parliament. However, dispute between federal and state powers prevented the creation of a national park in the area at that time.[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 critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros.[2] In 2022, Endau-Rompin National Park was declared an ASEAN heritage park.
Flora and fauna
Endau-Rompin is one of the oldest tropical rainforest complexes in the world and features rock formations some 248 million years old.
It used to have the largest remaining population of the threatened Northern Sumatran rhinoceros species on the Malay Peninsula, but they are now extinct in the wild for the whole of Malaysia.[3]
^"Ingerophrynus gollum". Amphibians and Reptiles of Peninsular Malaysia. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
^Frost, Darrel R. (2018). "Ingerophrynus gollum Grismer, 2007". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
