Meratus Mountains
Encyclopedia
The Meratus Mountains is a mountain range
in the Indonesia
n province of South Kalimantan
, on Borneo
island. The mountains run in a north-south arc that divides South Kalimantan province into two almost equal parts. Its highest peak is Mount Besar with 1,892 metres.
The mountains are inhabited by the "semi-nomadic" Meratus Dayak
people.
In the 1990s the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation
reintroduced 350 orangutan
s into the protected Meratus and Sungai Wain forests. Due to extensive deforestation the ecosystem of the mountains, including many flora and fauna species are endangered. Traditional Dayak villages are also disappearing.
Mountain range
A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
in the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n province of South Kalimantan
South Kalimantan
South Kalimantan/South Borneo is one of the thirty-three Provinces of Indonesia and one of four Indonesian provinces in the Indonesian part of Borneo. The provincial capital is Banjarmasin...
, on Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
island. The mountains run in a north-south arc that divides South Kalimantan province into two almost equal parts. Its highest peak is Mount Besar with 1,892 metres.
The mountains are inhabited by the "semi-nomadic" Meratus Dayak
Meratus Dayak
The Meratus Dayak inhabit the Meratus Mountains of South Kalimantan, Indonesia.-Naming:A Meratus Dayak's name changes over the course of his or her life. Children have "body names" that are not usually used after adolescence. When they have children, men and women acquire teknonyms...
people.
In the 1990s the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation
Borneo Orangutan Survival
The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit NGO founded by Dr Willie Smits in 1991 and dedicated to the conservation of the endangered Bornean Orangutan and its habitat through the involvement of local people...
reintroduced 350 orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...
s into the protected Meratus and Sungai Wain forests. Due to extensive deforestation the ecosystem of the mountains, including many flora and fauna species are endangered. Traditional Dayak villages are also disappearing.