The Four Access Points into Taman Negara (setting to Taman Negara is not at all difficult. There are four easily accessible entryways roughly one for each direction of the compass including Kuala Tahan and Sungai Relau in Pahang, Kuala Koh in Kelantan and Tanjong Mentong at Tasik Kenyir Lake in Terengganu.
AN ANCIENT RAINFOREST WONDERS
Taman Negara. Two words in Bahasa Melayu, the national language of Malaysia, which conjure images of a giant green garden filled with exotic flowers and creatures, The word ‘taman’ means both park and garden in Malay while ‘negara’ means nation’ - together they translate simply as ‘National Park’. Even though there are certainly many other national parks elsewhere in Malaysia, Taman Negara remains the patriarch of them all with the pedigree to back it up. As the first and oldest official Protected Area in the country, Taman Negara was otginal1y called King George V National Park. Declared in 1938 by the Sultans of 3 states Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu
upon King Georges Silver Jubilee and to preserve the land’s indigenous nature in perpetuity, It was gazette separately by each state’s Enactments in 1938 - 1939. The park was renamed Taman Negara after the nation gained independence in 1957. Taman Negara is the largest of all Protected Areas in Peninsular Malaysia with 4,343 sq km.
The Pahang section of the park is the largest at 2,477 sq km, followed by Kelantan’s portion at 1,043 sq km and Terengganu’s at 853 sq km. The Peninsula’s highest peak, Gunung Tahan at 2,187m rises in the Pahang sector of the park. Taman Negara is indeed one of the oldest rainforests in the entire world, estimated at 130 million years old, The abundance and diversity of nature is phenomenal in Taman Negara, one of the world’s most complex and rich ecosystems. A veritable treasure of the planet, it is to be saved for priority.
Managed by Jabatan PERHIILITAN (Department of Wildlife and National Parks), Taman Negara’s future is secure, with stated objectives as follows:
To protect and conserve the flora and fauna in Taman Negara and to maintain the tropical rainforest ecosystem.
To propagate species of flora and fauna.
To manage Taman Negara as a sustainable recreational area.
To conserve all objects and places of historical, aesthetic or scientific interest.
To provide a natural lab for research on species and habitat found in the tropical rainforest for management purposes.
