Berbak National Park, National park and Ramsar site in Jambi, Indonesia

Berbak National Park lies in the alluvial plain of eastern Sumatra, in Jambi province, and covers 141,261.94 hectares. It holds about 600 km2 of freshwater swamp forest beside 1,100 km2 of undisturbed peat swamp forest, drained by meandering rivers up to 20 m deep. Its eastern edge is a muddy coast with a fringe of mangrove; the Benu River marks the south.

The area received initial protection during the Dutch colonial period in 1935. Indonesia later formally designated it as a national park in 1992.

The park lies in Tanjung Jabung Timur and Muaro Jambi regencies, and its name is used for the wider Berbak peat landscape of about 238,000 hectares. The Air Hitam Laut and Simpang Melaka rivers, whose acid peatwater fills channels up to 20 m deep, are the routes by which researchers and visitors enter. A tree house built at Simpang Malaka in 2013 with a Green Sands donation lets people watch Sumatran tigers from above.

Visitors reach the park by speedboat along the Batanghari and Air Hitam Dalam rivers, with the journey taking several hours from Jambi. You should prepare for swamp conditions and bring appropriate gear for walking in wet environments.

The park's peat swamps hold 23 palm species, the greatest palm diversity of any peat swamp forest. Among them are the endangered Johannesteijsmannia altifrons and Lepidaria kingii, a species newly found here. The rivers themselves run up to 20 m deep with acidic peat water.