Endau Rompin National Park

Endau-Rompin National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
View from the top of Janing Barat.
Location	Johor and Pahang, Peninsular Malaysia
Nearest city	Kahang
Area	870 km²
Established	1993
Governing body	Johor Park Corporation

Endau-Rompin National Park is a protected tropical rainforest in the southernmost prolongation of the Tenasserim Hills, Malaysia. It is an area south of the state of Pahang and to the northeast of Johor covering an approximate area of 870 km², making it the second largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia after Taman Negara, with approximately 26 km of trail. It is the second national park proclaimed by the government of Malaysia.

The park takes it name from the Endau and Rompin rivers that flow through the park. Other rivers that flow through the parks are Segamat, Selai and Jasin.

Endau-Rompin is one of the oldest tropical rainforest complexes in the world and features rock formations some 248 million years old. It also has the largest remaining population of the threatened Northern Sumatran rhinoceros species on the Malay Peninsula. Gunung Besar which is the second highest in Johor is located in the park.

During the monsoon season that covers from November till March, the park is closed to the public. Fishing is banned from September till October during mating season.

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.

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. 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.