The Borneo peat swamp forests stretch across the coastal lowlands of Borneo, spanning Indonesian Kalimantan, the Malaysian state of Sarawak, and the Belait District of Brunei, built up behind brackish mangroves and clustered around the inland lakes of the Mahakam and Kapuas rivers. These forests grow on waterlogged, acidic peat that can exceed twenty meters in depth, where anaerobic conditions slow decomposition; characteristic canopy trees include the valuable hardwood ramin (Gonystylus bancanus), Shorea albida, Dactylocladus stenostachys, and Dacrydium beccarii, alongside more than thirty palm species. The climate is tropical and monsoonal, with year-round waterlogging and seasonal flooding. The proboscis monkey is the ecoregion's flagship species, which also shelters the Bornean orangutan and the prized Asian arowana (Scleropages formosus), yet it is considered critical or endangered, with only about 14 percent protected and much of the peat drained, logged, or burned. For gardeners, the swamps' native understory includes ornamental screw pines of the genus Pandanus, grown elsewhere for their bold, strappy foliage.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 2.6°N, 111.9°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.2°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
26,069 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: