The Southwest Borneo freshwater swamp forests fringe the southern and western coasts of Borneo, falling largely within Indonesian Kalimantan, where they sit a short distance inland from the saltwater Sunda Shelf mangroves. These periodically flooded forests form a shifting mosaic of grassy wetlands, marshes, scrub, and stands of Pandanus and palms, grading into tall mature forest with tree genera such as Shorea, Vatica, Dillenia, Ficus, Alstonia, Campnosperma, and leguminous giants like Koompassia and Calophyllum. The climate is equatorial tropical rainforest, hot and humid with rain in every month, and water flows through the swamps rather than pooling, giving more aerobic soils than the neighbouring peat swamps. The ecoregion shelters notable wildlife including the critically endangered Bornean orangutan, proboscis monkeys, Sunda clouded leopards, and more than 360 recorded bird species such as hornbills. For gardeners, several genera native here are familiar ornamentals, among them the broad-leaved Dillenia, the glossy-foliaged Calophyllum, and architectural Pandanus.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 2.7°S, 114.4°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13a-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: +3.1°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
14,197 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: