Taman Negara National Park (Kuala Tahan)

The park was established in 1938-1939 as King George V National Park and renamed Taman Negara, simply the National Park, after independence. Each of the three states protects its part under its own enactment, and the whole park, around 4,343 km2, is managed by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN). Its forests are often described as more than 130 million years old.

The park also includes Gunung Tahan, at 2,187 m the highest point in Peninsular Malaysia. Several groups of the Batek, an Orang Asli people, live around its edges, and their traditional use rights are recognised in the park's legislation.

Kuala Tahan is a small riverside village whose life revolves around the park: boatmen, guides, guesthouse owners and the families running the floating restaurants. Most are Malay and food is overwhelmingly halal, and the call to prayer from the village mosque carries across the river. The Batek communities on the park's edges still rely on the forest, and visits to them should be arranged respectfully through reputable guides.