About Taman Negara

Taman Negara. Two words in Bahasa Melayu, the national language of Malaysia, which conjure images of a giant green filled with exotic flowers and creatures. The word 'taman' means both 'park' and 'garden' in Malay while 'negara' means 'nation' - together they translate simply as 'National Park'. Even though there are certainly many other national parks elsewhere in Malaysia, Taman Negara remains the patriarch of them all, with the pedigree to back it up.As the fist and oldest official Protected Area in the country, Taman Negara was originally called King George V National Park. Declared in 1938 by the Sultans of 3 states Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu upon King George's Silver Jubilee and to preserve the land's indigenous nature in perpetuity, it was gazetted separately by each state's Enactments in 1938 - 1939. The park was renamed Taman Negara after the nation gained independence in 1957.Taman Negara is the largest of all Protected Area's in Peninsular Malaysia with 4,343 sq km. The Pahang section of the park is the largest at 2,477 sq km, followed by Kelantan's portion at 1,043 sq km and Terengganu's at 853 sq km. the Peninsular's highest peak, Gunung Tahan at 2,187m rises in the Pahang sector of the park.Taman Negara is indeed one of the oldest rainforest in the entire world, estimated at 130 million years old. The abundance and diversity of the nature is phenomenal in Taman Negara, one of the world's most complex and rich ecosystems. A veritable treasure of the planet, it is to be saved for posterity.