Bukit Duabelas National Park in Jambi is a relatively small park, compared to Indonesia’s large national parks. Covering only 60,500 hectares, the park was established in 2000, mainly to allow the regrowth of secondary forests and to protect the home of the forest people ‘Suku Anak Dalam’ or ‘Orang Rimba’.
The northern part of the park is primarily jungle, but the remainder is a tract of deforested land that was formerly a production forest, but allowed to revert as a trophical rainforest. The park is in fact the most important water catchment area in the province.
Bukit Duabelas, or Twelve Hills, is a lowland park with undulating contours. This is the habitat of Sumatra’s endangered species, such as tapirs, gibbons, clouded leopards, sun bears, wild cats and crested serpent eagles, including endangered plant species.
Orang Rimba are an isolated tribe who have lived in these jungles for years and have maintaned their simple, nut natural lifestyle. There are several theories and legends as to who they are and where they originate from. One story relates that when the Sultan of Palembang had feuds with the Sultan of Jambi, the Sultan of Jambi asked for help from the Sultan of Pagaruyung who in turn sent soldiers to Jambi. On their way in the dense jungles, never came back out, but instead settled in the Jambi jungles and adopted the natural lifestyle.
Anak Dalam tribe live in and around the forest, and survive chiefly on hunting, gathering, agriculture and fishing.
21. “...lost their way in the dense
jungles, never came back out ...” (Paragraph 4)
What is the synonym of ‘dense’?