The Kinabatangan River (Sungai Kinabatangan) is located in Sabah, eastern Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It is the second longest river in Malaysia, with a length of 560 kilometers from its headwaters in the mountains of southwest Sabah, to its outlet at the Sulu Sea, east of Sandakan.
Kinabatangan is known for its remarkable wildlife and fascinating habitats such as limestone caves , riverine forest, freshwater swamp forest, oxbow lakes and salty mangrove swamps near the coast.
In 1997, 270 square kilometres of the lower Kinabatangan floodplain was declared a protected area, and in 2001 this designation was upgraded to that of "bird sanctuary", largely through the efforts of the World Wide Fund for Nature. However, further efforts to have the area declared a "wildlife refuge" or even "national park" have been opposed by the logging industry, and oil palm plantation owners seeking to expand their cultivated land.
We are planning to visit this area to view what is remaining of the forests and also view the transition zone of it with the palm oil estate.
View photos of Sandakan and Kinabatangan
