Classroom lesson · Ulu Temburong Rainforest · 🇧🇳 Brunei

Ulu Temburong Rainforest

A ancient jungle that has never been cut down

A canopy walkway high above the Ulu Temburong rainforest treetops

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Ulu Temburong National Park is one of Borneo's most untouched rainforests. The trees here are so old and tall that the tallest ones are like 20-storey buildings. Brunei has protected this forest for a very long time, so it is full of wildlife that has been left in peace.

Tell me more

To reach the park, visitors travel by longboat along jungle rivers - the water is so clear you can see right to the bottom. The forest begins right at the riverbank, with giant roots tangling down into the water and huge leaves hanging overhead. It already feels magical before you set foot on land.

Inside the park, a famous canopy walkway leads you up to the very tops of the tallest trees. When you reach the top, you can see a green sea of treetops stretching to the horizon in every direction. Macaque monkeys swing between the branches below you and butterflies the size of your hand flutter past.

Scientists love Ulu Temburong because the forest has almost never been disturbed by people. That means the soil, insects, plants, and animals all work together exactly as they have for thousands of years. It is like a living library of how rainforests are supposed to work - and Brunei is very proud of keeping it that way.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might it be important to leave some forests completely untouched by people?
  2. 02If you were a scientist studying Ulu Temburong, what animal or plant would you most want to learn about?
  3. 03The only way in is by boat along a river. How does that change the feeling of visiting compared to arriving by road?
Try this

Classroom activity

Create a rainforest layer diagram. Draw four layers - the forest floor, the understorey, the canopy, and the emergent layer (the very tallest trees). Place one animal and one plant in each layer. Write one sentence about why each creature lives at that height.