LAKE BERA

Lake Bera is located in the central lowland of Peninsular Malaysia. Lies within the Pahang River catchments area. The wetland consists of a complex of inflowing streams and swamps-some 35KM long and 25KM wide. The total catchment area of Lake Bera is around 61,380 hectares while the RAMSAR site of 31,120 hectares including some 6,800 hectares of wetland habitats.

The RAMSAR Convention on Wetland is an inter-governmental treaty adopted to preserve and conserve selected bodies of wetlands or swamps, which are of international importance, and Lake Bera is Malaysia's first RAMSAR site.

Of the 6,800 hectares of wetlands inside the Ramsar site, the main habitats comprise of freshwater and peat swamp forests, transitional open-forest swamps, pandans (pandanus helicopus ) swamps and open water, with a highly diverse algal community and beds of submerged macrophytes.

The world’s only species of submerged plant, the purple water trumpet is found in the swamp forests along the river banks, whilst bladderwort and floating water lilies are found in the main open water. Pandans and emergent plants such as the rare sedge are abundant in large open swamps.

The forest of the drier lowlands is dominated by diptrocarps, which include some of the commercial timber species. The canopy can reach heights of between 30 – 40 meters, but some emergent can reach a height of more than 50 meters.

A total of 374 plants species have been recorded at Lake Bera, of which 10 are known to be endemic to Peninsular Malaysia.

Lake Bera is a good example of the wetland system in South-East Asia. It has a biological diversity that include natural habitats to 68 species of mammals, 94 species of fish and wide range of aquatic and non-aquatic vegetation.

Accommodation is available at the Lake Bera Resort, Tanjung Kuin. There are also several campsites for those who prefer to stay outdoor.

Activities such as Jungle Trekking, Boating, Bird Watching and Fishing can be organized at Lake Bera.

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently 158 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1763 wetland sites, totaling 161 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

(Click for further reading about 'The Ramsar Convention On Wetland')