Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi

Kilim Geoforest Park, Langkawi (10 September, 2018)

Kilim Geoforest Park (GPS: 6.406, 99.85897) is a national park on the northeastern part of Langkawi, in Kedah, Malaysia. It is part of the Langkawi UNESCO Global Geopark which was inscribed as the first UNESCO global geopark in Southeast Asia.

Covering an area of 83 square kilometers, the park protects the karst outcrops, mangrove ecosystem, including the numerous meandering rivers flowing through it. This geopark is home to a rich diversity of wildlife including monkeys, monitor lizards, otters, snakes, bats, various birds such as the white-bellied sea eagles (Haliaeetus leucogaster), brahminy kites (Haliastur indus), kingfishers, crabs, and even the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins.

The Kilim Geoforest Park is also home to various plants, including the mangrove trees, shrubs, palms, ferns and orchids. Also found here is the limestone cycad (Cycas clivicola), a type of palm growing in the niches of the limestone cliffs. Its distribution include Langkawi, Perlis and the islands of southern Thailand such as those at Phangnga Bay National Park.

The inscription of Kilim Geoforest Park as a UNESCO global geopark has helped to preserve this mangrove wetlands, which are a vital fish breeding ground, as well as control of coastal erosion.