Brunei Geography, Landscape and Wildlife

Brunei is not one block of land. The country is made up of two parts that do not touch: the larger western section, which holds the capital and three of the four districts, and the district of Temburong to the east. Between them lies the Limbang division of Sarawak, Malaysia, which pushes north to Brunei Bay and cuts the country in two. With Sarawak wrapping around both parts on land, Brunei is almost an enclave within Malaysia.

How the two parts connect: For decades the trip from the capital to Temburong meant a water taxi across Brunei Bay and up the rivers (about 45 minutes), or a drive through Malaysian territory and its border posts. Since 17 March 2020 the Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Bridge, usually called the Temburong Bridge, links the two parts directly. The road link is 30 km long: a 14.5 km viaduct crosses Brunei Bay, and an 11.8 km viaduct runs over the mangrove swamp of the Labu Forest Reserve, so the road barely touches the forest floor.

The coast: Brunei faces the South China Sea along about 161 km of coast. The western shore is long and straight with sandy beaches, such as Muara Beach near the capital. Toward the east the coast opens into Brunei Bay, a sheltered, shallow bay ringed with mangroves and islands that the Brunei and Temburong rivers drain into.

Brunei’s terrain follows a simple pattern: a flat coastal plain that rises to mountains in the east and hilly lowlands in the west.

• Coastal plain: A narrow strip of flat land runs along the South China Sea. Almost all towns, roads and oil installations sit here, from Kuala Belait and Seria in the west to the capital in the east.
• Hilly lowlands (west): Behind the coast, Belait, Tutong and Brunei-Muara rise into low, rolling hills cut by river valleys, swamps and floodplains. Much of this interior has no permanent settlement.
• Mountains (east): Temburong climbs steadily from the mangroves of Brunei Bay to steep, forested ridges in the south. The highest ground lies along the border with Sarawak.
• Bukit Pagon: Brunei’s highest point, about 1,850 m above sea level (some surveys give 1,841 m), sits on the Temburong-Sarawak border at the southern tip of the country. Its upper slopes hold montane forest and the rare pitcher plant Nepenthes lowii. There is no tourist trail to the summit.
• Hills you can climb: In northern Temburong, the twin hills of the Peradayan Forest Reserve (Bukit Peradayan, 410 m, and Bukit Patoi, 310 m) are about 15 km from Bangar on the road to Labu, with a jungle trail and views over the forest.
• Lowest point: Sea level. Brunei sits outside the typhoon belt and has largely escaped earthquakes.

Rivers shaped Brunei’s landscape and its history: the old capital grew on stilts over the water, and in the interior the rivers are still the main routes into the forest. There are four main river systems, one per district.

• Belait River (206 km): The longest river in Brunei, draining most of Belait District and reaching the sea at Kuala Belait. Its basin holds the country’s main peat swamp forests.
• Tutong River: Flows through central Tutong District to the coast at Tutong town, with seasonally flooded land along its middle course.
• Brunei River (41 km): The shortest of the main rivers, but the most important. It runs through Bandar Seri Begawan, past Kampong Ayer and the Istana Nurul Iman, and into Brunei Bay through mangrove-lined channels.
• Temburong River (98 km): Rises in the mountains of southern Temburong, runs through Ulu Temburong National Park and past Bangar, and enters Brunei Bay close to the Temburong Bridge.

Tasek Merimbun: Brunei’s largest natural lake lies in Tutong District, about 27 km from Tutong town and 70 km from the capital. Its water is stained dark by tannins from decaying leaves. The lake and its surrounding 7,800 ha park were named the first ASEAN Heritage Park in 1984, and it is an Important Bird Area for the endangered Storm’s stork. A wooden walkway leads to a small island with a picnic pavilion. See Tasek Merimbun.

Brunei is one of the greenest countries in Southeast Asia. About 72% of the land is forest (roughly 380,000 hectares in 2020), and around 69% of the naturally regenerating forest is primary forest. Oil and gas revenue has spared most of the interior from the large-scale logging and plantations seen elsewhere on Borneo, and the government has pledged to keep farmland to about 1% of the country.

The main forest types, from the coast inland:

• Mangroves: Along Brunei Bay and the river estuaries. The bay’s mangroves are among the largest relatively untouched mangrove areas in eastern Asia.
• Peat swamp forest: Waterlogged forest on deep peat, mainly in the Belait River basin.
• Lowland dipterocarp rainforest: The tall forest of most of the interior dominated by Shorea, Dryobalanops and Dipterocarpus trees.
• Lower montane forest: Cooler, mossier forest on the high ridges of southern Temburong, around Bukit Pagon.

Brunei’s flora runs to about 2,000 tree species and an estimated 15,000 vascular plants. The forest’s biggest outside threat is haze: smoke from land-clearing fires in Indonesia drifts over Brunei in some dry seasons.

Ulu Temburong National Park is Brunei’s first and best-known national park, protected since 1991 and nicknamed the “Green Jewel of Brunei.” It covers about 550 km² of southern Temburong, around 40% of the district, inside the larger Batu Apoi Forest Reserve. The park is lowland dipterocarp rainforest rising to mountains in the south, cut by the Temburong and Belalong rivers.

• Getting in: There is no road into the park. Visitors drive to Batang Duri, south of Bangar, then ride a motorized longboat up the Temburong River, steered through the rapids, sandbars and fallen logs by experienced Iban boatmen.
• Canopy walk: The highlight is a canopy walkway on steel towers about 50 m above the forest floor, with views across unbroken rainforest. It is reached by a steep boardwalk and staircase from the park headquarters, so expect hundreds of steps in high humidity.
• Trails: About 7 km of boardwalks, bridges and stairways with interpretation boards. Many tours add a river swim or tubing on the Temburong.
• Research: Universiti Brunei Darussalam runs the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Centre (opened in 1990) near the mouth of the Belalong River.
• Wildlife highlights: Bornean gibbons calling from the canopy, rhinoceros and bushy-crested hornbills, pygmy squirrels, smooth-coated otters on the river, and around 400 species of butterfly, including the Rajah Brooke’s birdwing.

The proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) is the animal most visitors come to Brunei hoping to see, and it is easier to find here than almost anywhere in Borneo. Found only on the island of Borneo, it lives in mangroves and riverside forest, where it feeds on leaves and swims well between trees. Males have the famous long, drooping nose and a pot belly; they lead harems of females and young.

• Where: The mangroves along the Brunei River, just minutes by boat from downtown Bandar Seri Begawan, hold resident groups. They are also found around Brunei Bay and in the Temburong mangroves.
• When: Late afternoon is best, when the monkeys gather in trees at the water’s edge to settle for the night; early morning also works. Boats usually leave around 5pm for a 30 to 60 minute trip.
• How: Hire a water taxi at the downtown waterfront and agree the price before you set off (roughly BND 15 to 30 for the boat on a short trip), or book a mangrove river safari, which often adds Kampong Ayer and fireflies after dark.
• Also on the trip: Mudskippers, kingfishers, egrets, monitor lizards and, occasionally, estuarine crocodiles.

Brunei’s forests, rivers and reefs are home to a large share of Borneo’s wildlife for such a small country: around 120 mammal species, more than 600 bird species and some 180 amphibians and reptiles.

• Primates: Proboscis monkeys, Bornean gibbons and macaques.
• Birds: Hornbills, including the rhinoceros and bushy-crested hornbills, plus pittas, barbets, broadbills, sunbirds and pheasants. Tasek Merimbun and the Ulu Temburong forests are both Important Bird Areas.
• Mammals: Bornean sun bears, clouded leopards, otters and many squirrels and flying squirrels, most of them shy and rarely seen.
• Reptiles: Estuarine crocodiles and false gharials in the rivers, monitor lizards, and pit vipers in the forest.
• Insects: Ulu Temburong alone has about 400 butterfly species, including the Rajah Brooke’s birdwing.
• Sea life: Coral reefs and shipwrecks offshore, and dugongs in coastal waters.

Brunei protects its environment more by keeping its interior undeveloped than through big reserves. Forest reserves make up all of its designated protected areas, and around 41% of the land is legally protected.

• Heart of Borneo: On 12 February 2007, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia signed the Heart of Borneo declaration, a WWF-initiated pact to conserve about 220,000 km² of forest across the center of the island. Brunei has set aside about 58% of its land for the initiative, including Ulu Temburong.
• Wildlife law: The Wildlife Protection Act (1984) and the Wild Fauna and Flora Order (2007) cover hunting and trade. Brunei was the first country in Asia to ban shark finning.
• Pressures: Land development, encroachment, poaching and the wildlife trade, plus seasonal haze from fires in Indonesia. Swamp forests are the habitat least covered by reserves.

Brunei’s nature is close to the capital and easy to reach in a day. The main ways to see it:

• Canopy walk in Ulu Temburong: A full-day trip over the Temburong Bridge, by longboat up the Temburong River and up to the canopy towers. The single best nature experience in the country.
• River safari from the capital: A late-afternoon boat trip into the Brunei River mangroves for proboscis monkeys, combined with a visit to Kampong Ayer, the water village on stilts.
• Jungle hikes near Bangar: The Peradayan Forest Reserve trail climbs through rainforest to Bukit Patoi and Bukit Peradayan, a good half-day walk without a tour.
• Lake and wetlands: Tasek Merimbun in Tutong for a black-water lake, boardwalk and birdlife.
• Walks in the city: Tasek Lama Recreational Park in Bandar Seri Begawan has forest trails and a waterfall, open 6am to 6pm with free entry.
• Coast: Beach walks on the South China Sea at Muara Beach.

For the rainy and drier months, see the best time to visit Brunei.

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