Bukit Tigapuluh ‘Thirty Hills’ National Park represents the most important remaining area of lowland forest in Sumatra, Indonesia. It is part of the ‘Sundaland’ biodiversity hotspot and houses a great number of endemic species.

These forests are the natural habitat for forest-dwelling tribal communities such as the Talang Mamak who fish, hunt and collect non-timber forest products, including fruit and rattan. The forest also provides a natural environment to rare animals like the orang-utan, ape, elephant, tapir, tiger and the one-horned rhinoceros to name a few.

It also houses many rare plant species, some of which may hold great potential in the field of medicine. The Rafflesia hasseltii for example, is famous for being one of the world’s largest flowers. The flower bud takes many months to develop and grows to around the size of a cabbage before it opens, which is usually at night. The flower lasts only a few days and emits a putrid scent, which attracts flies, its primary pollinators. Mystery still surrounds much of the rafflesia's ecology.