The small town of Tuaran owes its existence to the river after which it is named.

[3] The river is also part of the route where British colonial administrator Hugh Low began his journey for the first recorded ascent of North Borneo's highest point of Mount Kinabalu, having departed from Labuan in 1851.

[4][5][6] Much of the river is covered by mangrove palm and swamps that providing natural coastal protection and habitat for several bird species.

[7] Since the 2000s, the coasts of the river was affected by sand mining activities with 14 identified locations.

[8] Beginning in the 2010s, the Sabah government through the Lands and Surveys Department (LSD) began to increase operation against illegal sand mining in Tuaran as well on Papar River.