Forest land-use in Sabah, Malaysia: an introduction to Danum Valley

Abstract

The Malaysian state of Sabah occupies an area of 73 371 km 2 which is about 10% of the island of Borneo. A bout 60% of the land area is forested and 48% is gazetted as Permanent Forest Reserve or State or National Parks. The largest agent of forest disturbance is the timber industry, which plays a leading role in the state economy. A statutory body, the Sabah Foundation, holds a 100-year timber concession of 973 000 ha (9730 km 2 ) in the southeast of the state. Of this concession 9.7% has been reserved for conservation, including 43 800 ha (438 km 2 ) of uninhabited, mostly lowland forest in an area called Danum Valley. Since 1986, this has been the site of a field centre and a collaborative research programme devoted to comparative study of primary forest ecology and the impacts of selective logging. The paper includes a summary account of the ecology of the Danum Valley Conservation Area.