Upper Baram study site

Location and access

The study site lies in northern Sarawak, in the mountains leading up to the watershed forming the border with Indonesia. The main focus will be an area of approximately 50,000 ha designated for Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), which will be harvested in the next few years, together with the adjacent proposed Pulong Tau National Park (click here for larger map).

The main settlement is the Kelabit town of Long Lellang, and there are other Kelabit, Pennan and Kenyah villages in and around the SFM area. 

The northern side is accessible by Malaysian Airlines' rural flights to Long Lellang twice weekly (weather permitting!), while a logging road gives access to the southern part of the area.

Land form and climate

Altitude ranges from 300m above sea level in the south-west to approximately 2000m in the Tama Abu Range on the eastern edge of the area. The steep-sided hill, Gunung Murud Kecil, in the north-west of the area, rises to 1500m. There is very little flat land in the area, and much of it is too steep for agriculture or logging; more than half the area has a slope of over 25°.

The area experiences high rainfall (3,400 to 5,900 mm annually) with no distinct wet and dry seasons. Temperatures in the low lying areas average around 26°C, falling to 14°C on the mountain tops. Variation from month to month is small, probably less than 2°C .

Forest types

Most of the area (60%) is covered with mixed dipterocarp forest (MDF), with some montane forest on the higher ground (4%) and tropical heath forest (kerangas) on infertile soils (21%). Old and current swidden cultivation associated with settlements cover 15% of the area. Some extensive areas (over 3000ha) were burnt during the 1997-98 El Niño event and the Sarawak Forest Department is undertaking enrichment planting with native timber species in these areas.

Approximately half the forested area has been subjected to selective logging in the past. This was hitherto 'conventional logging', but Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) techniques were in use from 2003.

Wildlife

Surveys of large birds and mammals have recorded the presence of:

• primates - gibbons, Hose's and maroon langurs, pigtail and long-tailed macaques
• ungulates - Sambar deer, muntjac, mousedeer and bearded pigs.
• carnivores - Malay weasel, yellow-throated marten, binturong, masked palm civet, common palm civet, banded civet, Hose’s civet, otters, banded linsang, Malay civet, collared mongoose, short-tailed mongoose, marbled cat, leopard cat, sun bear and clouded leopard
• rodents - giant and tufted ground squirrels and common, long-tailed and thick-spined porcupine
• hornbills - wreathed, rhinoceros, bushy-crested, white-crowned, oriental pied, helmeted and black.
• pheasants - argus, Bulwer's pheasants and crested partridge.

Not seen during the surveys but reported by hunters are the endangered bay cat and otter civet – even orang utan have been reported. All these are, however, unconfirmed. In early 2005, a proboscis monkey, an endangered coastal species, was shot on the foothills of Gunung Murud Kecil; the skin was photographed and positively identified by WCS researchers. Claims that there are more individuals of this species within the FMU are unconfirmed. There are also reports of banteng in grasslands to the east of the study area, near the Indonesian border.

Surveys for small animals have not been carried out, but the high ground may support montane species known from Murud, Mulu and Kinabalu.

The FOMISS project

The current project area lies within the FOMISS-SAMLING Pilot Area, where a considerable amount of work was carried out with the support of the German technical cooperation agency GTZ from 1995 to 2000. This included:

• work on remote sensing and development of GIS facilities, and
• introduction of RIL techniques and sustainable forest management practices

Very little field work on wildlife was carried out, but some work on habitats was done using satellite images. More on FOMISS web site

The SFD-Samling-WCS wildlife project

Since 2001 WCS has been working in this area with the Sarawak Forest Department and Samling Corporation on a project designed to implement the Master Plan for Wildlife in Sarawak - in particular the legal restrictions on the trade in wildlife - and to work with local communities to reduce hunting pressure on wildlife in the logging concession. 

This has involved conservation education for local communities and logging company staff, enforcement operations in the logging camps, and regular wildlife surveys and hunting interviews to assess wildlife populations and hunting patterns.