Restoration and protection of a critical orangutan habitat in Sabah, Malaysia.
The Malua Wildlife Habitat Conservation Bank (Malua BioBank) is located next to one of the last areas of virgin rainforest in Sabah, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. The Malua BioBank will restore and protect 34,000 hectares (80,000 acres) of critical orangutan habitat within the Malua Forest Reserve.
The Sabah State Government has licensed conservation rights for a period of 50 years to the Malua BioBank and a private investor has committed up to 10 million USD for the rehabilitation of the Malua Forest Reserve over the next six years. The Malua BioBank will sell Biodiversity Conservation Certificates, with each certificate representing 100-square meters of rainforest restoration and protection.
Revenues generated from the sale of these certificates will be used to cover costs incurred and to endow a trust fund, the Malua Trust, which was set up to manage the long-term conservation management of the Malua BioBank over the remaining 44-year period of the license.
One of the main goals is improving forest structure in order to increase carbon storage and resilience to fire. The rehabilitation process will include planting seedlings to reestablish key rainforest species and enhancing natural food resources for wildlife until the area regenerates into healthy tropical rainforest.
Regular monitoring of forest regeneration, water quality and wildlife are just a part of the comprehensive conservation strategy. The Malua Biobank also considers the needs of its most intelligent inhabitants, by placing rope bridges as key points to re-connect fragmented forest canopy. As logging has reduced the number of available nesting sites, artificial nests have been provided for exotic hornbills.
|Common Name||Scientific Name||IUCN Status|
|Asian giant tortoise||Manouria emys||Endangered|
|Banded palm civet||Hemigalus derbyanus||Vulnerable|
|Bearded pig||Sus barbatus||Vulnerable|
|Bornean pygmy elephant||Elephas maximus||Endangered|
|Marbled cat||Pardofelis marmorata||Vulnerable|
|Oriental small-clawed otter||Aonyx cinerea||Vulnerable|
|Otter civet||Cynogale bennettii||Endangered|
|Pig-tailed macaque||Macaca nemestrina||Vulnerable|
|Sunda clouded leopard||Neofelis diardi||Vulnerable|
|Storm's stork||Ciconia stormi||Endangered|
After being part of the Brunei and Sulu Sultanates, Sabah (at that time known as North Borneo) became a protectorate of the United Kingdom in 1888 and suffered from Japanese occupation all through the Second World War. After a period of being a British Crown Colony, in 1963, the territory together with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore formed the Federation of Malaysia.
The forests of Sabah hold the richest large mammal fauna in Borneo. This is a result of a once rich habitat and relatively minimal hunting pressure due to a lack of permanent human settlements. The area is an important refuge for Sumatran rhinoceros, Bornean pygmy elephant, sun bear, clouded leopard and other endangered species. As a result of land conversion to extensive oil palm plantations, Malua has high densities of orangutans seeking refuge in adjacent forest patches.
Tourism, particularly eco-tourism is a major contributor to the economy of Sabah. The state currently has six national parks, from which the Kinabalu National Park is designated as a World Heritage Site.
Conservation Management Plan for the Malua Forest Reserve
A 2008 study showed that there are more than 130 different species of birds in the reserve.
Malua Wildlife Habitat Conservation Bank Launches in Sabah, Malaysia