Maliau Basin
Maliau Basin is a world where the trees thrust up to the heavens and where wild orchids hang like beaded curtains from moss covered, fantasy-like trees. Where the sounds of raucous Gibbons and the deep base solo of the male Orang Utan blend into the calls of the insects, working in harmony, timing their sounds to fall in between the notes of others. There are mysteries everywhere, otherworldly screams, camouflaged predators, noxious plants, stinging bugs, mould, decay and boggy impassable ground. Maliau Basin is only really accessible to fit and adventurous hikers.  Those that make the trek up the Basin wall and down into the Basin itself will be rewarded with a dream-like, hidden world of truly awesome biodiversity.

Maliau Basin sits just above the equator in south-central Sabah, 40km north of the Kalimantan border and 190km north-west of Tawau in the Tongod District. Dubbed ‘The Lost World’ as was noticed for the first time in 1947, when a pilot flying from the west coast of Sabah to Tawau nearly ran into the steep cliffs of Maliau that rise over  500 metres out of the steamy primordial  jungle. Maliau Basin was initially part of Yayasan Sabah Concession Area and voluntarily designated as a conservation area in 1981 for research, education and training purposes.  It was only 20 years ago that the area was truly discovered when in 1988, a first major scientific expedition was organized by Sabah Parks and WWF Malaysia. In 1997, Sabah State Assembly announced Maliau Basin as a Class 1 Protection Forest Reserve and increased its size from 390km square to 588.4km square.  The extension included the outer northern and eastern escarpments and Lake Linumunsut, said to be the only true lake in Sabah; the first expedition went out to the lake in 2001. Since 1999, Maliau Basin is being maintained under a joint conservation effort between Denmark and Yayasan Sabah. Efforts are underway to make Maliau Basin Malaysia’s third UNESCO World Heritage Site.

From the air, your eyes are drawn to what looks like the crater of a giant volcano, there are no roads here, only winding rivers and an extremely prosperous tropical rainforest. The Maliau Basin is made up of inter-bedded layers of sandstone and mudstone approximately 7500 metres thick which were deposited in an ancient costal environment 9 to 15million years ago. The whole basin represents a geological catchment and drains through a canyon in the south east by one river, the Maliau River, which flows out into the Kuamat River joining with the Sabah’s largest  river, the Kinabatangan. In Maliau there are over 30 waterfalls making it the most waterfall rich area in all of Malaysia. The Maliau Basin is a natural depression 25km across and is surrounded by steep cliffs up to 500 metres high; the highest point of the basin is on the north rim at 1900 metres is Mount Lotung. Maliau Basin has never been permanently inhabited, visited only by the Murut tribe who would arrange yearly hunting trips into the area but never settled in the forbidding basin. Only about 25% of it has been mapped and less than 50% has been explored, with less than 15% being intensively studied. Maliau is a virtual self contained ecosystem and holds a level of biodiversity so high due to a long history of geological stability.

The fantastic array of life found in the jungles of Maliau offers the most complex show of interacting life on the planet. Over 82 mammal species have been recorded in the Basin, many of them endangered. The Sumatran Rhino, Asian Elephant, Clouded Leopard, Malayan Sun Bear, Orang Utan, Sambar and Barking Deer, Bearded Pigs and the Banteng – or Wild Ox that has been extinct in peninsular Malaysia for over half a century. Maliau is also home to several species of monkeys, Civets,  Bay Cats, shrews, porcupines, Scaly Anteaters and 11 of the 17 species of rats in Borneo are found in the Basin. It is also home to the bizarre Flying Lemur – one thing for sure is that it is not a lemur and it does not fly, although it does possess superior gliding skills; no one is sure who its closest relative is. There are 32 species of frogs from five families living in Maliau alongside 8 metre long Pythons!  The water of Maliau River is acidic and tea coloured, a rare and natural phenomenon that is due to the tannins leaching out of the boggy leaf debris; very few fish can survive here, with only three species being recorded so far.  80% of all insects live in jungles but the insect fauna of Maliau is largely unidentified.  In June 2006, a scientific expedition found 10 species of flora and fauna previously unknown to science, amongst them a water beetle and a type of crab; many more new species are expected with continuing expeditions.

Maliau Basin is still covered by unlogged forest and is a tremendously valuable botanical resource that ranges from high elevation Moss Forest to Lowland Forest at 300 metres. Represented here are 12 distinct forest types including Floodplain, Montane Heath, Riparian, Agathis Tree, and Upland Sandy Clay.  At hand there is an estimated 1800 tree species in Maliau Basin and from this list 54 are currently listed as endangered or close to extinction. Among the hundreds are 75 Dipterocarp species, abundant fruit trees, rhododendrons, Rafflesia flowers and at least 80 rare and endemic orchids. Nine species of the carnivorous Pitcher Plant thrive here as it is adapted to living in very low nutrient soils. The plant gets most of its nourishment from insects lured to the nectar glands on the underside of the lids. Once on board, the waxy sides of the pitcher ensure that there is little chance of escape, and most slip to a watery grave. At the bottom of the pitcher, glands secrete enzymes which help digest the corpses, thus, feeding the plant.

A kaleidoscope of fungi are represented in the Basin, the most peculiar being the Cordyceps Fungus. It is a type of parasitic fungi whose spores infiltrate the bodies and minds of insects. The fungi controls the creature until fruiting bodies erupt from the insect, the fungi can take up to three weeks to grow before the spores burst from the fungi, showering down countless deadly spores. Cordyceps are so virulent that they can wipe out an entire colony of insects. These attacks do have a positive effect on the jungles diversity; since parasites like these stop any one group of animal getting the upper hand. The more numerous a species becomes, the more likely it will be attacked by its nemesis the Cordyceps Fungus. There are thought to be thousands of different types of Cordyceps, and remarkably each specializes on just one insect species.

Maliau Basin contains over 70km of marked trails, although only one third is open to visitors who must be accompanied by a guide at all times. Access is strictly controlled and is limited to only 15 people at a time; in order to gain access you must present a copy of your latest medical certificate confirmed by a doctor and a copy of your personal insurance that must cover emergency helicopter evacuation. There are several treks to do with overnight stops in camps along the way. Maliau offers jungle trekking, bird watching, photography, swimming and night safaris in which you may encounter Sambar Deer, Bearded Pigs, Malay Civets and the Flying Lemur. Maliau Basin is one of the best places in the world to experience one of the world’s fast disappearing treasures – old growth tropical rainforest.
 
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