TAWAU HILLS PARK, NOT A MERE NATURAL RECREATION SPOT

By Nashir Mansor

TAWAU, Malaysia, Aug 6(Bernama) -- In 2006, American scientist Dr Roman Dial and
two friends climbed up a 'Seraya Kuning Siput' (Shorea faquetiana) in Taman
Bukit Tawau near here, a town in East Malaysia state of Sabah.

The trio risked life and limb in order to find out the accurate measurement of
this tree, a tropical rainforest plant, located in the forest reserve of some
28,000 hectares.

After placing the end of the measuring tape at the tip of the highest point on
the tree, Dr Dial, a professor in Biologi and Mathematic of Alaska Pacific
University, finally recorded the tree's height at 88.32 metres.

That measurement made the Seraya Kuning Siput in Tawau Hills Park the highest
tropical rainforest tree in the world.

After recording the tree's height, Dr Dial and his team then moved on to look
for trees of other species in the park. In two square km there, they found seven
more that measured more than 80 metres in height.

The discovery by Dr Dial and his team was recorded in the National
Geographic magazine, July 2006 edition.

FOREST RESERVE

Even though the Seraya Kuning Siput in Tawau Hills Park is 10th among the
world's tallest tree species, Malaysians should be proud of it as it is the
tallest among the tropical species.

So far, the tallest tree in the world is of the redwood species (Sequoia
sempervirens) found in Redwood Forest, Redwood National Park in California,
United States at the height of 115.55 metres.

Meanwhile, out of the 25 tallest trees from various species various in the
world, 11 are found in Tawau Hills Park with each exceeding 80 metres in height.

At the moment visitors to Tawau Hills Park would make it a must to view the
world's tallest tropical rainforest tree there. A visit to the park is
considered as 'incomplete' without taking a look at this gigantic tree.

TAWAU'S TREASURES

The world's tallest tropical tree is located 900 metres from the park's station
and in order to get to the site, visitors have to move along a natural trail
constructed by the park's authorities.

Along the trip to that spot the visitors can, apart from breathing in the fresh
forest air, view the lush greenery comprising various plants and vegetation in
the park.

For those who are lucky, they can see the Red Leaf Monkey that are quite
'friendly' with the visitors.

"We were surprised when the scientist told us that the world's tallest tropical
rainforest tree is here. To us it is like a treasure to Tawau".

TROPICAL TREE

"Even though some years ago, this area was known as a logging district, we still
have the treasure for the benefit of future generations", Tawau Hills Park
manager Ariffin Johari told Bernama.

He said the tree's capability to grow to such a height indicated that the
volcanic soil that covered the park and its eco-system are still intact and
should be continued to be conserved.

Ariffin said the tropical tree can live up to 200 years but its lifespan is also
influenced by factors including soil stability and the risk of being struck by
lightning.

He said the park's management authorities, placed under the Sabah, Tourism,
Culture and Environment Ministry, would preserve the tree as best as they could
to ensure that the tree lasts its lifespan.

"That is one of our tasks at Tawau Hills Park," he said.

WATER SUPPLY

This park, gazetted in 1979, is also functioning as a water catchment area for
five major rivers in Tawau - Sungai Tawau, Sungai Balung, Sungai Merotai, Sungai
Kalumpang and Sungai Andrassy.

This makes Tawau Hills Park the main water supplier to three districts in the
Sabah's East Coast - Tawau, Semporna and Kunak that have almost one million
population.

There are also three mountains in the park, namely Gunung Magdalena at 1,219
metres in height, Gunung Lucia (1,188.7 m) and Gunung Maria (1,060.8 m). Both
Gunung Maria and Gunung Magnalena are off-limits to the public while a jungle
trail is being constructed for visitors to Gunung Lucia.

"Tawau Hills Park, only some 25 kilometres from Tawau town, does not only owns
the world's tallest tropical tree but also various other flora and fauna rarely
found in other forest reserves," said Ariffin.

SPECIAL SPECIES

He cited an example. The 'Orkid Telinga Gajah (Phalaenopsis gigantea) is a wild
orchid endemic only in Borneo and in Sabah this orchid species is only found in
Tawau Hills Park and Tenom.

This orchid is unique as some may have up to six leaves as compared to three and
four in other wild orchids. Its flowers would bloom only twice in three years
and the flowers can last up to six months, apart from fetching the price of
RM10,000 (US$3,172) per plant.

"At Tawau Hills Park, we created a Botanical Garden that has some 200 species of
orchids and about 6,000 of orchid plants," said Zainuddin Baluat, a staff of the
park.

Apart from orchids, the Botanical Garden also showcases some 60 species of ferns
including the giant ferns, 43 species of 'halia hutan' (globa panicoides), wild
yam (Colocasia esculenta) and herbs such as 'Tongkat Ali', 'Kacip Fatimah' and
incense wood.
-- BERNAMA



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