Tallest tree in Danum Valley, Sabah stands at 94.1m
KUCHING: An ecologist at Carnegie Institute of Science at Stanford University has announced the discovery, via air surveillance, of the tallest tree in Danum Valley, Lahad Datu, Sabah at the ‘Heart of Borneo Conference’ held at The Magallen Sutera Harbour in Sabah last November.
Prof Gregory Asner, who is also the leader of the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), said the tree belonged to the genus Shorea, although the exact species had yet to be determined.
“The tree is 94.1m tall with a canopy measuring 40.3m in diameter. Asner and his colleagues also found 49 other trees taller than 90m spread all over Sabah,” said Sabah Forest Department in a press statement yesterday.
Impressed with the announcement and the hope that it would highlight the need to protect Borneo’s rainforests, Datuk Sam Mannan, chief conservator of forests, instructed an expedition to be organised this year to locate and determine the tree species.
Recently, a team of researchers and supporting staff from the Forest Research Centre (FRC) of Sabah Forest Department, led by its forest botanist John B. Sugau, together with two guides from Danum Valley Field Centre (DVFC) carried out an expedition from Feb 20 to 24.
Prior to the expedition, the coordinates of the tallest tree, obtained from Asner were plotted on the map of Danum Valley Conservation Area (DVCA).
The map shows that the tree is located about 600m southwest of Ulu Purut Research Station (UPRS) camp.
UPRS is located about 7km east of DVFC and can be reached after four to five hours of trekking through an existing forest trail.
The team commenced the search from UPRS camp about 8am on Feb 22 based on the coordinates logged into the Garmin Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver.
Fifty minutes later, the team found the tree about 150m from the existing Ulu Purut Research Station Camp-Mount Danum Raleigh Camp trail, growing in an old forest gap of Lowland Mixed Dipterocarp Forest on a slope of about 359m above sea level.
Juanis Runcin, a tree climber from Sabah Forest Department, climbed the tree to obtain leaf samples for species identification and to manually measure the height of the tree for comparison.
The tree is botanically identified as Shorea faguetiana F. Heim of the Dipterocarpaceae family or locally called ‘seraya kuning siput’.
The earlier record of the tallest tropical tree in Tawau Hills Park is also of the same species.
The tree’s height was directly measured by the climber using line and extendable pole.
Two height measurements were taken, one from the top to the ground at the upper slope (90.8m) and another from the top to the ground at the lower slope (95.2m).
The CAO measurement of 94.1m is within the range of the measurements. The bole girth is 214cm measured above the buttress.
Apart from the mission to locate and determine the tree species, other observations on the flora and fauna as well as on the presence of any key features were also made around the tallest tree.
Among the interesting findings were the discovery of many endemic Begonia species and two scenic waterfalls.
Other studies such as soil and forest structure were also carried out to obtain more information about the surrounding area.
As the world’s tallest tropical tree, it could become a heritage tree and will attract many local and overseas visitors.
Though it is already in a protected forest reserve, it may need extra protection such as a track from DVFC and checking station to be manned properly.
Among other recommendations that will be forwarded to the management of DVCA are to indicate the tallest tree on the map of DVCA; establish a user-friendly trail from the existing Ulu Purut Research Station-Raleigh Camp Trail to the tallest tree; erect signage and information board on the tallest tree at the appropriate location and more importantly protect the trees from lightning such by installing lightning protection equipment.
The expedition team thanked Datuk Sam Mannan for his support to the expedition, Asner who led to the discovery of the tallest tree and Dr Yap Sau Wai and Jikos Gidiman of Yayasan Sabah for their support and arranging for guides and porters for the expedition.
The tree is 94.1m tall with a canopy measuring 40.3m in diameter. Asner and his colleagues also found 49 other trees taller than 90m spread all over Sabah. — Sabah Forest Department press statement