Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Ornithological information Gunung Mulu National Park is one of the most important IBAs in Sarawak due to its rich bird diversity and vegetation type (Davison 1979; MacKinnon and Phillipps 1993) making it the best representative of the lowland and hill forest biome in Sarawak. Two hundred and sixty-two species have been recorded with 119 species (1 Endangered, 12 Vulnerable, 58 Near Threatened) restricted to the lowland forest and another nine to the montane forest. The national park is also known to contain large pheasants such as the Wattled Pheasant Lobiophasis bulweri and all eight hornbill species in Sarawak (Kemp and Kemp 1974). Other Near Threatened bird species found in the park include the Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster, Lesser Fish-eagle Ichthyophaga humilis and Bornean Frogmouth Batrachostomus poliolophus (Medway, 1980; Smythies, 1999). Twenty-four species are restricted to the Sundaic hill dipterocarp and montane forest EBA in Sarawak, of which three are Near Threatened.

Site description (I) Physical CharacteristicsGunung Mulu is the largest national park in Sarawak (Jermy, 1982; SFD, 1982). The area comprises of gentle river valleys and floodplains in the northwest, rising to a line of steep, rugged limestone mountains and deep gorges running through the heart of the national park, incorporating peaks of Gunung Mulu (2,376 m asl), Gunung Benerat (1,600 m asl) and Gunung Api (1,692 m asl) and Gunung Buda (963 m asl) (SFD, 1982; Hazebroek and Abang Kashim bin Abang Morshidi, 2000). The national park also has one of the finest caves in the world (Smart, 1985; Brook et al., 1982). The entire south-eastern half of the national park is occupied by the Gunung Mulu massif, which is made up of shales and interbedded sandstones. Together with sedimentary rocks, they make up the Mulu Formation, estimated about 4,000-5,000 m thick and 40-90 million years old (Late Cretaceous to Late Eocene). Sandy soils have developed on the Mulu Formation rocks. The flanks of the mountain are dissected with steep valleys. The southern limestone hills are made up of the Melinau Limestone. The limestone landscapes are very rugged and are some of the world's best limestone weathering. In the north-western part of the area, overlying the Melinau Limestone, dark grey or blackish shales with minor sandstones form the Setap Shale Formation (Liechti et al., 1960). (II) Climatic ConditionsTemperature decreases with increasing altitude, from an average of 25oc around park hq (30 m asl) to an average of 16.3oC at 1,750 m asl. Annual rainfall is high with at least 5,000 mm throughout the park except at the summit of Gunung Mulu. Rain peaks in April-May and October-November, and the lowest in August-September. Rainfall increases then sharply decreases with altitude, rising from 5,078 mm at 65 m asl, to 6,802 mm at 1,700 m asl, then dropping sharply to 4,882 mm at the summit of Gunung Mulu (SFD, 1982).

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Gunong Buda	National Park	6,621	protected area contained by site	6,621
Gunung Mulu National Park	World Heritage Site	52,864	protected area contained by site	52,864
Mulu	National Park	55,382	protected area contained by site	55,382
Mulu National Park	ASEAN Heritage	55,000	protected area contained by site	55,000

Habitats

Land use

Other biodiversity The national park boasts an incredible diversity of flora and fauna. Approximately 60 species of mammals (Hazebroek and Abang Kashim bin Abang Morshidi, 2000). 75 species of frogs and toads (Hazebroek and Abang Kashim bin Abang Morshidi, 2000).900 species of butterflies, 2,400 species of moths, 5,000 species of beetles and various others (Bright, 2000; Holloway, 1984a, 1984b).Incredible cave fauna including an enormous colony Wrinkle-lipped Bats (Tadarida plicata) estimated at between 600,000 to over 5 million. Their emergence from the structure at dusk is one of the most spectacular sights in the national park. Mossy-nest Swiftlets (Collocalia salagana) and Edible-nest Swiftlet (C. fuciphaga) roost and nest in the caves (Chapman, 1985).(I) Globally threatened mammals (IUCN, 2002): ENDANGERED: Orang-Utan Pongo pygmaeus; VULNERABLE: Pig-tailed Macaque Macaca nemestrina, Smooth-tailed Treeshrew Dendrogale melanura, Jentink's Squirrel Sundasciurus jentinki; NEAR THREATENED: Bornean Gibbon Hylobates muelleri, Long-tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis, Grey Fruit Bat Aethalops alecto, Creagh's Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus creaghi, Philippine Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus philippinensis, Lesser Tailless Horseshoe Bat Coelops robinsoni; DATA DEFICIENT: Hose's Leaf-Monkey Presbytis hosei, Malayan Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus(II) Globally threatened reptiles (IUCN, 2002): No information.(III) Globally threatened plants (IUCN, 2002): CRITICAL: Parashorea macrophylla, Shorea platycarpa, S. seminis, S. acuta, Hopea nutans, Dipterocarpus lowii; ENDANGERED: Dryobalanops beccari, Shorea albida, S. obscura, S. argentifolia, S. maxwelliana, S. ovata, Hopea vaccinifolia, Cotylelobium burkii; VULNERABLE: Santiria nigricans, Scaevola muluensis, Nepenthes lowii, N. muluensis, N. bicalcarata, Microtropis rigida, Combretocarpus rotundatus, Eusideroxylon zwageri, Callophyllum havilandii; NEAR THREATENED: Myristica lowiana; LOWER RISK/conservation dependent: Elaeocarpus cordifolius; DATA DEFICIENT: Pentaspadon motleyi

Management considerations The expansion of resort tourism facilities may encourage mass tourism with higher impacts on fragile cave ecosystem, increased pollution and energy consumption and noise pollution.The park is increasingly surrounded by disturbed and degraded habitats, including logged forest and cultivation. This results in increasing isolation from genetic exchange of the flora and fauna within the park. Coupled with high habitat diversity within the park (meaning, for example, that total areas of protected peat swamp forest and kerangas forest are quite limited) this may raise questions about the long-term sustainability of those populations requiring large forest areas for survival (Davison, pers. comm.). Population densities of some large mammals and birds (primates and hornbills) are low, related to traditional hunting practices (Davison, pers. comm.). Over-harvesting of the birds' nest could potentially inflict long-term damage to the wild population (Stephen Then, 2001).

Protection status Gunung Mulu National Park was established in 1974 and protected under the National Parks and Nature Reserves (Amendment) Ordinance 1990. However, traditional rights of the local people are maintained where they are allowed to hunt pig, deer, fish and collect forest produce for food or handicraft in specified areas of the National Park. An extension of 35,000 ha (Limbang Division) has been proposed (SFD, 1982; Anderson et al., 1979). Gunung Mulu National Park is listed under Category II of the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories and more recently declared a UN World Heritage Site (Anon., 2002).

References Anderson, J.A.R. and Chai, P.P.K. 1982. Vegetation. In Jermy, A.C. and K.P., Kavanagh, (eds.). Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak: An Account of its Environment and Biota being the results of The Royal Geographical Society/Sarawak Government Expedition and Survey 1977-1978. Part I (Special Issue No.2). Sarawak Museum Journal 51: 195-206.Anderson, J.A.R., Jermy, A.C. and Cranbrook, Earl of. 1979. Gunung Mulu National Park: A Management and Development Plan. London: Royal Geographical Society. Anon. 2002. Sarawak to open 19 more national parks. The Star, 19 January.Bank, E. 1935. A collection of montane mammals and birds from Mulu in Sarawak. Sarawak Museum Journal 4: 327-341.Bright, D.E. 2000. Scolytidae (Coleoptera) of Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia, with ecological notes and descriptions of six new species. Serangga 5(1): 41-85.Brook, D.B., Eavis, A.J., Lyon, M.K. and Waltham, A.C. 1982. Caves of the limestone. In Jermy, A.C. and K.P., Kavanagh (eds.). Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak: An Account of its Environment and Biota being the results of The Royal Geographical Society/Sarawak Government Expedition and Survey 1977-1978. Part I (Special Issue No.2). Sarawak Museum Journal 51: 95-120.Chapman, P. 1985. Cave Biology. In Eavis, A.J. (compiler). Caves of Mulu '84: The Limestone Caves of the Gunong Mulu National Park, Sarawak, pp. 49-50. Bridgewater: British Cave Research Association.Davison, G.W.H. 1979. A Survey of Terrestrial Birds in the Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. Sarawak Museum Journal 48: 283-293.Gregory-Smith, R. 1996. Bird Report-Sarawak 1995. Sarawak Museum Journal 71: 93-110.Hazebroek, H.P. and Abang Kashim bin Abang Morshidi. 2000. National Parks of Sarawak. Kota Kinabalu: Natural History Publications (Borneo).Holloway, J.D. 1984. Notes on the butterflies of the Gunung Mulu National Park. In Jermy, A.C. and K.P., Kavanagh, K.P. (eds.). Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak: An Account of its Environment and Biota being the results of The Royal Geographical Society/Sarawak Government Expedition and Survey 1977-1978. Part II (Special Issue No.2). Sarawak Museum Journal 51: 89-132.Holloway, J.D. 1984. The larger moths of the Gunung Mulu National Park: a preliminary assessment of their distribution, ecology, and potential as environmental indicators. In Jermy, A.C. and K.P., Kavanagh (eds.). Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak: An Account of its Environment and Biota being the results of The Royal Geographical Society/Sarawak Government Expedition and Survey 1977-1978. Part II (Special Issue No.2). Sarawak Museum Journal 51: 149-190.IUCN. 2002. 2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.redlist.org (23 June 2003).Jermy, A.C. (1982). Gunung Mulu National Park: the 1977-78 survey. In Jermy, A.C. and K.P., Kavanagh (eds.). Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak: An Account of its Environment and Biota being the results of The Royal Geographical Society/Sarawak Government Expedition and Survey 1977-1978. Part I (Special Issue No.2). Sarawak Museum Journal 51: 1-16.Kemp, A.C. and Kemp, M.I. 1974. Report on a Study of Hornbills in Sarawak with Comments on their Conservation. Project MYS 2/74. Kuala Lumpur: WWFM.Kemp, A.C. and Kemp, M.I. 1976. Random notes on some Sarawak birds. Sarawak Museum Journal 24: 273-276.Leichti, P., Roe, F.W. and Haile, N.S. 1960. The Geology of Sarawak, Brunei and the Western Half of North Borneo. Kuching: Government Printing Office.MacKinnon, J. and Phillipps, K. 1993. A Field Guide to the Birds of Borneo, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Medway, Lord. 1980. Pp. 157-164 in Hanbury-Tenison, R. Mulu: The Rain Forest. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.McCormick, K.J. 1976. Sarawak Bird Notes - 1975. Sarawak Museum Journal 24: 269-271.Proctor, J., Anderson, J.M. and Vallack, H.W. 1982. Ecological studies in four forest types. In Jermy, A.C. and K.P., Kavanagh (eds.). Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak: An Account of its Environment and Biota being the results of The Royal Geographical Society/Sarawak Government Expedition and Survey 1977-1978. Part I (Special Issue No.2). Sarawak Museum Journal 51: 95-120.Proctor, J., Anderson, J.M., Chai, P. and Vallack, H.W. 1983. Ecological studies in four contrasting lowland rain forests in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak. Journal of Ecology 71: 237-260.SFD. 1982. Gunung Mulu National Park Management Plan 1993-1995. Sarawak: Sarawak Forest Department.Smythies, B.E. 1999. The Birds of Borneo (4th Edition). Revised by Davison, G.W.H. Kota Kinabalu: Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd.Sharpe, R.B. 1894. Bornean Notes, No. III. (xii) On a collection of Birds from Mount Mulu in Sarawak. Ibis 6(6): 542-544.Smart, P. 1985. Cave Geomorphology. In Eavis, A.J. (comp.). Caves of Mulu '84: The Limestone Caves of the Gunong Mulu National Park, Sarawak, pp. 46-48.. Bridgewater: British Cave Research Association.Smythies, B.E. 1957. A checklist of the birds of Borneo. Sarawak Museum Journal 7: xv + 296.Smythies, B.E. 1981. The birds of Borneo. Third edition. Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Society, and Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Nature Society. Smythies, B.E. 1999. The Birds of Borneo (4th Edition). Revised by Davison, G.W.H.. Kota Kinabalu: Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd.Stephen Then. 2001. Possible threat to Mulu Park. The Star, 18 December: 19.Wells, D.R. 1976. Some bird communities in western Sabah, with distributional records, March 1975. Sarawak Museum Journal 24: 277-286.Wells, D.R., Hails, C.J. and Hails, A.J. 1978. A study of the birds of the Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, with special emphasis on those of lowland forests. Report to the Royal Geographical Society (Mulu Expedition).

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