Sabah Most Wanted

Sites - Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs)

Summary Located in the district of Tawau in Sabah. The area is bounded by two forest reserves. The are is a gazetted park to protect the headwaters and catchment areas.
Site description (I) Physical CharacteristicsTawau Hills Park is located in south-eastern Sabah and is bounded by the Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve on the northern side and Mount Andrassy Forest Reserve on the south. The eastern and western sides are bordered by agricultural lands mainly cocoa and oil palm plantations. The terrain within the park is quite rugged and hilly with three main peaks in the form of extinct volcanoes namely; Gunung Magdalena (1,310 m asl), Gunung Lucia (1,189 m asl) and Gunung Maria (1,067 m asl). The mountains consist of Quaternary pyroclastics and lava flows of dacitic, andesitic and basaltic character (Tjia et al., 1995) with subordinate Early Neogene sedimentary rocks of the Kalumpang Formation (Sanudin Haji Tahir, 1995). Only about 8% of the park area lie above 915 m asl, while more than half of the park area is below 457 m asl. The southern perimeter contains some of the last remaining non-swampy land under primary forest in Sabah (Siraj Omar and Jamili Nais, 1995).Seven important rivers with water catchment areas are confined largely or entirely within the park boundary. They are Sungai Tawau and Sungai Kinabutan in the centre, Sungai Mantri and Sungai Balung in the east and Sungai Merotai Kanan, Sungai Merotai Kecil and Sungai Junap (a tributary of Sungai Merotai Besar) in the west. Sungai Tawau is the main river in the park (Lee, 1995; Siraj Omar and Jamili Nais, 1995).(II) Climatic ConditionsTawau Hills experiences the north-east monsoon between November and March and south-west monsoon during the months of May to September. There are also two successive inter-monsoons; April to May and September to October. The mean temperature is 27oC (1990-97) with a relative humidity of 85% (1990-95). About 146 mm of rain falls monthly (1990-97).
Key Biodiversity An estimated 180 species of birds are present in the park, which makes it an important site for lowland forest species in Sabah (Siraj Omar and Jamili Nais, 1995; Stuebing and Shukor Mohd Nor, 1995) especially for hornbills (six species) and pheasants. The Near Threatened Lesser Fish-eagle Ichthyophaga humilis has been recorded as well.
Populations of IBA trigger species Protected areas Habitats Protection status The Tawau Hills area was gazetted as a State Park on 7th May 1979 under the National Parks Ordinance 1962 but now protected under the Parks Enactment 1984 with primary aim to protect the headwaters and catchment areas, especially Sungai Merotai, Sungai Tawau, Sungai Kinabutann, Sungai Mantri and Sungai Balung, for Tawau and the Semporna peninsula (Regis, 2001). Protection of the park ensured the preservation of areas of scenic beauty for amenity and recreational purposes and lowland forests as a wildlife sanctuary. Tawau Hills Park also functions as a 'biological corridor' as there as it is linked to other forest reserves, such as the Ulu Kalumpang Forest Reserve to the north, which opens to the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve and the vast forested areas in the interior of Sabah. The park has been classified as an IUCN Category II protected area.
References Aziz Bidin, A. and Jaman, R. 1995. The Pteridophytes of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 127-138. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.BirdLife International. 2001. Threatened birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. Cambridge: BirdLife InternationalColenutt, S. 2002. Little-known Oriental bird: Bornean Bristlehead Pityriasis gymnocephala. OBC Bulletin 35: 75-77.Fatimah Hj. Abang, Hamid Ahmad, A., Nordin Wahid and Chong, K.S. 1995. A Preliminary Survey of Butterflies of the Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 191-196. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Halijah Ibrahim. 1995. Zingiberaceous Species of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 95-106. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.IUCN. 2002. 2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.redlist.org (23 June 2003).Julius Kulip. 1995. A Preliminary Survey of the Commercial Trees of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 61-64. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Latiff, A., Sukup Akin, Zainal Awang, Hamid Salleh and Ahmed Zainuddin Ibrahim. 1995. Notes on the Flowering Plants of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 65-84. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Lee, Y.H. 1995. Water Quality of Rivers in Tawau Hills Park Water Catchment, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 51-60. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Lee Nyanti, Mazlan A. Ghafar and Abdullah Samad. 1995. An Ichthyological Survey of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 173-190. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Lim, W.H. 1995. A Preliminary Survey of Orchids in Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 107-126. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Maryati Mohamed. 1995. A Preliminary List of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 205-213. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Peter Malim, Benjamin Taraan and Supin Tadsun. 1995. Notes on the Primates in Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 163-172. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Regis, P. 2001. The Management of Protected Areas in Sabah. Pp. 67-98 in Zahra Yaacob, Moo-Tan, S. and S. Yorath (eds.). Proceedings of the International Conference on In-situ and Ex-situ Biodiversity Conservation in the New Millennium, 20-22 June 2000, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Kota Kinabalu: Yayasan Sabah/Innoprise Corporation Sdn. Bhd. And Sabah Museum. Sanudin Hj. Tahir. 1995. Geology and Geothermal Potential of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 31-44. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Sheldon, F.H., Moyle, R.G. and Kennard, J. 2001. Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist, and Bibliography. Ornithological Monographs 52: 1-285.Siraj, O. and Jamili, N. 1995. Tawau Hills Park: An Overview. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 1-6. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Stuebing, R.B. and Shukor Mohd Nor. 1995. Notes of the Terrestrial Vertebrate Fauna of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 151-162. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Tjia, H.D., Ibrahim Komoo, Che Aziz Ali and Sanudin Hj. Tahir. 1995. Geology of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 7-30. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.Zaidi, M.I. and Ruslan, M.Y. 1995. Cicadas of Tawau Hills Park, Sabah: A Preliminary Survey. In Ghazally Ismail, Siraj Omar and Laily bin Din. (eds.). A scientific journey through Borneo - Tawau Hills Park, Sabah, pp. 197-204. Malaysia: Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd.
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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2016) Important Bird and Biodiversity Area factsheet: Tawau Hills Park. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 16/06/2016
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