The Ulu Tungud Forest Reserve, also known as FMU No. 4, covers about 123,000 hectares of largely logged over forests just north to Telupid. In 1997, the Sabah Government signed an agreement with TSH Resources Bhd., giving the company a tenure of 100 years to manage the Ulu Tungud F.R. The forest is to be managed according to internationally accepted standards such as the ITTO guidelines for sustainable forest management.

In the Ulu Tungud Forest Management Plan, 30,197 hectares have been designated for conservation purposes. This area is located within the Meliau Range (predominantly ultramafic forests) at the eastern part of the Reserve. A biodiversity and ecotourism survey was carried out within the Meliau Range. The survey was undertaken mainly by the Forest Research Centre (FRC) of the Sabah Forestry Department (SFD) with cooperation from Global Environment Centre (GEC) and TSH. It was kindly funded by the Keindaren Nature Conservation Fund (KNCF), Japan through GEC.

Browse Meliau Range photos

A workshop was jointly organized by SFD, GEC and TSH with funding from KNCF. The objectives were as follows:

1. To make public the findings from a biodiversity and ecotourism survey conducted at the unique heath forests of the Meliau Range in Ulu Tungud Forest Reserve from Phase 1 (2003-2004) of a collaborative project between SFD, TSH and GEC.
2. To exchange views and opinions, and to suggest recommendations for future plans for conservation of the study area.
3. To launch the 2nd Phase 2004-2005 of the project.

DOWNLOAD the workshop documents here:

• Proceedings of the Workshop on Conservation of Biodiversity in Ulu Tungud
• Initial findings of Biodiversity Studies (Scientific Papers)

Paper presentations:

• Current status of forest biodiversity in Sabah and the role of the Forestry Department, by Anuar Muhammad (SFD)
• Overview of Ulu Tungud Forest Reserve and its management, by Tay Soon Poh (TSH)
• Significance of biodiversity conservation in Ulu Tungud, by Faizal Parish (GEC)
• Forest description of the Meliau Range, Ulu Tungud, Sabah, by Reuben Nilus & Robert Ong (SFD)
• Plant diversity of the Meliau Range, Ulu Tungud, Sabah, by John Sugau (SFD)
• Assessment of biodiversity at Ulu Tungud by using insects as indicators, by Dr Chey Vun Khen (SFD)
• Diversity of beetles (Coleoptera) at the Sg. Meliau area, Ulu Tungud, Sabah, by Dr Arthur Y. C. Chung (SFD)
• Aquatic diversity of Sg. Meliau, Ulu Tungud, Sabah, by David Lee & Azli Abu Bakar (GEC)
• Evaluation for ecotourism development in support of biodiversity conservation of Meliau Range, Ulu Tungud, Sabah, by Martin Paul Vogel (SFD)
• The role of Institut Rimbawan Malaysia (IRIM) in biodiversity management, by Azmi Nordin (Forestry Dept. Peninsular Malaysia)

Press articles:

• Surprise finds in Meliau 
• Majestic Meliau of Sabah
• Meliau - the treasures of nature
• Sabah's Meliau Range bewitch researchers
• Banjaran Meliau terbentang luas untuk diterokai