Kinabalu Park (), established as one of the first national parks of Malaysia in 1964, is Malaysia's first

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

designated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

in December 2000 for its "outstanding universal values" and the role as one of the most important biological sites in the world with more than 4,500 species of flora and fauna, including 326 bird and around 100 mammal species, and over 110 land snail species. Located on the west coast of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

, Malaysian Borneo, it covers an area of 754 square kilometres surrounding

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...

, which at 4,095.2 meters, is the highest mountain on the island of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. The park is one of the most popular tourist spots in Sabah and Malaysia in general. In 2010, the park received 611,624 visitors, including 47,613 climbers. The site has been identified by UNESCO as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia, as it contains representatives from at least half of all Borneo’s plant species and is extremely rich in species with elements from China, Australia, the Himalayas, Malaysia and pan tropical floras.

History

The region was designated as a national park in 1964. British colonial administrator and naturalist Hugh Low led an expedition from Tuaran to the region in 1851. He also became the first recorded man to reach the peak of Mount Kinabalu. The highest peak of the mountain was later named after him— Low's Peak.

Geography

Kinabalu Park is situated on the Crocker Range on the western coast of Sabah. It is located within the district of Ranau, within the

West Coast Division West Coast Division () is an administrative Divisions of Malaysia, division of Sabah, Malaysia. It occupies the northwest portion of Sabah. With an area of 7,588 square kilometres, it occupies 10.3% of Sabah's territory. It also has approximate ...

. The park is not to be confused with

Crocker Range National Park Crocker Range National Park () was established in 1984, although the area had previously been under protection as a forest reserve. It covers the north-south Crocker Range, of 1200-1800 metre mountains in Sabah, Malaysia. In the vicinity of pa ...

which is a separate park in the south. The park headquarters is 88 kilometres away from the city of

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

. There are sealed roads leading towards the park headquarters from other parts of Sabah. It is situated on the southern boundary of Kinabalu Park, at an elevation of .

Administration and park features

This park is administered by an organisation called Sabah Parks. Accommodations in the form of chalets can be found in the park, mostly around the headquarters. Reservations for accommodation and mountain climbing guides are processed through Sutera Sanctuary Lodges, a private company. Every person who wishes to climb the mountain must be accompanied by a qualified guide. Sutera is now requiring hikers to stay one night at their lodge near the entrance, in addition to a required stay at Laban Rata. The cost to stay is considerably higher than at lodging just outside the park and includes a mandatory purchase of meals, etc. The mountain summit trail begins at Timpohon. There is also an alternative route called the Mesilau Trail. A notable feature of the park is Low's Gully. It is a 1.6-kilometer deep ravine stretching 10 kilometres on the side of the mountain peak.

Ecology

This botanical site contains a variety of flora and fauna that ranges over 4 climate zones; from rich lowland dipterocarp forest through the montane oak,

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...

, to the

coniferous forests Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

, to the alpine meadow plants, and to the stunted bushes of summit zone. The mountain is also known for its many

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

and

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

species, most notably ''

Nepenthes rajah ''Nepenthes rajah'' is a carnivorous plant, carnivorous pitcher plant species of the family (biology), family Nepenthes, Nepenthaceae. It is endemic (ecology), endemic to Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Malaysian Born ...

''. It is also home to a multitude of

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

animal species, including the Kinabalu giant red leech and Kinabalu giant earthworm. The park also plays host to a variety of birds, insects, mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. Mount Kinabalu is one of the youngest non-volcanic mountains in the world. It was formed within the last 10 to 35 million years. The mountain still grows at a rate of 5 millimetres a year

Gallery

File:Kinabalu park HQ.JPG, Kinabalu Park Headquarters File:Borneo Mount Kinabalu Moutain Squirrel Rat.jpg, Mountain squirrel File:Ochraceous Bulbul from Kinabalu National Park.jpg,

Ochraceous bulbul The ochraceous bulbul (''Alophoixus ochraceus'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found from Southeast Asia to Sumatra. It is usually found in the mid-storey of broad-leaved evergreen and rainforests up to 1500 m ...

File:Philautus bunitus male from Mt. Kinabalu Park.jpg, Male '' Philautus bunitus'' File:Kinabalu Crested Dragon (Hypsicalotes kinabaluensis) male (6679673009).jpg, Crested dragon ('' Hypsicalotes kinabaluensis'') File:Black and Golden Cicada (Huechys fusca) emerging at night from nymph exoskeleton (14491224658).jpg, Black and golden cicada ('' Huechys fusca'') File:Orb Web Spider (Araneidae) yellow underside (14490683008).jpg, Orbweb spider (

Araneidae Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name ...

)

References

External links

Sabah Parks website

Tourism Malaysia - Kinabalu Park

Kinabalu National Park Lonely Planet

Kinabalu National Park UNESCO
{{authority control Crocker Range National parks of Malaysia World Heritage Sites in Malaysia ASEAN heritage parks Protected areas established in 1964 Mount Kinabalu Protected areas of Sabah Borneo montane rain forests Borneo lowland rain forests