Everything About Wood

Percentage of Malaysian (black bars) and Southeast Asian (gray bars) biodiversity research (a total of 1550 and 6468 papers, respectively) conducted across major terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems (i.e., montane forests, rivers and lakes, lowland forests, and other ecosystems) over a 20-year period (1990—2010). These percentages suggest a paucity of biological information on tropical cloud montane forests relative to other ecosystems. Data were obtained from article searches within Topics in the BIOSIS Previews® database using hierarchically nested combinations of relevant keywords and wildcards (available from author RC on request).

A clear demarcation of tropical montane cloud forests is difficult, as their altitudinal range depends on prevailing local climatic conditions (Bruijnzeel et al. 1993). For example, cloud forests generally occur at altitudes of 1200 meters (m) on coastal and isolated ridges or on mountain summits where gnarled tree forms are dominant and cloud formation is frequent. However, cloud forests can also occur between 2000 and 3000 m on large inland mountains, and as low as 500 m above sea level on small islands (Bruijnzeel et al. 1993). Cloud forests are therefore defined in this review as “forests that are predominantly covered in cloud or mist,” where the influence of temperature and humidity is significant (Bruijnzeel 2000).

Southeast Asia's cloud forests account for more than half of these forests globally, an area totaling some 32 million hectares (ha) (table 1; Sodhi and Brook 2006). Indonesia has the most cloud forest in Southeast Asia, at 19.5 million ha, followed by Myanmar (Burma), with 4.3 million ha (table 1). Cloud forests in the region are being destroyed at alarming rates—23% faster than their lowland counterparts (from 1981 to 1990; Waggener and Lane 1997). Moreover, in relative terms, it appears that the countries with the greatest amount of cloud forest are losing it most quickly (table 1).

Table 1.

Tropical montane cloud forest cover and deforestation rates in 10 Southeast Asian countries.

To date, most research on threats to cloud forests has focused on the Neotropics, with relatively little work done in Southeast Asia. In fact, the number of threatened montane mammals and birds in this region is likely to be underestimated (Brook et al. 1999). With this in mind, we review the state of Malaysia's cloud forests, which are arguably some of the best documented in the region. Apart from describing their local distribution, physiognomy, protection status, biological and ecological importance, and threats to them, we also propose several strategies to promote the sustainability of cloud forests in Malaysia. Relevant components of these strategies could also be adopted by other Southeast Asian countries whose cloud forests share similarities in ecology and challenges associated with their use in a sustainable manner.

Distribution, physiognomy, and protection status

The nation of Malaysia has two distinct parts: (1) Peninsular Malaysia, spanning 11 states southward from near the Isthmus of Kra to the Johor Straits, with the Titiwangsa Mountain Range forming a spine along the Peninsula; and (2) East Malaysia, encompassing two states—Sarawak and Sabah—in the north and northwestern parts of Borneo, with mountains rising sharply in the interior to the border of Kalimantan, Indonesia (figure 2). Numerous mountains and mountain chains occur in Malaysia; about 7% of the total land area is above 900 m elevation (Economic Planning Unit 1993).

Figure 2.

Potential distribution of tropical montane cloud forests in Southeast Asia and examples of cloud forests in Malaysia mentioned in this review, modified from a map by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 2004.

In comparison with lowland tropical rainforests, cloud forests generally have shorter trees, a higher stem density, gnarled and twisted trunks and branches, dense and compact crowns, and tough sclerophyllic leaves of frequently smaller sizes (Whitmore 1975). On Malaysian mountains, the vegetation in the lower montane zone (900 to 1200 m elevation in coastal or isolated mountains; 1200 to 1800 m in Mount Kinabalu, Sabah) is generally 25 to 30 m tall, with trees dominated by the families Fagaceae and Lauraceae (Kitayama 1992, Perumal and Lo 1998). In the upper montane zone (above 1200 m elevation in Peninsular Malaysian mountains; above 1800 m in Mount Kinabalu), trees are stunted, just 10 to 20 m tall, and are largely confined to members of the Coniferae, Ericaceae, and Myrtaceae families (Perumal and Lo 1998). Above the tree line, in the alpine zone that occurs only on Mount Kinabalu in Malaysia, cloud forest shrubs are less than 10 m tall (see Kumaran et al. 2010 for a comprehensive vegetation description). Cloud forests in Malaysia mostly occur on nutrient-poor soils containing little nitrogen or phosphorus (Roman et al. 2010) and derived from weathered igneous or sedimentary rocks (Proctor 1988, Kitayama 1992).

The cloud forests of Malaysia originally spanned some 2.7 million ha, but today around 23% have been lost or degraded (Sodhi and Brook 2006). Only about 9% (216,300 ha) of the present cloud forests are protected either as national parks or wildlife reserves (corresponding to International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] management categories I–IV; Iremonger et al. 1997). Some of these are sites of global importance (figure 2), including Gunung Tahan in West Malaysia, Mount Kinabalu National Park in Sabah (figure 3a), and Gunung Mulu National Park in Sarawak (figure 3b). Additional cloud forests in Malaysia occur in extractive or multiple-use reserves (IUCN management categories V and VI) or are proposed as mountain reserves. If these additional areas are included, Malaysia currently has 356,300 ha (15%) of cloud forest with some level of existing or planned protection (Iremonger et al. 1997). These estimates are still valid despite the data being more than a decade old because there has been little expansion of protected areas in Malaysia since the early 1990s, according to the World Database on Protected Areas 2009 (IUCN-UNEP 2010). The percentage of protected Malaysian cloud forests is roughly similar to the level of protection of forest cover in the Indo-Malay realm (Schmitt et al. 2009). For example, the percentage of protected Malaysian cloud forests and that of protected forest cover in the Indo-Malay realm under IUCN management categories I–IV are 9% and 10%, respectively; under IUCN management categories I–VI, these are 15% and 14%, respectively. Considering the importance of cloud forests and the increasing magnitude of threats to them, it is likely that current cloud forest protection in Malaysia is no longer sufficient.

Figure 3.

Protected and disturbed examples of cloud forests in Malaysia. (a) Peak of Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia's tallest mountain (4095 meters [m] above sea level) and a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage site; (b) mist-shrouded cloud forests of Gunung Mulu, Sarawak's second-tallest mountain (2376 m above sea level), within Gunung Mulu National Park; (c) cloud forests cleared for tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia's largest tea-producing region; (d) resorts and residential development have replaced cloud forests in Cameron Highlands. Photographs: (a) Reuben Clements; (b) Ch'ien C. Lee, and (c and d) Malcolm Soh.

Biological and ecological importance

Cloud forests are impressively biologically diverse. In the Sunda region, which spans Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Sulawesi, gamma diversity and species densities of frogs, birds, and mammals in cloud forests rival or exceed those of lowland rainforests (Ong 2000). Endemism is especially high in tropical cloud forests because the tropics have many thermal specialists that tend to be elevationally specialized. Species adapted for higher elevations are therefore isolated from other such populations, leading to allopatric speciation and the evolution of local endemism (figure 4; Rahbek 1997). Such high levels of endemism have prompted biologists to classify cloud forests as critical habitats for conservation (Bubb et al. 2004). For instance, 9 of the 22 plant genera endemic to Peninsular Malaysia completely belong to the montane provenance on the main range (Wong 1998). In Borneo, 48% (14 species) of all endemic birds are found only on Mount Kinabalu, as well as 65% (29 species) of the island's endemic mammals (Kumaran et al. 2010). Of the 30 recorded Bornean pitcher plants in the genus Nepenthes(figure 4b), 23 were recorded in cloud forests, and nearly every major mountain has its own species (Kumaran et al. 2010). In Borneo, all but 2 of the 30 montane frog species are locally endemic, and 6 species are endemic to Mount Kinabalu (Inger and Stuebing 1992). New species are still being discovered in cloud forests; most new species in Malaysia have been described from montane regions or offshore islands (MNRE 2009). In addition to serving as a haven for endemic species, cloud forests also harbor unique ecosystems, such as the montane peat swamps of Ulu Padas in Borneo, which also warrant conservation attention.

Figure 4.

Examples of species endemic to Malaysian cloud forests. (a) The mountain treeshrew (Tupaia montana) feeds on a variety of insects and plant materials during the day. (b) A tiny bush frog perches inside the pitcher of Nepenthes hurrelliana, a carnivorous pitcher plant endemic to Sarawak. (c) The Kinabalu giant earthworm (Pheretima darnleiensis) is a gray-blue-colored annelid that grows up to 70 centimeters and comes out only after a heavy downpour on Mount Kinabalu. (d) The black-browed barbet (Megalaima oorti) in Peninsular Malaysia may be highly sensitive to cloud forest disturbances. Photographs: (a-c) Ch'ien C. Lee and (d) Malcolm Soh.

The value of cloud forests transcends their biological uniqueness. In Peninsular Malaysia, for instance, nearly 62,000 indigenous people are scattered across the Titiwangsa Range (WWF-Malaysia 2002). Cloud forests are also important water sources for densely populated lowland areas. In addition to capturing rainfall, cloud forests strip moisture from passing clouds, which augments groundwater and maintains stream flows. Cloud stripping can actually double the amount of effective rainfall in the dry season and increase total moisture inputs to forests by 10% (Bruijnzeel et al. 1993). Montane vegetation also protects soils from erosion and rivers from sedimentation, thereby protecting the integrity of watersheds (Leong and Chan 2006). Despite their importance, the hydrological and nutrient-cycling dynamics of cloud forests in Southeast Asia are still poorly understood, and more research is clearly needed.

Anthropogenic threats

Using the IUCN Red List database (IUCN 2009), we calculated the proportions of threatened birds, mammals, and amphibians in Malaysia and compared them with those in 10 other Southeast Asian countries—Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Thailand, and Vietnam. Although relatively few montane bird species were threatened in Malaysia, the numbers (and proportions) of threatened mammals and amphibians were among the highest in the region (figure 5). Below, we highlight the major threats to Malaysian cloud forests and their biodiversity and ecosystem services—threats that are also likely to jeopardize the future of other cloud forests in Southeast Asia.

Figure 5.

; www.mmail.com.my/content/16941-new-hillslope-development-guidelines)

Total number and proportion of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threatened cloud forest species of birds, mammals, and amphibians in 10 Southeast Asian countries. Threatened species include species that are critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, and near-threatened according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (www.iucnredlist.org). Black bars represent Malaysia.

Agricultural expansion. Cloud forests increasingly have been cleared for intensive agriculture (figure 3c). In Sabah, for example, forest conversion for agriculture and horticulture has progressed to the borders of Mount Kinabalu National Park, and montane forests in Sabah have been converted to pastures for cattle (Kitayama 1994). In the Cameron Highlands and Mount Kinabalu (figure 2), montane forests have been cleared for exotic temperate agricultural and horticultural crops (at altitudes as high as 2100 m on Mount Kinabalu; Kitayama 1994). In the past decade, 22% of the Cameron Highlands has been converted for such purposes (Lim 2000). The lack of long-term investment in sustainable agriculture practices can be attributed in part to the short-term land leases offered to resident farmers in the form of temporary occupancy licenses, which have to be renewed annually. Although the government introduced guidelines to control and limit hillside development in the Cameron Highlands in 2002, many large-scale farmers eventually relocated to the nearby Lojing Highlands (figure 2), an area that was subsequently devastated by further clearing for agriculture as it was not affected by the guidelines (McIntyre 2007). In addition to heavy pesticide use, cultivation in such areas often involves large amounts of commercial fertilizer (Kitayama 1994) because vegetation on montane soils frequently has low net primary productivity and slow rates of decomposition (Bruijnzeel and Veneklaas 1998). Heavy pesticide and fertilizer use can eventually contaminate watersheds (Kitayama 1994). Forest conversion to tea estates on steep slopes also reduces water yield in highland streams (Doumenge et al. 1995), and land clearance can cause severe soil erosion (Leong and Chan 2006). In the Cameron Highlands, for example, clearing for agriculture had adverse effects on water catchment areas, resulting in stream diversion, reduced storage capacities of reservoirs, and excessive accumulation of silt at the Sultan Abu Bakar hydroelectric dam (Barrow 2006). A threefold increase in siltation in several lowland rivers has also been recorded since earthworks in the Lojing Highlands began in the 1990s (McIntyre 2007).

Commercial logging. Commercial selective logging, even at low intensities (Brook et al. 1999), poses a serious threat to cloud forests in general. Commercial logging affects around 1.1% of all cloud forests globally per year, a rate higher than that for other tropical forests (Bruijnzeel and Hamilton 2000). The timber industry continues to be a significant contributor to the Malaysian economy. In 2008, timber and wood products contributed an estimated US $6.6 billion (Malaysian ringgit [MYR] 22.5 billion) to the Malaysian economy and 3.3% of the country's merchandise exports, and provided employment for around 300,000 people (MOPICO 2009). Although logging has little effect on forests of the upper montane zone, the lower montane zone is under immense logging pressure, particularly where relatively fewer state forest reserves in the lowlands are available for timber extraction (MOPICO 2009). For instance, parts of the Lojing Highlands in Peninsular Malaysia have already been logged indiscriminately since the 1990s (McIntyre 2007). As timber exports from Malaysia are targeted to increase by 6.4% per annum (MOPICO 2009), the pressure to extract timber from cloud forests will mount in order to meet this burgeoning demand.

Although logging operations in Sabah are still mostly below the montane zone, the potential threat from commercial forestry looms large as new exploitable tree species are found in the highlands (Kitayama 1994). In fact, logging in the lowlands of the Crocker Range in Sabah was highlighted as an impending threat to rare montane herpetofauna (Das 2006). The expansion of logging roads and modern extraction techniques will further increase the possibility of harvesting useful tree species from previously inaccessible montane regions. The impacts of logging on lower montane forests are well documented (see Burgess 1971). Even low-intensity, selective logging that attempts to harvest only 10% of the stand area ultimately damages 50% to 70% of the forest area (MSTE 1997). Such extraction methods are likely to be even more destructive to cloud forests, which often occur on steep slopes with readily damaged wet organic soil horizons.

Infrastructure development. According to Burgess (1971), road construction is probably “the greatest damaging factor in hill forest exploitation” in Malaysia. Over the years, roads have been constructed in Malaysia's mountainous regions to improve accessibility for agriculture, settlement, and other land uses. With the growing economic potential of local timber and agricultural industries, the demand for better road networks in cloud forests is set to increase. There are already 12 existing major roads in the Titiwangsa Range (about 2 million ha) in Peninsular Malaysia (Davison 1996), and plans are afoot to widen them or even build additional roads to handle growing traffic flow (Leong and Chan 2006). East-west roads cutting across the Titiwangsa Range have also been proposed in Malaysia's National Highway Network Development Plan (DTCP 2006). Such road expansion schemes will be detrimental to the biological and physical integrity of the cloud forests, given the well-documented impact of roads on tropical biodiversity (Laurance et al. 2009). For example, roads can fragment habitats of montane species with restricted elevation ranges and hinder altitudinal movement (see Young 1994). Road construction in cloud forests also can destabilize slopes and create downslope scars (MOW 1995, Leong and Chan 2006). Furthermore, erosion along highland roads can cause potentially catastrophic landslides (Leong and Chan 2006). More than 150 locations have been identified as landslide-prone areas along the East-West Highway, which cuts across the Titiwangsa Range, and more than $43 million (MYR 180 million) was allocated by the government for mitigation work (Davison 1996). Two of Malaysia's most dangerous and costly landslides occurred in the Cameron and Genting highlands, with the latter resulting in 20 deaths and 22 injured in 1995 (Shaluf and Ahmadun 2006). In 2008, another massive landslide rendered a $15-million (MYR 50 million) road linking the Gap to Fraser's Hill impassable, and repairs amounted to an estimated US $6 million (MYR 20 million; MOW 2008). Apart from roads, the construction of high-voltage electricity pylons and houses on steep slopes may also increase the probability of landslides in cloud forests (e.g., in the Cameron Highlands; Chiew 2010).

Tourism development. The worldwide tourism industry currently generates 9.4% of the global gross domestic product and employs 220 million people (World Travel and Tourism Council, www.wttc.org). Tourism trade has been thriving in many tropical mountainous regions of the world. Data on the number of tourists in the highlands of Malaysia are outdated, but even these indicate that 2.3 million tourists (roughly a fifth of all incoming tourists) visited the highlands early in the decade (WWF-Malaysia 2002). In recent years, overall tourism rates have increased rapidly—Malaysia received 23 million visitors last year—so it is likely that tourism pressure on the highlands has increased concomitantly. Unfortunately, mass tourism developments have led to localized deforestation. Facilities such as casinos, hotels, and Malaysia's largest amusement park have sprung up in the Genting Highlands (figure 2), while urban centers in the Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill have been expanding to accommodate large numbers of visitors (figure 3d). Golf courses in cloud forests have recently emerged as a new form of recreational land use; turf-grass plantations for the Mesilau Gold resort have replaced cloud forests below the Mesilau entrance of Mount Kinabalu. The economic viability of such golf courses in the highlands remains questionable. For example, the Fraser's Hill Golf and Country Resort caused large amounts of cloud forest loss, and the resulting siltation ruined waterfalls popular among tourists—the venture eventually collapsed because of low visitor numbers. The ecological impacts of such projects are also significant; for example, the species richness of montane forest-dependent birds began to decline when more than 20% of the montane forest canopy cover was cleared, and less than a third of these species remained when more than 40% of the canopy cover was lost (Soh et al. 2006).

Other potential threats. In Malaysia, global warming, biological invasions, and poaching also threaten cloud forest biodiversity, and these factors may act synergistically with habitat loss and disturbance (Sodhi et al. 2006). There is considerable evidence that tropical montane biota is particularly vulnerable to global warming; elevational distributions of animals in Malaysia may have already been altered by this phenomenon (e.g., Peh 2007). Although long-term studies documenting the impact of global warming in Malaysian cloud forests are scarce, Leong (2006) recently showed an increase in annual mean temperatures recorded from one meteorological station in the Cameron Highlands (at a calibrated rate of 0.7° Celsius per 100 years) from 1930 to 2003. Understanding the cause of such warming, however, may be confounded by urban development in the mountains (Chan et al. 2006).

Other threats such as biological invasions potentially can cause local extinctions of native species and modify ecosystems in Southeast Asia (Peh 2010). Fortunately, all known invasive bird species found in the highlands appear confined to town centers (Soh et al. 2006), suggesting a low threat to forest ecosystems, for now. Moreover, threats such as poaching for wildlife trade are probably greater in lowland forests where accessibility is greater as a result of more developed infrastructure.

Can cloud forests be managed sustainably in Malaysia?

The potential threats described above include the destruction of geological features, changes to climate and rainfall regimes, deterioration of water quality and quantity, soil erosion and stream siltation, and the loss of forest cover and biodiversity. Ultimately, economic development, tourism, agriculture, water supply, and power generation all depend, in part, on natural ecosystem services from cloud forests. Are such uses sustainable? The concept of sustainability has been defined as the ability for a resource to meet human needs today and in the future (Fricker 1998); defined less anthropocentrically, it means the ability to meet human needs without compromising the health of ecosystems (Callicott and Mumford 1997). Such sustainability goals will require serious changes in politics, technology, and society (Lee 2001). An example of the type of bold policy needed is Malaysia's National Physical Plan (DTCP 2006), which is a statement of strategic policies on physical development and conservation at state and federal levels in Peninsular Malaysia (not applicable to East Malaysia). This plan identified environmentally sensitive areas (including several cloud forests) where development is forbidden above 1000 m (except in special management areas) and on slopes with an incline of more than 25°. However, the declaration of certain cloud forests as inviolate may be considered unrealistic by some because it will hamper the country's economic progress. Although it will be challenging to achieve sustainable use of the nation's cloud forests, we offer several strategies (table 2) for the following sectors to mitigate threats to cloud forests.

Table 2.

Strategies for different sectors to ensure sustainable use of cloud forests in Malaysia.

Agriculture sector. Agroforestry may be one of the solutions to achieve sustainable agriculture in cloud forests. The integration of forest tree species into existing agricultural lands and improved animal husbandry can maximize economic returns with limited land resources. Agroforestry has already been practiced in lowland forests and is endorsed under Malaysia's National Agricultural Policy (MOA 1999), but it is not yet practiced sustainably in the highlands. Perimeter planting of tall montane forest trees and thick hedges in plantations might provide suitable refugia for cloud forest species, and the presence of forest patches might also facilitate their movement across human-dominated agricultural landscapes (Vergara et al. 2010). The maintenance of cloud forest biodiversity, in turn, may be useful in ensuring the proper functioning and stability of agroecosystems in montane areas. To prevent massive soil erosion and runoff on steep slopes, land managers and farmers must employ practices such as preserving old tree stumps and root debris, using agricultural waste for mulching, contour planting, and high-density planting (Barrow 2006). Any government agroforestry program in montane areas should also enhance farmers' topographic knowledge, provide economic incentives for planting soil-conserving perennial crops, and strictly regulate the frequency and size of forest clearance (Hashim and Abdul Rahaman 2006). At the same time, greater effort should be made to regulate the number of farm operators and their choice of crops so as to avoid compromising the ecological integrity of montane landscapes in Malaysia. Ultimately, further research is needed on integrated farming in cloud forests in order to identify the best choice of montane forest species, appropriate techniques of planting, and suitable farm designs.

Forestry sector. Although none of the world's tropical forests is sustainably managed (ITTO 2000), Malaysia's emphasis on sustainable forest management is an encouraging sign for its cloud forests. Since 2005, Malaysia has adopted the Malaysian Timber Certification Council's scheme to ensure that its management practices comply with International Tropical Timber Organization standards. Under this scheme, felling in areas within forest reserves at elevations greater than or equal to 1000 m is prohibited (although this applies only to states within Peninsular Malaysia). Apart from enforcing these regulations at these elevations, state forestry departments should continue to reinforce reduced-impact logging protocols in forests below 1000 m to minimize the impacts of timber harvesting on cloud forest biodiversity. In addition, researchers must enhance the ability to collect and analyze Malaysian timber statistics in order to monitor and regulate timber trade flow from different forest types, including cloud forests. Such information, coupled with market transparency and certification systems, is vital for sustainable timber trade (ITTO 2000). Long-term monitoring programs to analyze remotely sensed forest cover data must also be augmented within the forestry sector; this will allow state forest departments to better understand deforestation patterns under their jurisdictions and help them prioritize vulnerable cloud forests for protection. For example, cloud forests with high deforestation risk scores (e.g., Linkie et al. 2004) should be gazetted as protected areas by state forestry departments (e.g., Gunong Stong State Park was gazetted by the Kelantan State Forest Department).

Infrastructure sector. The expanding tourism and timber industries in Malaysia will eventually result in the construction of more roads through the cloud forests (Barrow 2006). Roads are essential for a host of economic activities, but they are a major threat to tropical biodiversity (Laurance et al. 2009) and could potentially expose more remote cloud forests to exploitation. To prevent illegal agriculture and other types of land use, road construction should not be allowed in sensitive cloud forest watershed lands. Lobbying efforts by nongovernment organizations (NGOs) resulted in the Malaysian government shelving a proposal to build three roads through cloud forests, including a 200-kilometer highlands resort road linking the Cameron Highlands, Fraser's Hill, and the Genting Highlands. If roads near cloud forests must be constructed, relevant bioengineering erosion-control techniques should be adopted (e.g., Leong and Chan 2006), and extreme gradients should be avoided to prevent massive soil depletion (MOW 1995). Researchers must evaluate the effects of roads on montane animal movement and plant dispersal, as well as potential fragmentation and edge effects. Following road construction in cloud forests, stricter regulations and monitoring are needed to prevent excessive timber extraction and human settlement expansion. Reforestation of native montane trees along roads can also increase soil stability and facilitate animal movement.

Tourism sector. if tourism in cloud forests were managed carefully, it could become one of the most lucrative and environmentally friendly industries in Malaysia. Malaysian cloud forests are becoming increasingly attractive to tourists; 48,604 climbers (54% of whom were foreigners) scaled Mount Kinabalu in 2008, an increase over the two previous years (Bernama 2009). The main tourist draws of local cloud forests include bird and butterfly watching, mountain trekking, photography, and visits to temperate crop farms. Although such activities seem noninvasive, managers must consider the potential negative impacts of increasing visitorship in cloud forests. One leisure corporation in the Genting Highlands has set a good example by concentrating tourism development in two main areas, and approximately 96% (4297 ha) of its land bank has been preserved as virgin forest where logging is prohibited (Resorts World Berhad 2007). Anticipatory management planning is also important, especially when there is an increasing demand for road access and tourist accommodations. On existing tourist trails (e.g., in Fraser's Hill or Mount Kinabalu), alternative paths and regulation of tourist numbers might allow the recovery of deteriorating trails. For community-based conservation initiatives in cloud forests to be successful, local forest residents must be involved from the onset (Clifton 2006), and projects must be tailored to specific socioeconomic and cultural contexts. For example, people who rely on cloud forests for sustenance should receive a share of the ecotourism revenue as an incentive to protect their habitat (Clifton 2006). Sound ecotourism should also train local stakeholders; NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Malaysia have trained locals as nature guides in Gunong Stong State Park in the State of Kelantan.

Policy and law enforcement sectors. Conflicting policies that require immediate reconciliation include the Highway Network Development Plan and the National Physical Plan; roads planned in the former already have been constructed through the environmentally sensitive areas identified in the latter. Such conflicts can be resolved with greater dialogue among state and federal government agencies. A laudable example of the resolution of conflicting policies was the merging of two sets of guidelines to produce the recently approved “Guidelines for Hillside and Highland Areas Development Planning,” which now prohibits most developments on gradients above 35° and unstable ridges (Azree 2009). At the local level, land-use plans need to afford more spatial and management considerations for biodiversity conservation—this will minimize the proposal of conflicting developments. Special area plans, which include a public participation process and become legal documents once published, should start recognizing cloud forests as development-free zones. Furthermore, existing policies related to cloud forest conservation need to be expedited for endorsement—the draft National Highland Policy written in 2006 has yet to be considered by the Malaysian cabinet, and policies mean nothing if they are not enforced. Enforcement agencies should continue ensuring that development projects adhere to guidelines that require environmental impact assessments, erosion control plans, and surveillance. In order to combat violations of such assessments or illegal logging (e.g., in the Lojing, Cameron, and Genting Highlands; Bernama 2007, Chiew 2010), corruption must be tackled immediately, in part by (a) providing feedback to the Malaysian Anti-corruption Commission, (b) strengthening judicial institutions, (c) enhancing public access to information, and (d) improving social capital (Peh and Drori 2010).

Conclusion

Sustainable use of cloud forests in Malaysia is possible if our recommended sustainability strategies (table 2) are carefully implemented by the respective sectors. Simultaneously, the general public and stakeholders (e.g., owners of timber companies, politicians, decisionmakers from state and federal government agencies, farmers, local communities, and tourists) need to develop a greater conservation ethic for cloud forests, possibly through participation in educational campaigns, seminars, study visits, workshops, and exhibitions organized by the government and NGOs. Multidisciplinary research (e.g., determining the total economic value of intact cloud forests and their ecosystem services) should also be promoted in cloud forests, which have contributed to only 3% of biodiversity research in Malaysia (figure 1), but the results must be regularly communicated to government agencies to facilitate planning of more ecologically friendly projects in this delicate and unique ecosystem. We stress that the best way to protect cloud forests is using less and preserving more. Still, sustainable use based on the greater understanding of anthropogenic impacts on cloud forests is vital. If our recommended strategies are implemented in Malaysia, and if relevant aspects are adopted to improve other national cloud forest conservation strategies, we believe the future of cloud forests in Southeast Asia will be less nebulous than the status quo.

Acknowledgments

This article benefited from discussions with researchers and students at the Swedish Biodiversity Center. We thank Jonathan Eyal, Lauren Coad, Ruth Swetnam, Neil Burgress, Geoffrey Davison, Liew Thor-Seng, Sanath Kumaran, and Wong Khoon Meng for their help and comments on previous versions of this manuscript. We also thank Ch'ien C. Lee for the photographs.

References cited

Azree

2009

New hillslope development guidelines

The Malay Mail Online

. (

12 October 2010

Barrow

2006

Sustainable agriculture in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

. Pages

–

Chan

, ed.

Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Bernama

2007

Lojing developers violated EIA conditions

The Star

. (

16 February 2010

; http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/23/nation/17520800&sec=nation)

Bernama

2009

48,600 Tourists scaled Mt. Kinabalu

. (

26 October 2010

; http://kepkas.sabah.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id?=3792)

Brook

Pimm

Kapos

Ravilious

1999

Threat from deforestation to montane and lowland birds and mammals in insular South-east Asia

Journal of Applied Ecology

1061

–

1078

; www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/cloudforest/pdf/English/decision.pdf)

Bruijnzeel

2000

Hydrology of tropical montane cloud forests: A reassessment

Land Use and Water Resources Research

1.1

–

1.18

Bruijnzeel

Hamilton

2000

Decision Time for Cloud Forests

IHP Humid Tropics Programme Series no. 13. WWF, UNESCO, IUCN

. (

13 October 2010

Bruijnzeel

Veneklaas

1998

Climatic conditions and tropical montane forest productivity: The fog has not lifted yet

Ecology

–

Bruijnzeel

Waterloo

Protor

Kuiters

Kotterink

1993

Hydrological observations in montane forests on Gunung Silam, Sabah, Malaysia, with special reference to the ‘Massenerhebung’ effect

Journal of Ecology

145

–

167

; http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/forest/cloudforest/presspack/PDF/ScreenCompleteCloudsq4.pdf)

Bubb

May

Miles

Sayer

2004

Cloud Forest Agenda

United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre

. (

12 October 2010

Burgess

1971

The effect of logging on hill dipterocarp forests

Malayan Nature Journal

231

–

237

Callicott

Mumford

1997

Ecological sustainability as a conservation concept

Conservation Biology

–

; http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/11/starprobe/5447615&sec=starprobe)

Chan

Ghazali

Norizan

2006

Climate change and heat island effects in Cameron Highlands

. Pages

–

Chan

, ed.

Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Chiew

2010

Hillside hazard

The Star

. (

12 October 2010

Clifton

2006

Promoting sustainable tourism in the Cameron Highlands: An overview of current issues and some proposals

. Pages

–

Chan

, ed.

Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Das

2006

Crocker Range National Park, Sabah, as a refuge for Borneo's montane herpetofauna

Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

–

Davison

GWH

1996

Land use planning for the highlands: Protected areas in the Malaysian mountains

World Wildlife Fund Malaysia

Doumenge

Gilmour

Perez

Blockhus

1995

Tropical montane cloud forests—conservation status and management issues

. Pages

–

Hamilton

Juvik

Scatena

, eds.

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests

Springer

[DTCP] Department of Town and Country Planning

2006

National Physical Plan, Kuala Lumpur

. (

26 October 2010

; www.townplan.gov.my/english/service_dev_npp.php)

Economic Planning Unit

1993

Malaysian National Conservation Strategy: Towards Sustainable Development, vol. 3

Kuala Lumpur

Fricker

1998

Measuring up to sustainability

Futures

367

–

375

; www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/data/cdrom2/index.html)

Hashim

Abdul Rahaman

2006

Soil erosion and water pollution in Cameron Highlands: Conservation and strategies

. Pages

–

Chan

, ed.

Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Inger

Stuebing

1992

The montane amphibian fauna of northwestern Borneo

Malayan Nature Journal

–

Iremonger

Ravilious

Quinton

1997

A Global Overview of Forest Conservation

World Conservation Monitoring Centre

. (

12 October 2010

[ITTO] International Tropical Timber Organization

2000

Measuring Up

ITTO

. (

12 October 2010

; www.itto.int/direct/topics/topics_pdf_?download/topics_id=3660000&no=1)

[IUCN] International Union for Conservation of Nature

2009

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

IUCN

. (

12 October 2010

; www.iucnredlist.org)

[IUCN-UNEP] International Union for Conservation of Nature and United Nations Environment Programme

2010

The World Database on Protected Areas Annual Release

. IUCN-WCMC. (

12 October 2010

; www.wdpa.org)

Kitayama

1992

An altitudinal transect study of the vegetation on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo

Vegetatio

102

149

–

171

Kitayama

1994

Biophysical conditions of the montane cloud forests of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

. Pages

183

–

197

Hamilton

Juvik

Scatena

, eds.

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests

Springer

Kumaran

Perumal

Davison

Ainuddin

Lee

Bruijnzeel

2010

Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: Current state of knowledge

. Pages

286

–

310

Bruijnzeel

Scatena

Hamilton

, eds.

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests

Cambridge University Press

Laurance

Goosem

Laurance

SGW

2009

Impacts of roads and linear clearings on tropical forests

Trends in Ecology and Evolution

659

–

669

PubMed

Lee

2001

Sustainability, concept and practice of

. Pages

553

–

567

Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, vol. 5

Academic Press

Leong

2006

Global warming: Has there been a change in the climate of Cameron Highlands?

Pages

–

Chan

, ed.

Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Leong

Chan

2006

Bioengineering, erosion control techniques for sustainable construction in Cameron Highlands

. Pages

121

–

132

Chan

, ed.

Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development

Universiti Sains Malaysia

Lim

2000

New hill projects shelved

The New Straits Times, 19 October

. (

12 October 2010

; www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82574670.html)

Linkie

Smith

Leader-Williams

2004

Mapping and predicting deforestation patterns in the lowlands of Sumatra

Biodiversity and Conservation

1809

–

1818

; http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/2/nation/17320347&sec=nation)

McIntyre

2007

Vast areas of Lojing bare

The Star

. (

12 October 2010

[MNRE] Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment

2009

4th National Report to the Convention of Biological Diversity

MNRE

[MOA] Ministry of Agriculture

1999

Third National Agricultural Policy, 1998–2010

MOA

[MOPICO] Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities

2009

National Timber Industry Policy 2009–2020

MOPICO

[MOPICO] Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities

2008

New Road to Fraser's Closed by Landslide

. (

12 October 2010

; www.kkr.gov.my/en/node/3916)

[MOW] Ministry of Works

1995

Technical Report on the Investigation into the Debris Flow on the Slip Road to Genting Highlands

Technical Investigation Committee, Ministry of Works

[MSTE] Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment

1997

Assessment of Biological Diversity in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

MSTE

Ong

2000

Determining the conservation needs of key vertebrate groups in Southeast Asia

Master's thesis, National University of Singapore

Peh

KS-H

2007

Potential effects of climate change on elevational distributions of tropical birds in Southeast Asia

The Condor

109

437

–

441

Peh

KS-H

2010

Invasive species in Southeast Asia: The knowledge so far

Biodiversity and Conservation

1083

–

1099

Peh

KS-H

Drori

2010

Fighting corruption to save the environment: Cameroon's experience

Ambio

336

–

339

PubMed

Perumal

FSJ

1998

Recorded mountain trees of Peninsular Malaysia—a checklist

World Wildlife Fund Malaysia

Proctor

Lee

Langley

Munro

WRC

Nelson

1988

Ecological studies on Gunung Silam, a small ultrabasic mountain in Sabah, Malaysia, I: Environment, forest structure, and floristics

Journal of Ecology

320

–

340

Rahbek

1997

The relationship among area, elevation, and regional species richness in Neotropical birds

American Naturalist

149

875

–

902

PubMed

Resorts World Berhad

2007

Annual Report 2007, Kuala Lumpur

Resorts World Berhad

. (

12 October 2010

; www.genting.com/annualreports/rwb.htm)

Roman

Scatena

Bruijnzeel

2010

Global and local variations in tropical montane cloud forest soils

. Pages

200

–

226

Bruijnzeel

Scatena

Hamilton

, eds.

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests

Cambridge University Press

Schmitt

, et al.

2009

Global analysis of the protection status of the world's forests

Biological Conservation

142

2122

–

2130

Shaluf

Ahmadun

F-R

2006

Disaster types in Malaysia: An overview

Disaster Prevention and Management

286

–

298

Sodhi

Brook

2006

Southeast Asian Biodiversity in Crisis

Cambridge University Press

Sodhi

Posa

MRC

Lee

Bickford

Koh

Brook

2010

The state and conservation of Southeast Asian biodiversity

Biodiversity and Conservation

317

–

328

Soh

MCK

Sodhi

Lim

SLH

2006

High sensitivity of montane bird communities to habitat disturbance in Peninsular Malaysia

Biological Conservation

129

149

–

166

Vergara

Hahn

Zeballos

Armesto

2010

The importance of forest patch networks for the conservation of the thorn-tailed rayaditos in central Chile

Ecological Research

683

–

690

Waggener

Lane

1997

Pacific Rim demand and supply situation, trends and prospects: Implications for forest products trade in the Asia-Pacific region. In Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study—Working Paper Series

APFSOS/WP/02

. (

26 October 2010

; www.fao.org/docrep/w4388e/w4388e00.HTM)

Whitmore

1975

Tropical Forests of the Far East

Oxford University Press

Wong

1998

Patterns of plant endemism and rarity in Borneo and the Malay Peninsula

. Pages

139

–

169

Peng

Lowry

PPII

, eds.

Rare, Threatened and Endangered Floras of Asia and the Pacific Rim, Monograph, vol. 16

Academia Sinica

[WWF-Malaysia] World Wildlife Fund Malaysia

2002

Study for the Sustainable Development of the Highlands of Peninsular Malaysia

WWF-Malaysia

Young

1994

Roads and the environmental degradation of tropical montane forests

Conservation Biology

972

–

976