Abstract
Perched atop misty mountains, tropical montane cloud forests are one of Earth's most imperiled and neglected ecosystems. More than half of these forests occur in Southeast Asia; those in Malaysia are considered some of the best studied in the region. Malaysia has numerous mountains that are exceptionally rich in biodiversity and sustain numerous locally endemic species, but they are also threatened by expanding forestry, agriculture, infrastructure, and global warming. Malaysia serves as an excellent case study to illustrate the issues and challenges associated with tropical cloud forest conservation. We critically assess the current status of Malaysia's cloud forests—focusing on their biological uniqueness and prospects for long-term survival—and propose conservation strategies for agricultural, forestry, tourism, and policy sectors to help conserve these endangered ecosystems. It is our hope that decisionmakers around the region can use our review to evaluate and improve their national strategies related to cloud forest conservation.
Southeast Asia's ecosystems and biodiversity are gravely imperiled (Sodhi et al. 2010), and the fate of the region's tropical montane cloud forests (hereafter, “cloud forests”) is particularly uncertain. Although cloud forests are one of the world's most threatened ecosystems (Bubb et al. 2004), especially given current prospects for global warming, they attract little research. Over the past two decades, for example, studies of cloud forests have contributed just 5% of biodiversity research in Southeast Asia, compared with 74% for lowland forests (figure 1).
Figure 1.
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.
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
A.
2009
.
New hillslope development guidelines
.
The Malay Mail Online
. (
12 October 2010
; www.mmail.com.my/content/16941-new-hillslope-development-guidelines)
Barrow
C
2006
.
Sustainable agriculture in the Cameron Highlands, Malaysia
. Pages
62
–
75
in
Chan
NW
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
TM
Pimm
SL
Kapos
V
Ravilious
C
1999
.
Threat from deforestation to montane and lowland birds and mammals in insular South-east Asia
.
Journal of Applied Ecology
68
:
1061
–
1078
.
Bruijnzeel
LA
2000
.
Hydrology of tropical montane cloud forests: A reassessment
.
Land Use and Water Resources Research
1
:
1.1
–
1.18
.
Bruijnzeel
LA
Hamilton
LS
2000
.
Decision Time for Cloud Forests
.
IHP Humid Tropics Programme Series no. 13. WWF, UNESCO, IUCN
. (
13 October 2010
; www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/cloudforest/pdf/English/decision.pdf)
Bruijnzeel
LA
Veneklaas
EJ
1998
.
Climatic conditions and tropical montane forest productivity: The fog has not lifted yet
.
Ecology
79
:
3
–
9
.
Bruijnzeel
LA
Waterloo
MJ
Protor
J
Kuiters
AT
Kotterink
B
1993
.
Hydrological observations in montane forests on Gunung Silam, Sabah, Malaysia, with special reference to the ‘Massenerhebung’ effect
.
Journal of Ecology
81
:
145
–
167
.
Bubb
P
May
I
Miles
L
Sayer
J
2004
.
Cloud Forest Agenda
.
United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre
. (
12 October 2010
; http://sea.unep-wcmc.org/forest/cloudforest/presspack/PDF/ScreenCompleteCloudsq4.pdf)
Burgess
PF
1971
.
The effect of logging on hill dipterocarp forests
.
Malayan Nature Journal
24
:
231
–
237
.
Callicott
JB
Mumford
K
1997
.
Ecological sustainability as a conservation concept
.
Conservation Biology
11
:
32
–
40
.
Chan
NW
Ghazali
S
Norizan
MN
2006
.
Climate change and heat island effects in Cameron Highlands
. Pages
35
–
55
in
Chan
NW
Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development
.
Universiti Sains Malaysia
.
Chiew
H
2010
.
Hillside hazard
.
The Star
. (
12 October 2010
; http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/11/starprobe/5447615&sec=starprobe)
Clifton
J
2006
.
Promoting sustainable tourism in the Cameron Highlands: An overview of current issues and some proposals
. Pages
56
–
61
in
Chan
NW
Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development
.
Universiti Sains Malaysia
.
Das
I
2006
.
Crocker Range National Park, Sabah, as a refuge for Borneo's montane herpetofauna
.
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation
4
:
3
–
11
.
Davison
GWH
1996
.
Land use planning for the highlands: Protected areas in the Malaysian mountains
.
World Wildlife Fund Malaysia
.
Doumenge
C
Gilmour
D
Perez
MR
Blockhus
J
1995
.
Tropical montane cloud forests—conservation status and management issues
. Pages
24
–
37
in
Hamilton
LS
Juvik
JS
Scatena
FN
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
A
1998
.
Measuring up to sustainability
.
Futures
30
:
367
–
375
.
Hashim
GM
Abdul Rahaman
AH
2006
.
Soil erosion and water pollution in Cameron Highlands: Conservation and strategies
. Pages
76
–
85
in
Chan
NW
Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development
.
Universiti Sains Malaysia
.
Inger
RF
Stuebing
RB
1992
.
The montane amphibian fauna of northwestern Borneo
.
Malayan Nature Journal
46
:
41
–
51
.
Iremonger
S
Ravilious
C
Quinton
T
1997
.
A Global Overview of Forest Conservation
.
World Conservation Monitoring Centre
. (
12 October 2010
; www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/data/cdrom2/index.html)
[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
K
1992
.
An altitudinal transect study of the vegetation on Mount Kinabalu, Borneo
.
Vegetatio
102
:
149
–
171
.
Kitayama
K
1994
.
Biophysical conditions of the montane cloud forests of Mount Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
. Pages
183
–
197
in
Hamilton
LS
Juvik
JS
Scatena
FN
Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
.
Springer
.
Kumaran
S
Perumal
B
Davison
G
Ainuddin
AN
Lee
MS
Bruijnzeel
LA
2010
.
Tropical montane cloud forests in Malaysia: Current state of knowledge
. Pages
286
–
310
in
Bruijnzeel
LA
Scatena
FN
Hamilton
LS
Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
.
Cambridge University Press
.
Laurance
WF
Goosem
M
Laurance
SGW
2009
.
Impacts of roads and linear clearings on tropical forests
.
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
24
:
659
–
669
.
Lee
KN
2001
.
Sustainability, concept and practice of
. Pages
553
–
567
in
Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, vol. 5
.
Academic Press
.
Leong
CP
2006
.
Global warming: Has there been a change in the climate of Cameron Highlands?
Pages
26
–
34
in
Chan
NW
Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development
.
Universiti Sains Malaysia
.
Leong
KW
Chan
NW
2006
.
Bioengineering, erosion control techniques for sustainable construction in Cameron Highlands
. Pages
121
–
132
in
Chan
NW
Cameron Highlands Issues and Challenges in Sustainable Development
.
Universiti Sains Malaysia
.
Lim
B
2000
.
New hill projects shelved
.
The New Straits Times, 19 October
. (
12 October 2010
; www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-82574670.html)
Linkie
M
Smith
RJ
Leader-Williams
N.
2004
.
Mapping and predicting deforestation patterns in the lowlands of Sumatra
.
Biodiversity and Conservation
13
:
1809
–
1818
.
McIntyre
I
2007
.
Vast areas of Lojing bare
.
The Star
. (
12 October 2010
; http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/4/2/nation/17320347&sec=nation)
[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
L
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
19
:
1083
–
1099
.
Peh
KS-H
Drori
O
2010
.
Fighting corruption to save the environment: Cameroon's experience
.
Ambio
39
:
336
–
339
.
Perumal
B
Lo
FSJ
1998
.
Recorded mountain trees of Peninsular Malaysia—a checklist
.
World Wildlife Fund Malaysia
.
Proctor
J
Lee
YF
Langley
AM
Munro
WRC
Nelson
T
1988
.
Ecological studies on Gunung Silam, a small ultrabasic mountain in Sabah, Malaysia, I: Environment, forest structure, and floristics
.
Journal of Ecology
76
:
320
–
340
.
Rahbek
C
1997
.
The relationship among area, elevation, and regional species richness in Neotropical birds
.
American Naturalist
149
:
875
–
902
.
Resorts World Berhad
2007
.
Annual Report 2007, Kuala Lumpur
.
Resorts World Berhad
. (
12 October 2010
; www.genting.com/annualreports/rwb.htm)
Roman
L
Scatena
FN
Bruijnzeel
LA
2010
.
Global and local variations in tropical montane cloud forest soils
. Pages
200
–
226
in
Bruijnzeel
LA
Scatena
FN
Hamilton
LS
Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
.
Cambridge University Press
.
Schmitt
CB
2009
.
Global analysis of the protection status of the world's forests
.
Biological Conservation
142
:
2122
–
2130
.
Shaluf
IM
Ahmadun
F-R
2006
.
Disaster types in Malaysia: An overview
.
Disaster Prevention and Management
15
:
286
–
298
.
Sodhi
NS
Brook
BW
2006
.
Southeast Asian Biodiversity in Crisis
.
Cambridge University Press
.
Sodhi
NS
Posa
MRC
Lee
TM
Bickford
D
Koh
LP
Brook
BW
2010
.
The state and conservation of Southeast Asian biodiversity
.
Biodiversity and Conservation
19
:
317
–
328
.
Soh
MCK
Sodhi
NS
Lim
SLH
2006
.
High sensitivity of montane bird communities to habitat disturbance in Peninsular Malaysia
.
Biological Conservation
129
:
149
–
166
.
Vergara
PM
Hahn
IJ
Zeballos
H
Armesto
JJ
2010
.
The importance of forest patch networks for the conservation of the thorn-tailed rayaditos in central Chile
.
Ecological Research
25
:
683
–
690
.
Waggener
TK
Lane
C
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
TC
1975
.
Tropical Forests of the Far East
.
Oxford University Press
.
Wong
KM
1998
.
Patterns of plant endemism and rarity in Borneo and the Malay Peninsula
. Pages
139
–
169
in
Peng
CI
Lowry
PPII
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
KR
1994
.
Roads and the environmental degradation of tropical montane forests
.
Conservation Biology
8
:
972
–
976
.Author notes
Kelvin S.-H. Peh (kelvin.peh@gmail.com) is with the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and the School of Geography, at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom. Malcolm C. K. Soh is with the NUS High School of Mathematics and Science, in Singapore. Navjot S. Sodhi is with the Department of Biological Sciences, at the National University of Singapore. William F. Laurance and Reuben Clements are with the School of Marine and Tropical Biology at James Cook University, in Queensland, Australia. Dylan Jefri Ong is with ERE Consulting Group in Malaysia.
© 2011 by American Institute of Biological Sciences
For further details log on website :
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/61/1/27/304305/Up-in-the-Clouds-Is-Sustainable-Use-of-Tropical
No comments:
Post a Comment