Maliau Basin

Maliau Basin is one of very few places in the world that has never been inhabited by humans. The basin, around six hours’ drive south of Kota Kinabalu, is a saucer-shaped area covered in thick rainforest in excess of 390 square kilometres, enclosed by a steep escarpment that rises to a formidable 1,600 metres high.

Often referred to as the "Lost World of Sabah," it covers approximately 58,840 hectares of primary rainforest, with steep ridges, deep gorges, and stunning waterfalls. It's also known for its high levels of biodiversity, with over 1,000 species of plants and animals living in the area.

This remote region was only discovered in 1947 when a light aircraft almost crashed into the mist-shrouded rim. The serendipitous encounter didn’t generate much interest at the time, and the area slipped back into cloud-covered obscurity. It was only in 1988, when a full scientific expedition was organised by the state-sanctioned Sabah Foundation and WWF Malaysia, that news of this remote region began to trickle out to the wider world.

Even if you go deep inside the Amazon, there have been quite a lot of people actually living inside the forest, having small-scale agriculture production, hunting and so on. You don’t see any traces of human activity inside Maliau Basin, which makes it really unique on a global scale.

To get to Maliau Basin, visitors must first travel to Tawau, Sabah. From there, they can take a four-hour drive to the Maliau Basin Studies Centre where they can arrange for a guided tour of the area. The closest international airport to Maliau Basin is Kota Kinabalu, and from there Maliau Basin is approximately a 7-8 hour drive depending on weather conditions.

Alternatively, visitors can charter a small plane to the Maliau Basin Airstrip, which is about 20 minutes from the studies centre.

Maliau Basin offers a variety of activities for nature lovers, including jungle trekking, wildlife spotting, bird watching, and swimming in crystal-clear waterfalls. There are also several camping sites within the area, allowing visitors to experience the wilderness up close. Guided tours are recommended to ensure visitors are safe and do not disturb the natural environment.

You can either stay around the Maliau Basin Studies Centre for wildlife spotting, or you can do a trek into Maliau Basin to see the untouched rainforest. Around Maliau Basin Studies Centre you might see flying squirrels, the clouded leopard and pygmy elephants though the rainforest here is so dense that you are unlikely to see large game here.

Inside Maliau Basin, you can either do a four day trek or a five day trek into the virgin rainforest. Either trek will take you to the majestic Maliau Falls which is incredibly remote and breathtaking. If you do the longer trek you will also head into the Nepenthes Garden where you will be surrounded by gorgeous pitcher plants.

The best time to visit Maliau Basin is during the dry season, which runs from March to September, as there is minimal rainfall and the trails are easier to navigate. However, visitors should note that this area is a protected wilderness area, and tour groups are only allowed limited access at any one time. Therefore, it is best to book well in advance to secure your spot.

Maliau Basin is one of the most untouched places in the world, and is an essential conservation area because of its unique biodiversity and ecological significance. The basin is home to various endemic and endangered species of plants and animals, making it an important site for scientific research and conservation efforts.

The forests in Maliau Basin act as a carbon sink, helping to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thus mitigating climate change. The area is also a critical watershed for several rivers, supplying water to thousands of people in the surrounding regions.

Moreover, the conservation area is home to the local peoples, who have lived in the area for generations and depend on the forest's resources for their livelihoods. Protecting Maliau Basin is crucial for safeguarding the ecological and cultural heritage of the region.

As a result, the Malaysian government and several conservation organizations have been working to preserve and protect Maliau Basin through sustainable tourism, research, and conservation initiatives. By doing so, they aim to ensure the long-term survival of the area's unique biodiversity and ecological integrity.

Local conservation groups believe that the best way to support conservation efforts at Maliau Basin is through tourism. Maliau Basin because of its rich resources has increasingly come under threat of poaching. Developing infrastructure in the buffer zones, in areas where hotspots for illegal entry have been identified, will encourage travellers to visit. And when there are visitors in Maliau Basin a 24-hour basis, poachers will think twice about going.

The other advantage of tourism is that previously before Maliau Basin had been seen as a potential hotbed for tourism, the basin had been heavily logged. When the authorities realised that Maliau Basin could actually bring about tourists, they developed the previously logged area with landscaping and the planting of trees. This not only makes the surroundings more attractive, it encourages the return of wildlife to the area.

Another critical way approach is employing local communities to help protect the rainforest, which not only gives them a way to bridge their income gap but also ensures they have a vested interest in preserving the basin. Conservation isn’t just about scientists doing work on the ground. It’s about communities as a whole working together. If local communities have jobs, incidents of illegal poaching will diminish. So by simply travelling to Maliau Basin and providing local communities with jobs, visitors are actually doing a lot to help with the conservation of Maliau Basin.