Kabili-Sepilok (16017)
Malaysia, Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Year of last assessment: 2007
National site name: Kabili-Sepilok
Central coordinates: Latitude: 5.8333, Longitude: 117.9667
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 180
Area of KBA (km2): 64.03456
Protected area coverage (%): 80.23
KBA classification: Global/Regional TBD
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: (I) Physical CharacteristicsThe Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve (commonly known as Sepilok) derived its name from two rivers draining into Sandakan Bay. The area is mostly flat, alluvial and slightly undulating. Sandstone ridges are a dominant feature of the forest reserve. There are no large rivers in the area. Drainage to the south, into the Sandakan Bay, is by the Sungai Kabili, Sungai Pakis, Sungai Pandan, Sungai Cina, Sungai Sepilok Kecil, Sungai Sepilok Besar and Sungai Arang. The upper tributaries of the Kabili and Sepilok Besar have their sources within privately-owned, cultivated land, while the other rivers have their entire catchments within the reserve. Drainage from from the north side of the reserve is into Sungai Gum Gum Besar. On the eastern side, drainage is into Sungai Seguntong via Sungai Matalau and several small streams including Masbud, Buaya, Simpang Dua and Simpang Tiga (Payne, 1988).Most of the reserve has classified as the Sandakan Formation consisting mainly of sanstones and mudstones which has been estimated to be upper Miocene or younger in age. Fine to medium-grained sandstone, pale yellow, orange or greyish in colour, predominates in the higher, dissected ridges, while brown or grey mudstones predominate in the intervening lower land of more moderate terrain (Payne, 1988). Four soil associations are recognised within the reserve. Red-yellow podzols occur on the sandstone ridge crests while the sandy lithosols occur on the steep slopes. Extensive podzols are developed on the west. Soils on low mudstone and sandstone hills and alluvial flats occur elsewhere, away from the coastal swamps. Coastal swamp soils are periodically inundated with saline water (Payne, 1988). (II) Climatic ConditionsHeavy rains from the north-east in December and January, rainfall largely influenced by the north-east winds, which generally falls between November and mid-February. The total annual rainfall is about 3,000 mm. Mean daily temperature is 30<SUP>o</SUP>C (DWNP, 1987).</P>
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: Over 200 species of birds have been recorded in the area including several globally endangered species (Payne, 1988). The Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve is broadly typical of the lowlands of eastern Sabah. The area is also important for biome and extreme lowland species. The Near Threatened Oriental Darter <I>Anhinga melanogaster</I> has been recorded in the forest reserves (Sheldon <I>et al</I>., 2001).</P><P>Non-bird biodiversity: Over 90 species of mammals have been recorded in Sepilok Forest Reserve (Payne, 1988, Matsubayashi <I>et al</I>., 2003). The Asian Elephant <I>Elephas maximus</I>, Sumatran Rhinoceros <I>Dicerorhinus sumatrensis</I> and Tembadau (<I>Bos javanicus</I>) are absent in the reserve but old records showed that they were once found in the area. There is little information on the reptiles, amphibians and freshwater fishes of Sepilok. At least two species of freshwater fishes known only from small streams in eastern Sabah, <I>Acanthophthalmus sandakanensis</I> and <I>Mastacembelus keithi</I> occur within the reserve. Turtles have been spotted in the mangrove channels during surveys. Insect diversity includes 70 species of butterflies (Fox, 1973).(I) Globally threatened mammals (IUCN, 2002): <B>ENDANGERED: Orang-Utan <I>Pongo pygmaeus; VULNERABLE: Ridley's Roundleaf Bat Hipposideros ridleyi, Clouded Leopard Neofelis nebulosa, Ranee Mouse Haeromys margarettae; NEAR THREATENED: Dayak Fruit Bat Dyacopterus spadiceus, Small Woolly Bat Kerivoula intermedia, Bronzed Tube-nosed Bat Murina aenea, Large Brown Myotis Myotis montivagus, Ridley's Myotis Myotis ridleyi, Ridley's Roundleaf Bat Hipposideros ridleyi, [Hairy-winged Bat Harpiocephalus mordax]; DATA DEFICIENT: Malayan Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus (II) Globally threatened reptiles (IUCN, 2002): No information.(III) Globally threatened plants (IUCN, 2002): ENDANGERED: Dryobalanops lanceolata; VULNERABLE: Eusideroxylon zwageriNote: [ ] = unconfirmed record.</I></B></P></P>
Manageability of the site: Site identified based on BirdLife International's Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas, under which manageability is strongly recommended but not explicitly documented
Delineation rationale: Initially digitised from Landsat imagery of remaining habitat, this legacy KBA boundary coastline and borders where aligned to GADM 4.1 and satellite imagery where appropriate. This excluded marine areas given that this site contains no marine related trigger species.
Habitats
Summary of habitats in KBA: Three forest types have been recognised within the reserve namely lowland dipterocarp forest, sandstone hill dipterocarp forest, <I>kerangas</I> forest and mangroves (Fox, 1973 cited in Payne, 1988).The lowland dipterocarp forest is dominated by <I>Parashorea tomentella, Shorea leptoclados</I> and <I>Dryobalanops lanceolata</I>. <I>Eusideroxylon zwageri, Diospyros</I> spp. and <I>Hydnocarpus</I> spp. are common in the middle canopy.Dipterocarps such as <I>Shorea beccariana, S. multiflora</I> and <I>Dipterocarpus acutangulus</I> are common in the sandstone hill dipterocarp forest, which occur extensively on the sandstone ridges in both the western and eastern parts of the reserve.In the kerangas forest, dipterocarps are scarce except for <I>S. multiflora</I>. The forest canopy is low and even, with <I>Tristania clementis</I> and <I>Ixonanthes reticulata</I> as dominant species. This forest type occurs on the sandstone cuestas in the eastern half of the reserve.Mangrove forest occurs to the south of the reserve. <I>Oncosperma tigillarium</I> occurs in the transitional zone between the lowland dipterocarp forest and mangrove, which on the inland side is dominated by <I>Bruguiera gymnorrhiza</I>. Along the mangrove channels are <I>Rhizophora apiculata, Ceriops tagal, Xylocarpus granatum</I> and <I>Lumnitzera littorea</I>, while <I>R. mucronata</I> lines Sandakan Bay.</P>
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Some illegal logging occurred in 1967 within the reserve. Illegal poaching is minimal.</P>
Additional information
References: Bernard, H-U. and Brooke, M. 1994. <I>Southeast Asia Wildlife</I>. Hong Kong: Apa Publications (HK) Ltd.DWNP. 1987. <I>Malaysian Wetland Directory</I>. Peninsular Malaysia: Department of Wildlife and National Parks.de Silva, G.S. 1981. Some Birds of the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. <I>Sarawak Museum Journal</I> <B>50</B>: 151-166.Fox, J.E.D. 1973<I>. A Handbook to Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. Sabah Forest Record No. 9.</I> Borneo Literature Bureau, Kuching for Sabah Forest Department.Francis, C.M. 1988. Checklist of Bird Species in Sepilok Forest Reserve. In Payne, J. <I>Sepilok Forest Reserve: Its History, Resources and Functions, </I>pp. 33-37.<I>.</I> Project MYS 111/87. Kuala Lumpur: WWF Malaysia.IUCN. 2002. <I>2002 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. http://www.redlist.org (23 June 2003).</I>Lomosse, H. and Lomosse, A.-C. 1987. Borneo 1987: Sabah and Sarawak. (Unpublished).Matsubayashi, H., Bosi, E. and Kohshima, S. 2003. Activity and habitat use of Lesser Mouse-deer (<I>Tragulus javanicus</I>). <I>Journal of Mammalogy</I> <B>84(1):</B> 234-242.Payne, J. 1988. <I>Sepilok Forest Reserve: Its History, Resources and Functions</I>. Project MYS 111/87. Kuala Lumpur: WWF Malaysia.Payne, J. and Francis, C.M. 1985. <I>A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo</I>. Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Society, and Petaling Jaya: WWF Malaysia.Regis, P. 2001. The Management of Protected Areas in Sabah. Pp. 67-98 in Zahra Yaacob, Moo-Tan, S. and S. Yorath (eds.). <I>Proceedings of the International Conference on </I>In-situ<I> and </I>Ex-situ<I> Biodiversity Conservation in the New Millennium</I>, 20-22 June 2000, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. Kota Kinabalu: Yayasan Sabah/Innoprise Corporation Sdn. Bhd. And Sabah Museum. Sheldon, F.H., Moyle, R.G. and Kennard, J. 2001. Ornithology of Sabah: History, Gazetteer, Annotated Checklist, and Bibliography. <I>Ornithological Monographs</I> <B>52</B>: 1-285.Smith, P. 1984. Sabah Borneo 1984. (Unpublished)Smythies, B.E. 1999. <I>The Birds of Borneo (4<SUP>th Edition). Revised by Davison, G.W.H</SUP></I>.. Kota Kinabalu: Natural History Publications (Borneo) Sdn. Bhd.Verbelen, F. 1991. Birding in Sabah, 16/09-20/10/1991. (Unpublished).</P>
Contributors: Site identified based on Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas by the BirdLife International Partnership