Central Titiwangsa Range (16068)
Malaysia, Asia
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1e, B2
Year of last assessment: 2023
National site name: Central Titiwangsa Range
Central coordinates: Latitude: 3.1583, Longitude: 101.2194
System: terrestrial, freshwater
Area of KBA (km2): 4622.5176
Protected area coverage (%): 45.23
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Bukit Kinta Forest Reserve lies in central east Perak state, between Banjaran Bintang to the west and Banjaran Titiwangsa to the east. Its topography is hilly and mountainous. Limestone hills rise from its lower western flank and its highest peaks include Gunung Korbu (2,138 m asl), the second highest mountain in the peninsula. Bukit Kinta Forest Reserve is the basin of many important rivers in Perak, including Sungai Kinta, Sungai Kampar and Sungai Raia. Several of these and other rivers supply water for Ipoh, Kampar and other major towns and are also used for hydro-electricity generation. Cameron Highlands is situated entirely on the Banjaran Titiwangsa (or Main Range) and is one of the oldest and largest of hill resorts in Malaysia, which is also well-known for its tea plantation, vegetable farms and cut flower industry. The area is a natural plateau with an elevation ranging from 1,524 - 2,032 m asl surrounded by several mountain peaks namely Gunung Beremban (1,841 m asl), Gunung Brinchang (2,032 m asl), Gunung Perdah (1,576 m asl) and Gunung Jasar (1,696 m asl). Gunung Brinchang is the highest peak in the area. Most of the flatlands around the area is located the Tanah Rata area (WWFM. 1998. Fragile Beauty: Peninsular Malaysia's Highland Forests; Perumal, B. and Chan, J.C.W. 1995. The Economic and Development of Cameron Highlands: A Conservation Viewpoint. Project No. MYS 276/93). The soils of Cameron Highlands are granite in origin and generally broadly grouped as lithosols and shallow yellow latosols. The soils tend to be reddish in the northern part of Cameron Highlands and yellowish or beige in the southern part (Ooi, J.B., 1976. Malaysia: Land, People and Economy in Malaya. 2nd Edition. Longman, London). The drainage system of Cameron Highlands is complex with about eleven major rivers. These rivers form the headwater catchment areas that eventually flow to three different states in the peninsula. The Sungai Telom, Sungai Mansum and Sungai Bertam drain into Pahang State and are tributaries of the Sungai Pahang. The Sungai Raia flows into Kelantan State while the Sungai Kinta and Sungai Batang Padang drain into the Sungai Perak (Perumal, B. and Chan, J.C.W. 1995. The Economic and Development of Cameron Highlands: A Conservation Viewpoint. Project No. MYS 276/93). Bukit Fraser (or Fraser's Hill) is situated in the central position of the Banjaran Titiwangsa (or Main Range) straddling the Pahang-Selangor State border. It is one of the popular hill resort in the peninsula. The terrain is consists mostly of ridges and steep valleys. Granitic rock, formed by igneus activity during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic (Hutchison, C.S. (1989). Geological evolution of South-east Asia. in Muhammad Barzani Gasim, Sahibin Abd. Rahim, Zulfahmi Ali Rahman and Jasni Yaakub. 2001. Hydrologic Variable of Fraser's Hill. In Latiff, A., Zuriati Zakaria, Zaidi M. Isa, Kamarudin Mat-Salleh, Noorazuan Md Hashim and Laily B. Din (eds.). Fraser's Hill: Physical, Biological and Socio-economic Environments, pp. 70-78. Bangi: Pusat Pengurusan Penyelidikan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.), is a major component of Bukit Fraser, with grain size varying from fine to coarse. The soil of the Rengam Series consists of sandy quartz and peaty at the ridge and quartzite habitats of the lower montane forest (Sahibin Abdul Rahim, Zulfahmi Ali Rahman, Jasni Yaakub and Muhammad Barzani Gasim. 2001. Soil Characteristics of Fraser's Hill. In Latiff, A., Zuriati Zakaria, Zaidi M. Isa, Kamarudin Mat-Salleh, Noorazuan Md Hashim and Laily B. Din (eds.). Fraser's Hill: Physical, Biological and Socio-economic Environments, pp. 1-10). The area is bordered by several peaks namely Pine Tree Hill (1,505 m asl), Bukit Jeriau (1,300 m asl), Bukit Peninjau (1,367 m asl), Bukit Fraser (1,300 m asl) and Gunung Ulu Semangkok (1,440 m asl). The Jeriau valley descends to a waterfall at 630 m asl. The highest point, the Pine Tree Hill is a small peak along a ridge system, which forms the boundary the two states (Kiew, R. 1998. The Seed Plant Flora of Fraser's Hill, Peninsular Malaysia with special reference to its conservation status. Kuala Lumpur: Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM)). At least ten rivers with varying sizes forms the drainage system in Bukit Fraser; Sungai Selangor, Sanglai, Yet, Teranum, Teras, Rambutan, Semangkok, Hijau, Kerling and Man (Muhammad Barzani Gasim, Sahibin Abd. Rahim, Zulfahmi Ali Rahman and Jasni Yaakub. 2001. Hydrologic Variable of Fraser's Hill. In Latiff, A., Zuriati Zakaria, Zaidi M. Isa, Kamarudin Mat-Salleh, Noorazuan Md Hashim and Laily B. Din (eds.). Fraser's Hill: Physical, Biological and Socio-economic Environments, pp. 70-78. Bangi: Pusat Pengurusan Penyelidikan, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.). The site is threatened by infrastructure development, highland highway, tourism development, poaching and collecting, noise, air and light pollution, soil erosion, presence of alien exotic species, conversion to oil palm & rubber, horticulture, agriculture, pesticide/chemical pollution, logging, rising temperature, lake sedimentation.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site contains the entire known population of the amphibian Leptobrachella kecil and invertebrate Stoliczia chaseni. Five bird species meet KBA Criterion B2 and 88 trigger legacy KBA criteria and are in need of reassessment.
Manageability of the site: This site had originally been identified and delineated in 2003 and later confirmed during the 2015-2018 AZE project, and access to the original manageability rationale is no longer available.
Delineation rationale: This site had originally been identified and delineated in 2003 and later confirmed during the 2015-2018 AZE project, and access to the original delineation rationale is no longer available.
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 100 |
Threats
| Threat level 1 | Threat level 2 | Threat level 3 | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential & commercial development | Commercial & industrial areas | Ongoing | |
| Agriculture & aquaculture | Annual & perennial non-timber crops | Agro-industry farming | Ongoing |