Lambir Hills National Park

Lambir Hills National Park
Taman Negara Bukit Lambir
Dense understorey of mixed dipterocarp forest in the park
LocationSarawak, Malaysia
Nearest cityMiri
Coordinates4°12′47″N 114°01′48″E / 4.213°N 114.03°E / 4.213; 114.03[1]
Area6,952 ha (17,180 acres)
Established1975
Websitewww.sarawakforestry.com/htm/snp-np-lambir.html

The Lambir Hills National Park (Malay: Taman Negara Bukit Lambir) is a national park in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo.[2] It is a small park, at 6,952 hectares (17,180 acres), and is composed largely of mixed dipterocarp forest, with some small areas of 'kerangas' (heath forest). The park is 150–465 m (492–1,526 ft) above sea level.

Animal life

Biologists have recorded 237 species of birds, 64 species of mammals, 46 species of reptiles and 20 species of frogs in the national park. Large mammals such as gibbons and sun bear are absent or very rare due to the small size of the forest and illegal hunting.[3] More recent surveys (2003–2007), however, failed to find 20% of the park's resident bird species and 22% of the mammal species, losses that include half of the park's primate species and six out of seven hornbill species.[4] Collapse in population of large mammals and birds is an ecological disaster in Lambir.[5]

The park's invertebrates include the Rajah Brooke's Birdwing butterfly (Trogonoptera brookiana) and more than 300 species of ants.[6] Leeches are rare.

Plant life

Lambir Hills Waterfall.
One of the many hiking trails in Lambir Hills National Park.

In 1991, the Sarawak Forest Department, Center for Tropical Forest Science/Harvard University, and the Plant Ecology Laboratory of Osaka City University, Japan created the Lambir Hills Forest Dynamics Plot. This is a 52-hectare (130-acre) area of the forest in which all trees thicker than 1.5 cm at breast height have been measured, mapped and identified. Every few years, researchers do a census of these trees so they can track their growth and changes in the population structure of each species. A census of all trees in the plot found 1175 different species.[7] This gives Lambir Hills National Park possibly the highest diversity of trees of any forest in the Old World.

The dominant family of trees in the park is the Dipterocarpaceae, whose members include Shorea and Dryobalanops species. As Lambir Hills National Park is the last intact patch of lowland dipterocarp forest left in Sarawak it is an important refuge for species that have been heavily logged elsewhere.

Among the tallest trees in the national park is the tapang (Koompassia excelsa), which can grow more than 80 metres tall, and which honey bees like to build their hives on. Other interesting plants in the park include several species of Macaranga that have formed a symbiotic relationship with ants. The ants live inside the plants' hollow stems and protect them from herbivorous insects.

The pitcher plant Nepenthes hispida is found only in the park and surrounding area.[8] The park has a very high diversity of figs (Ficus species), with nearly 80 species.[9]

Research

A wooden bridge.
Lambir Hills Canopy Walkway.

Several research institutes have collaborated on long-term studies of the Lambir's natural history and many individual MSc or PhD students have completed their fieldwork there.

In addition to the Lambir Hills Forest Dynamics Plot mentioned above, Lambir has a series of tree towers, a canopy walkway and a canopy crane that researchers use to gain access to different parts of the forest's vertical structure.

Tourism

With its picturesque waterfalls, good birdwatching and impressive tall trees, the park is popular with tourists, especially at weekends when more people from Miri travel there for a day visit. For longer stays, visitors can book one of several chalets.

There are several trails for tourists to explore. These range from short and fairly flat walks to the long and sometimes steep trek to the summit of Bukit Lambir, the tallest point in the park.

Safety and incidents

  • September 1997 – Royal Brunei Airlines Flight 839, a Dornier 228 aircraft, crashed into terrain within the park while on approach to Miri Airport, killing both crew members and all eight passengers on board. The wreckage of the Dornier 228 was found at 07:10 the following morning. [10]
  • June 2025 – Three teenage girls went missing while hiking in the park; seven firefighters were sent from Miri central Fire and rescue station for the rescue operation; they were found safe and escorted out by rescuers. [11]
  • July 2025 – Firefighters rescued 10 hikers experiencing health issues during a hike in the park.[12]
  • April 2026 – Two hikers were rescued after becoming stranded during a hike, with one sustaining a leg injury; according to the news, the rescue operation took approximately six hours.[13][14]

References

  1. ^ "Lambir Hills National Park". protectedplanet.net. Archived from the original on 22 April 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
  2. ^ Sarawak Forestry: Lambir Hills National Park. Retrieved 4 May 2011
  3. ^ Shanahan, M. & Debski, I. 2002. Vertebrates of Lambir Hills National Park, Sarawak, Malayan Nature Journal 56: 103–118.
  4. ^ Harrison, Rhett D. (2011). "Emptying the Forest: Hunting and the Extirpation of Wildlife from Tropical Nature Reserves". BioScience. 61 (11): 919–924. doi:10.1525/bio.2011.61.11.11. ISSN 0006-3568.
  5. ^ Quentin Phillipps & Karen Phillipps, Phillipps' Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo and Their Ecology: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan, p. 368
  6. ^ Lee H, Tan S, Davies S, LaFrankie J, Ashton P, Yamakura T, Itoh A, Ohkubo T, Harrison R. 2004. Lambir forest dynamics plot, Sarawak, Malaysia. In: Losos E, Leigh EJ, eds. Forest diversity and dynamism: findings from a large-scale plot network. Chicago, IL, USA: Chicago University Press, 527–539.
  7. ^ LaFrankie J (1996) Initial findings from Lambir: trees, soils and community dynamics. Cent Trop For Sci 1995:5
  8. ^ Clarke, C.M. & C.C. Lee 2004. Pitcher Plants of Sarawak. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu.
  9. ^ Harrison, R. D. & Shanahan, M. 2005. Seventy-seven ways to be a fig: An overview of a diverse assemblage of figs in Borneo. Pages 111–127 in D. W. Roubik, S. Sakai, and A. A. Hamid (eds). Pollination Ecology and the Rain Forest Canopy: Sarawak Studies. Springer Verlag, New York.
  10. ^ "Flight BI839 (Labuan - Bandar Seri Begawan - Miri) Accident investigation report". AviationSafety. 28 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Three teenage girls rescued after getting lost while hiking in Lambir National Park in Miri". DayakDaily. 15 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Firefighters rescue 10 hikers experiencing health issues from Lambir National Park". The Borneo Post. 14 July 2025.
  13. ^ "2 hikers rescued after being stranded in Lambir Hills, Miri". New Straits Times. 6 April 2026.
  14. ^ "Two hikers rescued after being stranded at Lambir Hills". The Star. 5 April 2026.
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