FLORA AND FOREST ECOSYSTEM
The vegetation within the USM SFMP consists of climax forest formations including mixed dipterocarp forest, ultramafic forest, montane forest and seasonal freshwater swamp forest. The disturbance that had affected the forest quality could be caused by past timber harvesting and forest fire. Retaining the whole forest areas under the natural forest management activities is the best effort in maintaining the forest ecosystem function as forest corridor for plant dispersal and wildlife movement. With the current objective in forest management plan, no timber extraction to be executed in the next 10 years and intensive forest rehabilitation activities were implemented such as silviculture and tree planting to improve forest ecosystem function for the physical and biological environment.
Figure 2: Restoration works in Bukit Piton FR since 2007
The restoration works which was initiated in 2007 had received full supports from various stakeholders in 2010 i.e. Yayasan Sabah, WWF-Malaysia, and Sime Darby which provide sufficient funds to restore habitat and enough food sources for orang utan. A total of about 11,253 ha had been restored in Bukit Piton FR since the project inception in 2007. In 2017, the restoration projects have successfully planted about 1,118.38 hectares or 94% from the targeted area (Restoration contract cost by Sime Darby: RM3.8 million, Yayasan Sabah: RM2.6 million and WWF-Malaysia: RM32,000) as stipulated in the Annual Work Plan (AWP).
Based on the continuous monitoring of planted seedlings in 2016, the mortality rate is ranging from 3% to 17% (three to five years after planting) as shown in Table 6. The mortality rate in 2016 was roughly reduced to 7.29% as compared to data in 2015. The mortality rate is contributed by seedlings quality, technique of planting, wildlife disturbance, weeds competition, wildlife disturbance and weather condition.
Table 6: Mortality rate of planted seedlings since 2012
| NO | CPT# | RESTORED AREA (HA) | MORTALITY RATE (%) | Note< | ||||
| YEAR | ||||||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | ||||
| 1 | 103 | 190.00 | - | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 100% census |
| 2 | 104 | 539.00 | - | - | 7 | 7 | 7 | 100% census |
| 3 | 105 | 323.00 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 100% census |
| 4 | 106 | 339.00 | - | - | 14 | 21 | 17 | 100% census |
| 5 | 107 | 751.00 | 9 | - | 11 | 8 | Maintenance Completed | 100% census |
| 6 | 108 | 73.00 | - | - | 27 | 10 | 8 | 100% census |
| 7 | 109 | 718.00 | 10 | 9 | 8 | Maintenance Completed | No Activity | 100% census |
| 8 | 110 | 973.00 | 14 | 10 | 11 | Maintenance Completed | No Activity | 100% census |
| 9 | 111 | 408.00 | 5 | 8 | 36 | 20 | 7 | 100% census |
| 10 | 112 | 551.00 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 100% census |
| 11 | 113 | 512.00 | - | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 100% census |
| 12 | 114 | 309.00 | 17 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 100% census |
| 13 | 115 | 500.00 | - | 3 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 100% census |
| 14 | 116 | 33.00 | 22 | 15 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 100% census |
| 15 | 117 | 171.00 | - | - | 3 | 10 | 7 |
100% census |
| 16 | 118 | 470.00 | - | - | - | 9 | 6 | 100% census |
| 17 | 121 | 324.00 | 17 | 13 | 8 | Maintenance Completed | No Activity | 20% census |
| 18 | Infapro | 11,827.00 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 100% census |
| Total | 18,370.00 | |||||||
| Mean Mortality (%) | 12.60 | 8.58 | 11.06 | 9.64 | 7.29 | |||
In 2017, the silviculture activity has successfully treated about 10,720 hectares within the USM SFMP area which involved 19 compartments. Various sources of funds were involved to support silviculture treatment i.e. The Heart of Borneo (HoB) Initiative project under the Federal 11th Malaysian Plan at the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve and Virgin Jungle Reserve Sepagaya (restoration contract cost: RM3.4 million); and WWF-Malaysia and Community Forestry Projects at the Bukit Piton Forest Reserve (Restoration contract cost: RM175,000). Since 2006, a total about 54,976 ha of forest reserves were silviculture treated within the USM SFMP.
Figure 3: Accumulated silviculture treatment area since 2006
Five permanent Sample Plot (PSP) plots were established since 2010 in different locations as shown in Figure 4. In 2016, mean diameter increment for dipterocarp and non-dipterocarp has increased to 0.4cm and 1.17cm respectively.
Figure 4: Mean annual diameter increment as of 2016
