Gemok Hill Forest Reserve

The FR is less than 20 km north of Tawau town along Kuhara Road. Access to the FR is at its northern end. From the main road, a sealed road leads through an oil palm plantation to the Bukit Gemok Nature Centre.

The FR was developed first developed in 1992. Proper funding under the 7th and 8th Malaysia Plans (1996-2005) were secured for developing the FR for forest recreation and education. It now has a large visitor centre (with offices, a very informative exhibition hall, toilets and a VIP room), a resthouse, staff quarters, a camping ground and a canopy walkway at the top of the hill.

Creation—First gazetted in 1949 with 1228 acres. In 1962, an areas of 125 acres was partially dereserved. It was regazetted as Class I FR in 14/3/1984.

Management responsibility—Tawau District Forestry Office.

Boundary matters—The boundary has yet to be demarcated.

Management plan—None.

Current use—None.

Its surrounding land is planted mainly mainly oil palm (Golden Hope Plantations in the east) but there are also rubber trees, cocoa and small fruit orchards. Being close to Tawau town, there are also many housing estates in the southeast. There are a few villages near the FR, namely Kg. Batu Putih (northeast), Kg. Mutiara (northwest), Kg. Jambatan Putih (east) and Kg. Imam (west). There are other villages in the north along Kuhara-Table Road. There are also houses near the southern and northeastern boundary, some of which are located within the FR boundary. There is a secondary school nearby. The town of Tawau is less than 7 km to the south.

Topography—The whole FR is mainly a large outcrop of basic and intermediate igneous rocks. It is very steep. The peak of Gemok Hill is about 396 m asl.

Hydrology—No river of note.

Soils—Mainly Tinagat and Apas Associations, with Brantian on the low-lying areas in the southeast and southwest.

Meteorological data—See Tiger Estate, Tawau Airport, Berumas, Sg. Wakuba and Kalabakan data.

The main vegetation is mixed dipterocarp forest (MDF) and is largely intact, probably due to the steepness of Gemok Hill. Although a vegetation survey was not carried out for this FR, historical information on the forests surrounding Tawau is available. Gemok Hill can be classified as Type F mixed dipterocarp forest. The most frequent species of this type is S. laevis. Other species of the selangan Batu group found here include S. inappendiculata, S. maxwelliana, S. foxworthyii  and the hill form of S. superba.

Macaques, barking deer and sambar deer have been sighted in the FR. There are quite a number of bird species there, including a few species of hornbills.

The main reason people visit this centre is for recreation. A canopy walkway at the top of Gemok Hill serves as a major attraction. There are campground facilities for the public to use. A large visitor centre has been built under the 8th Malaysia Plan to support the FR as a centre for recreation and education.

Encroachment—Villagers and school children can trek into the FR from the south. However, there are no serious encroachment cases.

The canopy walkway on top of the hill is a major attraction among the people of Tawau.