Lipaso Forest Reserve

The Lipaso FR is situated about 16 km west of Telupid town along the Telupid-Ranau Highway.

None.

Creations – The FR was first gazetted in 1972. It was later reclassified as Class I FR in 14/3/1984. In 2012 a total of 260 ha was excised vide GN 1/2012.

Management responsibility – Telupid District Forestry Office.

Boundary matters – The boundary was demarcated in 2002.

Management plan – None.

Current Use – Protection.

There are small-scale of oil palm estates, shifting cultivation and old farms/orchards in the north, south and west of the reserve . In the east, there are old rubber estates and buffalo & payau/deer farms (belonging to the Jabatan Ternak). In the north, there are some settlements and also cultivation areas.The FR is accessible by road from the south. The road traverses the FR from the south to the north to link the settlements on the north of the reserve. This is an earth road and very slippery during the rainy season (due to the very low maintenance)

Topography

Most of the FR is mountainous, with moderate to very steep hills with moderate to very steep slopes. Ridge crests are narrow. Areas over the Tapang soil association consist of low hills up to 30 m in amplitude with slopes of less than 15°.They are surrounded by slightly undulating terraces. These hills are formed of basic igneous rocks and the terraces are formed of alluvium derived from adjacent mountains of basic and ultrabasic rocks.

Hydrology

Info will be entered.

Soils 

Mentapok (predominantly), Tapang and Binalik Soil Associations.

Meteorological data

The nearest met station is at Tampias of which we do not have the analysed data. However, compare with the data from the stations at Merungin and Tongod.

Lipaso FR is largely made up of mixed dipterocarp forest, which developed on Mentapok soil association. 95 % of the FR, especially near the boundary, is poor or very poor, where most of the area is dominated by the pioneer tree species eg. simpor (Dillenia sufruticosa), creepers (eg. Meremia sp.), sendok-sendok (Endospermum sp.) and climbing bamboo (Dinochloa sp.).

Another 5 % are medium to good forest, which are on the ridges of the upland areas, located in the middle of the forest reserve. These portions are dominated by the dipterocarps where the dominant canopy tree species are keruing kobis (Dipterocarpus confertus), selangan batu hitam (Shorea artinervosa), urat mata beludu (Parashorea tomentella) and keruing putih (Dipterocarpus caudiferus).

• Click here for a list of dipterocarps encountered during the field survey:
  • Dipterocarpus applanatus
  • Dipterocarpus kerrii
  • Dryobalanops lanceolata
  • Hopea beccariana
  • Hopea ferruginea
  • Parashorea malaanonan
  • Parashorea tomentella
  • Shorea agami
  • Shorea argentifolia
  • Shorea atrinervosa
  • Shorea beccariana
  • Shorea gibbosa
  • Shorea johorensis
  • Shorea laevis
  • Shorea leprosula
  • Shorea macrophylla
  • Shorea multiflora
  • Shorea parvifolia
  • Shorea pauciflora
  • Shorea rubra
  • Shorea seminis
  • Shorea smithiana
  • Shorea superba
  • Vatica oblongifolia

• Click here for a list of the 10 most common tree species encountered during the field survey:
  • Dipterocarpus acutangulus
  • Dipterocarpus confertus
  • Mesua macrantha
  • Ochanostachys amanthacea
  • Pelthoporum racemosum
  • Shorea argentifolia
  • Shorea atrinervosa
  • Shorea gibbosa
  • Sympetalandra borneensis
  • Syzygium spp.
  • Vatica albiramis

Barking deers (payau) and wild boars (babi hutan) are present in the FR but threatened by hunters.

None.

Forest fire – The southeast and north of the FR were burnt in the past (possibly 1998?) but regeneration was observed to be good during the survey. In the north, the burnt area was covered with creepers. The fire was probably started by shifting cultivators.

Encroachment – The main threat is the encroachment of agro-based farms/plantations. There were some clearings, occasionally planted with various types of crops (e.g. hill paddy) by the locals in the south, west and east of the FR

None.