CROCKER RANGE NATIONAL PARK
Area : 139,919 ha
Gazetted : 1984

Introduction

Moving eastwards from Kota Kinabalu, a long range of hills dominates the landscape. This is the Crocker Range, a giant backbone of greenclad ridges that stretches down the west coast from Mt. Kinabalu's granite peaks, across the gorge of the Padas river and down into the swamp-forests of the Sarawak border.

In 1984, 1399 square kms, running down the center of the Range was gazetted as the Crocker Range National Park. It is the largest single totally protected area in Sabah. The boundaries are still being surveyed and no visitor facilities have yet been developed, the Park being administered from Kota Kinabalu.

The easiest way to reach the Park is by the Kota Kinabalu - Tambunan sealed highway following an old bridle path that links the west coast to the interior plains. The road passes close to the highest point of the range over the Sinsuran Pass at 1670 m. and the drive takes one from steamy lowland heat to cool mountain air with orchids and rhododendrons flowering on the roadside cuttings within an hour.

This road, as well as another rough road further south, goes right across the Park. Narrow strips of land each side of the roads were, unfortunately, left out when the Park was gazetted, and strip development here by private concerns could become a problem.

A small motel has been built within this strip on the Kota Kinabalu - Tambunan road on the western side, and the Sabah Outward Bound School also maintains a mountain annexe here.

Climate

Monsoon storms blowing in drop most of their rain on the coastal lowlands and western slopes of the range. The eastern side is much drier, though clouds often envelop the ridges and passes by midday. Rainfall records for Penampang on the western side average 300cm, annually, compared with only 90 cm, for interior Tambunan, and 175 cm for Tenom. The steep slopes form the water catchment area for much of the west coast and the interior towns and are the source of the Papar, Kimanis, Bongawan, Membakut, Padas and Melalap rivers flowing west, and the Pegalan, Papang, Apin-Apin, Tandulu and Tikalod rivers flowing east.

Geology

The geological history of the Crocker Range goes back several million years when movements beneath the earth uplifted and folded sedimentary rocks into the valleys and ridges of the ranges. It was then much higher than it is today, but slowly, centuries of weathering have worn down the soft sand-stones and shales to their present height. Nowhere does the range rise higher than 2000m. The highest point, G. Alab (1,964m), is, in fact just outside the Park boundary, above the Sinsuran Pass.

Most of the Pak boundary lies above 300m and the lowland areas below are used for smallholder plantations, cash-crops and ricefields.

The scenic Tambunan valley, with terraced rice-fields and groves of feathery bamboos borders the north-eastern part of the Park, while the rich agricultural soils of the Tenom area support cocoa and rubber plantations along the south-eastern boundary.

Plant Life

Inside the Park, the dipterocarp forest is still largely untouched, and some of the last remaining areas of west coast hill dipterocarp forest in Sabah, are preserved here.

The word 'di-ptero-carp' meaning 'two-winged-fruit' comes from the Greek for the leaf-like appendages of the mature dipterocarp fruits, that causes them to spin like shuttlecocks and slow their fall to the ground. Some species have 3,4,5 or even more 'wings' but all are members of the great family Dipterocarpaceae, that contain Sabah's major hardwood timbers.

The forests are also rich in oaks, chestnuts and conifers such as Agathis. Drifting mists on the highest ridges have provided ideal conditions for the development of a thick mossy forest with orchids, rhododendrons and pitcher-plants.

The world's largest flower, the spectacular Rafflesia grows in this area. There are 2 well-known sites in a Forest Reserve on the edge of the Park only a few minutes walk from the main highway where these huge bloosoms, up to 38 cm, across can be seen, if you are lucky.

Rafflesia is a parasitic plant, without leaves, roots or a stem of its own. It gets its food from the forest vines on which itgrows. Buds emerge from inside the roots of the vine and take several months to grow before the flower opens. But after only a few days, the flower fades and dies. While there is no particular flowering season for Rafflesia, most flowers are recorded in August to October as the buds, highly susceptible to rot in wet weather, have had a chance to develop during the dry season. However, flowers can, and do, appear at any time of the year. Rafflesia is found only in Borneo, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, and there are several different species. The largest can be as much as 1 meter in diameter.

Animal Life

Mammal life is sparse for several reasons. As one goes higher, and the climate becomes cooler, the animal life becomes less anyway, but there is also a lot of hunting pressure both from outside the main boundary and along the road strips. Squirrels and Tree-shrews and possibly a Civet-cat are the most likely to be seen. The attractive Whitehead's Pigmy Squirrel with white ear-tufts can sometimes be seen foraging on mossy tree-trunks, while Red Giant Flying Squirrels have been seen at dusk.

Larger mammals such as the Orang-utan and the Clouded Leopard also occur but they are extremely rare and very seldom seen.

The birdlife is more diverse and a lot easier to see. Montane birds include t he curiously streaked brown and white Whitehead's Spiderhunter with long sickle bill. The rolling 'took-took-terrroook' call of the Golden-naped Barbet is a characteristic sound, echoing across the valleys. Occasionally a large shiny black millepede might be seen along the edge of the road.