Mulu park also a World Heritage Site

KUCHING: Sarawak's Gunung Mulu National Park in the Miri Division was declared a World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Committee at its 24th annual session in Cairns, Australia, on Wednesday.

State Tourism Minister Datuk Abang Johari Tun Openg said here yesterday that with the declaration, Gunung Mulu would join the Kinabalu National Park as the only two sites in Malaysia accorded the status. He said Gunung Mulu National Park's nomination at the session was presented to the committee by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and was supported by Morocco.

"Gunung Mulu National Park was among only 11 sites shortlisted for nomination under the Natural Heritage category," he said. He said it was the only site in the world this year to be inscribed on the basis of having fulfilled all four criteria under the very strict, rigorous and independent evaluation by IUCN, the World Heritage Bureau and its advisory board.

The criteria are that Gunung Mulu National Park represents both an outstanding example of major changes of Earth's history and a significant ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, fresh water, coastal and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals.

Gunung Mulu National Park contains superlative natural phenomena of areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance. It also contains the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

The only other World Heritage Site nearest to Malaysia which meets all the four criteria is the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia.

Abang Johari said that with the listing, Gunung Mulu National Park joined the ranks of 128 other sites in this "exclusive club which includes the Yellowstone, Everglade and Grand Canyon National Parks in the United States, Mount Everest in Nepal and the Galapagos Island of Ecuador.

The Gunung Mulu National Park is situated about 100km east of Miri town and covers an area of 544 sq km.

The sandstone massif of Gunung Mulu, which rises to 2,376m, and the limestone massifs of Gunung Api (1,170m) and Gunung Benarat (1,615m) are within the park. Mulu's forests are immensely rich in plants and animals.

A staggering 2,000 species of flowering plants including various new species have been identified and it is estimated that the park contains at least 3,500 plant species. An estimated 20,000 animal species, the majority of which are insects, are found in the park. These include approximately 60 mammal species, 262 birds, 23 lizards, and 75 frogs and toads.

Among others, Gunung Mulu National Park houses the world's largest underground chamber, the Sarawak Chamber. - Bernama

		Bats flying out of caves at dusk in Mulu National Park. (Photo copied from Internet. Source: unknown)
		Pinnacles at Mulu National Park (Photo copied from Internet. Source: unknown)
Sarawak Resources