Maliau Basin

Maliau Basin Conservation Area
Maliau Basin Waterfall.
Map showing the location of Maliau Basin Conservation Area
Map showing the location of Maliau Basin Conservation Area
Maliau Basin
LocationTongod District, Sabah, Malaysia
Nearest cityTawau
Coordinates4°49′49″N 116°54′01″E / 4.83040°N 116.90020°E / 4.83040; 116.90020
Area588 km2 (227 sq mi)
Established1981
Governing bodyYayasan Sabah Group

Maliau Basin (Malay: Lembangan Maliau) or also Maliau Basin Conservation Area, is a region in Tongod District of Sabah, Malaysia, which represents a geological catchment surrounding the Maliau River. Located around the centre of Sabah in the Sandakan Division, it was designated as a conservation area by the Sabah Foundation (Yayasan Sabah) in 1981. Later in 1997 the Sabah State Assembly gazetted the Basin as a Protection Forest Reserve (Class I) with a total area of 588 square kilometres. The region also features Mount Lotung (1667 metres), Maliau Falls, and Lake Linumunsut. Efforts are underway to nominate the area as a World Heritage Site.[1] In 2011, the Maliau Basin Studies Centre opened, a large field centre to serve as a basis for studies and teaching carried out in Maliau by naturalists, biologists, and groups of field course students (e.g., Sheffield University, Griffith University, Otago University, and the citizen-science organisation Taxon Expeditions).

  1. ^ Kaur, Jaswinder. "Maliau: Sabah’s Lost World", New Straits Times, 26 June 2006