Sabah's formidable topography, unique habitats - Mt Kinabalu, South East Asia's highest mountain is found here - and climate, its relative isolation and the fact that even during the ice ages there was little change have all contributed to the present biodiversity.

Sabah's environment has much deteriorated over the past thirty years, an unfortunate side effect as vast tracks of the world's oldest rainforest have been used liberally to develop Malaysia.

See also: Places of Interest / Forest Reserves in Sabah 

Some of Sabah's Natural Highlights

Primates

Other primates include the gibbons, rare to see but often heard: its melodious call can be heard in the jungle early in the mornings. Amongst the smaller primates are tarsiers and slow lories, and langurs and leaf monkeys are amongst the more elegant inhabitants of the jungle, albeit extremely difficult to find. Two macaque species inhabit Borneo, the pig tailed and long tailed macaques. Though very shy like all primates they often live close to human habitations where they profit of our typical signs of civilisation: waste and garbage. There they find easily food for their large groups. They breed fast, another factor that contributes to the fact that this is maybe the only species in Borneo that is not really endangered and concerned by habit loss.   

Over 100 different species of mammals are found in Sabah, the largest amongst them being the Borneo pygmy elephant. This elephant was previously thought to the a subspecies of the Asian elephant (Elephans maximus), but recent DNA studies have shown that this elephant has developed on Borneo. To-day it is only found in Sabah in small pockets of forests, often adjacent to plantations and human-animal conflict is a delicate issue here. Even though highly endangered and totally unique it continues to be threatened by rapid habitat destruction. Government efforts have been stepped up recently to ensure the survival of this species. With luck you can observe them in the Sukau area, at Tabin Wildlife Reserve and in Danum Valley.

Other unique mammals include the Sumatran rhinoceros, the Clouded leopard and Malayan sun bear, the Banteng (tembadau/wild ox) and the elusive Bay Cat as well as other felines.  

There are more than 500 species of birds in Sabah, some of them extremely rare due to the special habitat they prefer. Some birds only live in the higher regions of Mt Kinabalu and Trus Madi mountains, and thus naturally can only be found here in Sabah, and nowhere else in Borneo such as the Kinabalu magpie. All eight species of hornbills that occur in Borneo are represented in Sabah, plus some splendid rarities such as Bulwer’s pheasant and Argus pheasant, Giant pitta, and Bornean bristlehead.

The forests also provide building materials and medical herbs which the indigenous people of Sabah have used for times immemorial. With natural forests dwindling at a fast rate it was realised that there is actually more than just wood to it - the so-called non-timber-products (NTP) are becoming increasingly important economic factors. They include, amongst others, water, climate, materials for traditional implements, medical herbs, shelter for animals and humans, eco-tourism facilities... a well known NTP is rattan, popular in furnishing, and of course also bamboo, well documented for its countless applications.