Day 3 - Presented to Sustainable Summits 2016 Dr Jamili Nias: Mt Kinabalu and addressing social pressures

1. MOUNT KINABALU
Addressing Social Pressures
Jamili Nais, PhD
Director, Sabah Parks
10 August 2016

2. 1. The Surrounding communities
- Kinabalu the Sacred Mountain, and
the indigenous people surrounding it
- Boundary issues
2. Tourism / Climbing issues
(Inclduing the Kinabalu Earthquake)
Social Pressures?

3. Sabah Parks Areas
Gazetted: 1964
Area: 75,370 ha
Gazetted: 1984
Area: 139,919 ha
Gazetted: 1979
Area: 27,972 ha
Gazetted:1974
Area: 4,929 ha
Gazetted: 1978
Area: 15,864 ha
Gazetted: 1977
Area: 1,740 ha
Gazetted: 2004
Area: 35,000 ha
Gazetted: 2009
Area: 16,860 ha
Area: 1,028,000 ha

4. Kinabalu Park: World Heritage Site since Dec 2000
One of the richest biodiversity in the world (per unit area)

5. KINABALU PARK
A World Heritage Site
• Gazetted: 1964
• Area : 75,370 ha
• 88 km from Kota Kinabalu City
• Mount Kinabalu (4095.2 m)
• The first recorded successful
ascend By Sir Hugh Low in
1851

6. Kinabalu Park Headquarters, note Visitor Reception at the centre (1969)

7. State of Sabah, Malaysia
Sabah State,
Borneo

8. 1.
Communities
surrounding the
Park

10. Kinabalu Park
Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site,
2 Dec 2000
Year 2010, Villagers unhappy

11. 11
Three ideas that changed my outlook:
1. World Park Congress, Durban SF – Benefit beyond
Boundaries,
2. Congress of Ethnobiology, Tofino, Canada – Reconnecting
people with their sacred mountains inside Parks,
3. Tongariro, NZ – The Maori and their lands and mountains

12. Ideas I tried to implement on Kinabalu:

13. Kinabalu Community Day (2nd Dec )
• Initiated in 2010
• To strengthen relationship
• Free climb for the
communities (max 150
pax)
• Community bazaar inside
the park

14. Kinabalu Council of Elders

15. “Monolob” Ritual
The 'monolob' ritual is
performed by the
community's high priest
to appease the
mountian spirits and
request safe passage
for climbers.

17. EcoLinc Project
• To promote
Community
Conservation Areas
• As widlife corridors
between Kinabalu
Park and the Crocker
Range Park.

18. The EcoLinc initiative

19. 2.
Boundary issues

20. Park Rangers inspecting disputed/overlapping boundaries
Claimed by the villagers as their “Native Customary
Rights” lands

21. Kinabalu Park &
Sayap Village
Ongoing discussion and
Searching for solution

22. Reserve
Crocker Range Park: A Biosphere
Reserve
The Community Use Zone: one of the best
example in the world of harmony between
nature-local communities

23. 3.
Tourism issues

24. Control of climbers
Before the EQ: 220; now: 135 pax/day

25. 4
The Kinabalu
Earthquake
5th June 2015

26. 19 KM long
12 main peaks
Low’s Peak: 4095.2M

27. Low’s Peak,
4095.2 m

28. 1. Sabah Parks/Kinabalu Park has been
managing the Mountain since 1964.
2. Detailed record of climbers started in 1993:
1993 to May 2015 (22 years) = 930,669 climbers
Number of fatalities (22 years) = 22
Percentage of fatalities = 0.017%
Climbing Mt. Kinabalu:

29. Starting point
Mountain huts
The summit

30. At 7.15am on 5 June 2015: The Kinabalu EQ 6.0 RS

31. Climbers stranded on the Summit Plateau

32. Boulders and rocks:
Preventing the stranded climber from going down
& preventing SAR personnel from going up

33. Park staff & Mountain Guides safely brought
down all the stranded climbers

36. Ridzuan Kohinin
(Mountain Guide)
Jonathan Tom Nius,
(staff of Sutera
Sactuary Lodges)

37. Sadly, 18 people lost their lives that day,
including 04 Mountain Guides
• 277 people were on the summit area on that day
(187 climbers, 46 Mountain Guides, and the rest are Kinabalu Park staff
and the lodges private operators).

38. After 5 days, the SAR operation was officially closed
on 10th June 2015.
I went up for the damage assesment on 11/6/15,
07 days after the EQ
(with my Park Manager and Senior Park Ranger)

39. Panar Laban hut:
Before and after

41. The Previous summit trail

42. Rockfall on the summit trail

45. The iconic
Donkeys Ears

46. Historical Donkey’s Ears

47. Not much damage at the summit
plateau, beyond 3,500 m

48. 1. Global Parks Volunteers (Canada)
2. Japan Association of Mountain Guides
(fully sponsored by JICA)
3. Local Geotechnical engineering expert (Dr
Saravanan of Nexus Consulting, KL)
4. Kinabalu Restoration Technical Committee
(Chaired by the Director of Sabah Parks)
Resulting in the Restoration plan:
External and Local helps

49. Surveys and studies:
With the Japan Asstn of Mt Guides
at the Summit

50. Field surveys

51. Field surveys

52. Restoration Plan of Action:
1. To establish two new trails:
‐ “The Ranau Trail” and
“The Kota Belud Trail”
2. To construct a “rock fall barriers and boulders
stabilization system”.
The implemtation will be in three phases.

53. Ranau Trail (Beautifully
challenging)
&
Kota Belud Trail

54. Restoration team
Parks staff, Mountain Guides & villagers

55. KM 1.5: before & after

56. 01 September 2015:
Completion of phase 1

57. Restoration Technical Committee
On the 8th August, at 8 am
with a total of 88 climbers

58. Phase 2a. Construction of Ranau Trail

59. The Steps

63. The Ranau Trail

64. The Kota Belud Trail

65. Official Opening ( Timpohon to Summit)
1 Dec.2015
Mount Kinabalu was reopened to climbers on 1st
Disember 2015, after 179 day (less than 6 months) of
the earthquake. Max 135 pax/day.

66. Via ferrata was reopened to the public on 19 Januari 2016

68. MoSAR: Mountain SAR
SOP for Mt Guides

69. SAR Simulation

70. 5.
Rockfall barrier system:
Tendering phase now

71. Proposed Restoration Works at Mt Kinabalu

72. 20M
90M
Rock Stabilization (B2)
Danger Zone
9.0 M
Rock Fall Barrier (90m)
Rock Fall Barrier
(70m)
Phase one of the proposed rock fall barrier system at Kinabalu

73. New Mt huts complex on Mt Kinabalu :
Under construction after the earthquake

74. New Sewerage System for Mount Kinabalu:
Tendering process completed
Centralized Sewarage treatment
plant
‐Kandis Shelter
• Serving all facility
from Sayat‐Sayat to
Kandis Shelter

75. The Kinabalu
Restoration project:

76. Labour of love from the Park staff, Mountain Guides & villagers!

77. Labour of love from the Park staff, Mountain Guides & villagers!

78. KINABALU will be back –
“Better than Before”
KINABALU is back –
“Better than Before”

79. Thank You
End
Terima kasih
Pounsikou