04-05-2025
World's tallest tropical tree species – Iconic natural wonder of Sabah
(May 4): The tropical rainforest of Sabah never ceases to amaze us! Besides its unparalled beauty of various rainforest landscapes and amazing biodiversity richness, the forest is home to the world's tallest tropical tree species, Richetia faguetiana, locally known as 'Seraya Kuning Siput'. Interestingly, all of the tallest tree records of this species are in Sabah, as follows:
Danum Valley Conservation Area – 100.8 m (April 2019) Tawau Hills National Park – 96.9 m (May 2018) Danum Valley Conservation Area – 94.1 (March 2017) Maliau Basin Conservation Area – 89.5 m (June 2016)
Tawau Hills National Park – 88.3 m (January 2007)
The Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Frederick Kugan.
The climber of 'Menara', Jamiluddin (Unding) Jami of SEARRP.
The world's tallest tropical tree (Menara), measuring 100.8 m in height, with the climber in action. The tree is located in Danum Valley Conservation Area (Photo: Jamiluddin Jami).
The latest towering tree discovered in 2019, known as 'Menara' in Malay (meaning tower), stands at a record-breaking height of 100.8 m (328 feet), making it not only the tallest tropical tree but the third tallest tree in the world, after the Coast Redwood (Hyperion) in California, measuring 116 m and the Tibetan Cypress (102.3 m) in China.
Discovery and climbing the giant trees
The giant tree (94.1 m) in Danum Valley Conservation Area was discovered in 2016 via Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) using an airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system, by Prof. Gregory Asner and his team from Stanford University, USA, in collaboration with Sabah Forestry Department (SFD). Within Danum Valley, the tree is located adjacent to the Ulu Sg. Purut Research Station, some five hours jungle-trek from the Studies Centre. To verify and confirm the height and to identify the tree, the Chief Conservator of Forests assigned SFD team to carry out the task by manually measuring the tree by a tree climber, Juanis Runcin, in early 2017.
Another 'Seraya Kuning Siput' (94.1 m), manually measured by Juanis Runcin, of Sabah Forestry Department in 2017. Take note of the SFD researchers at the base of the tree.
The snail-like exudations of resins on the lower trunk of 'Seraya Kuning Siput'.
Vegetative branch and a snail-like exudation of 'Seraya Kuning Siput'.
Later in 2019, a taller 'Seraya Kuning Siput' (100.8 m), also in Danum Valley was announced through the publication of a scientific paper 'Frontiers in Forests and Global Change' by a group of researchers from the United Kingdom, in collaboration with SFD, SEARRP (South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership) and Yayasan Sabah. This tall tree (Menara) was first identified earlier during the LiDAR survey conducted in 2014, but verification through Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS), and drone was only conducted in August 2018. Later in January 2019, the tree was climbed to the top of its crown to verify the height using a measuring tape, by Jamiluddin (Unding) Jami of SEARRP. As Unding described, climbing the giant tree was challenging and it came with considerable risk. The rope-walking system was deployed here. A rope was catapulted over the lower branch and tied off to a nearby anchor tree. Sounds easy but it took Unding 15 attempts! Then he used a harness to walk up the rope step by step, like climbing the stairs, carrying the measuring tape. The whole process took him some three hours, with the most difficult part towards the tip of the canopy!
The TLS scan and drone flight enable the researchers to establish additional dimensional information about the 'Menara' tree, and thus examine the mechanics of such giant trees. Using literature values of wood density for this species, they estimated that the tree has a weight of 81,500 kg, of which only 5% is in the crown (which has diameter 40 m) and 95% is in the trunk. Menara's diameter above the buttress is 212 cm.
Menara's height comparison with famous landmarks (Source:
Botanical information and assessment of 'Seraya Kuning Siput'
Richetia faguetiana belongs to the Dipterocarpaceae family or 'Damar' family, commonly known as the Dipterocarps. It is classified under the yellow seraya or yellow meranti group within the family under the genus Richetia (formerly Shorea). The tribe Shoreae was revised by Peter Ashton and J. Heckenhauer, published in Kew Bulletin in 2022. This species is locally called 'Seraya Kuning Siput'. 'Siput' is descriptive of the snail-like exudations of resin (damar) which are common on the bole of this species. This is unique and one of the chief diagnostic characters of this species. It is an indigenous species of Borneo. The distribution of the species also includes Southeast Peninsular Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia. It is widespread and frequent in mixed dipterocarp forest on well-drained clay and sandy clay soils, at altitudes to 1000 m.
'Seraya Kuning Siput' is a large emergent tree, to 100.8 m tall, to 2 m diameter, with straight bole and dense hemispherical crown; buttresses to 1.5 m tall, stout. Bark fawn-brown, vertically cracked and thinly oblong flaky; damar coxcombs present, dark greyish brown. Twigs c. 1 mm diameter apically, slender, rugulose lenticellate. Stipules hastate, to 4 x 1.5 mm. Leaves coriaceous, drying greyish green, fugaceous puberulent below; blade elliptic to oblong-lanceolate or ovate, 7-12 x 3-5 cm. Inflorescences terminal or axillary, 20 cm long, doubly or trebly branched, branchlets bearing up to 8 flowers; bracteoles small, fugacious. Flower petal cream. Fruits calyx sparsely puberulent, lobes unequal, 3 longer lobes to 6 x 1.2 cm, tapering to 2.5 mm above the tuberculate saccate base, 2 shorter ones to 4.5 cm long, narrower, otherwise similar. Nuts narrowly ellipsoid to obovoid, acute, to 1.5 x 0.5 cm.
This species is assessed as Endangered (EN) globally under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is, however, not threatened regionally, which is only Near Threatened (NT) for Sabah and Least Concern (LC) for Malaysia. It is a locally common species, with wide scattered distribution in Sabah from lowland up to 1100 m and occurs in many totally protected areas (TPAs). For management, regional assessments are preferred over global assessments when available, as they offer a more specific and tailored understanding of the species' status within the region. Global assessments provide a broad overview of a species' risk of extinction globally, while regional assessments delve into the specific threats and vulnerabilities the species faces within a particular area, making them more relevant for local conservation efforts.
'Seraya Kuning Siput' as an Iconic Tree
In view of its prominence and significance as a natural wonder of the state, the Sabah Forestry Department highlighted the 'Seraya Kuning Siput' as the iconic tree of Sabah during the state level International Day of Forests (IDF), held on 24-26th of April 2025, at the Tropical Forestry Faculty of Universiti Malaysia Sabah. The ceremony was officiated by the State Minister of Industrial Development and Entrepreneurship, Datuk Phoong Jin Tze, representing the Chief Minister of Sabah. During the launching, a souvenir in the form of a framed photo of 'Menara' (100.8 m tree) was presented to the guest of honour. Information pertaining to 'Seraya Kuning Siput' was also disseminated to the public during IDF through exhibition at the SFD booth.
A group photo with Datuk Phoong during the International Day of Forests celebration at UMS, Kota Kinabalu.
Prior to this, on 29th of December, 2020, a first day cover was issued by Pos Malaysia to highlight and commemorate 'Menara' as the tallest tropical tree in the world, as well as to further enhance the awareness and protection of this tree species, together with other iconic species found in Sabah, such as the Orang Utans, Proboscis Monkeys and Pygmy Elephants. Earlier in 2019, 'Menara' was featured in the world-renowned National Geographic magazine.
The Chief Conservator of Forests, Datuk Frederick Kugan, highlighted that such iconic natural wonder has placed Sabah in the world map and should be given due attention in conservation. This giant tree species exemplifies the extraordinary biodiversity and ecological richness of Borneo's lowland dipterocarp forests.
These Dipterocarp trees, which dominate Southeast Asian rainforests, play vital roles in carbon storage, forest canopy formation, and habitat provision for countless species. The discovery highlights both the wonder of tropical ecosystems and the urgent need to protect them, as such forests face growing threats from deforestation, land use changes, and climate change. The immense height and survival of these trees also raise important questions about forest dynamics, tree physiology, and how these giants can thrive in environments that are increasingly under pressure from human activities. As the custodian of Sabah's rainforests, the Sabah Forestry Department has put much efforts and priorities in biodiversity conservation towards sustainable forest management, in line with the Sabah Forest Policy 2018.
The First Day Cover of 'Menara' issued by POS Malaysia in December, 2020. Next Article IEM Young Engineers Section Sabah elects new committee
