Batu Lawi Hill

Batu Lawi Hill
Batu Lawi Hill
	Batu Lawi, seen from the peak of Mount Murud on 4 September 1998
Highest point
Elevation	2,046 m (6,713 ft)
Prominence	773 m (2,536 ft)
Naming
Native name	Bukit Batu Lawi (Malay)
Geography
Location	Sarawak, Borneo
Parent range	Kelabit Highlands

Last updated June 28, 2023

Batu Lawi is a twin-peaked mountain in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo) that has played important roles in both ancient mythology and modern history. The taller 'male' peak is 2046 metres above sea level, while the female summit is at 1850 metres. It is one of the highest mountains in the state of Sarawak.

History

Batu Lawi is sacred to many of the people who live in the region, such as the Kelabit and the Penan. According to the legends of the Kelabit people, the mountain's peaks are a husband and wife—a pair of protector gods that are the parents of all highland peoples. There was a time when a mountain of fire called Batu Apoi tried to burn all living things. But then Batu Lawi fought back to defeat it and Batu Apoi's flames died out. Kelabit people would traditionally visit Batu Lawi on pilgrimages from settlements such as Bario or Ba Kelalan—about a two-day walk through forest that is now part of Pulong Tau National Park. According to their customs, from the moment they first set eyes on the mountain to the moment they stand at its base, they must not utter the mountain's name for fear of antagonising the spirits on the summits. There have been regular sightings of flames bursting out spontaneously on the male peak, where Charles Hose, a naturalist and an administrator served under Brooke regime also witnessed this phenomenon. He reasoned that the bleached surface of the limestone acted as a magnifying glass, causing dry grass to catch fire.^[1]

Japanese occupation

In World War II, the twin peaks of Batu Lawi served as an important landmark to pilots in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), during Allied missions to help recapture northern Borneo from Japan, which had invaded and occupied the region in 1941. The Allied response was to send commandos behind the Japanese lines to train the indigenous communities as part of the Z Special Unit to resist the Japanese invasion. One of those to parachute in was Tom Harrisson, the British scientist, journalist and founder of Mass Observation, who was then a second lieutenant in the British Army.

In those days, the maps of Borneo were of a very poor quality.^[2] The pilot Squadron Leader Graham Pockley dfc and bar was leader of the expedition and of the RAAF Consolidated Liberator that carried Harrisson and seven other Z Force operatives behind the Japanese lines would have seen a thick green blanket of tropical forest for miles around. However, the pale sandstone peaks of Batu Lawi stood out like a lighthouse and allowed the commandos to be sure they would land somewhere close to the settlement of Bario, and the Kelabit people they sought. The jump was a success but the plane was shot down on its return to the airbase at Morotai in the Dutch East Indies. Squadron Leader Graham Pockley died after making the successful drop.^[2]

Climbing attempts

Saddened by the loss of the plane, Tom Harrisson took part in the first successful ascent of the female peak, with Lejau Unad Doolinih and five other Kelabits in 1946.^[3] He then placed a commemorative board just below the summit in memory of the lost crew that was shot down on the way back to Morotai.^[4] It takes another 40 years before British and Australian soldiers from the 14th/20th King’s Hussars, led by Jonny Beardsall, made the first successful ascent of the male peak in 1986.^[1]

Among those who have attempted to climb Batu Lawi was Bruno Manser, a Swiss national who lived for several years among the nomadic Penan people in Sarawak. He attempted to climb the mountain in 1988 but failed. In May 2000, he entered Sarawak illegally and told his Penan companions that he planned to climb Batu Lawi for the second time but went missing since then. He was declared legally dead on 10 March 2005.^[5]^[6]

On 14 August 2007, a team of Malaysian climbers successfully ascended Batu Lawi.^[3]

Biodiversity

The vegetation on the female peak of Batu Lawi is classed as mountain heath, with low shrubs of Rhododendron and Callophyllum, ground herbs, ferns, orchids and carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes species) that include Nepenthes lowii .^[1] Many of the species present are also found on the summit of Gunung Murud,^[7] Sarawak's highest mountain, but are endemic to Borneo—that is, found nowhere else on the planet. Immediately below the female peak is a band of mossy elfin forest and, below that, oak-laurel forest.^[1]

A 1998 expedition by members of the Miri branch of the Malaysian Nature Society recorded 67 species of bird, including helmeted hornbill, and 20 species of mammal, including Bornean gibbon and sun bear, in the forest that surrounds Batu Lawi, but the only birds recorded from the summit of Batu Lawi itself were ochraceous bulbul and mountain blackeye.^[1] In 1946, Tom Harrisson saw a peregrine falcon on the male peak.^[2]

In May 2008 the authorities in Sarawak approved the area around Batu Lawi as an extension to Pulong Tau National Park. This meant all logging there should have ceased, but satellite images taken in May 2009 indicated extensive logging within the Batu Lawi reserve area. The images appeared in a report that the Council on Ethics of Norway’s State Pension Fund published in August 2010.^[8]

Related Research Articles

The Kelabit are an indigenous Dayak people of the Sarawak/North Kalimantan highlands of Borneo with a minority in the neighbouring state of Brunei. They have close ties to the Lun Bawang. The elevation there is slightly over 1,200 meters. In the past, because there were few roads and because the area was largely inaccessible by river because of rapids, the highlands and the Kelabit were relatively untouched by modern western influences. Now, however, there is a relatively permanent road route on which it is possible to reach Bario by car from Miri. The road is marked but driving without a local guide is not advisable, as it takes over 11 hours of driving to reach Bario from Miri through many logging trail junctions and river crossings.

The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such peoples remaining as hunters and gatherers. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunung Mulu National Park</span> National park in Malaysia

<i>Nepenthes veitchii</i> Species of pitcher plant from Borneo

Nepenthes veitchii, or Veitch's pitcher-plant, is a Nepenthes species from the island of Borneo. The plant is widespread in north-western Borneo and can also be found in parts of Kalimantan. It grows in lowland Dipterocarp forest, typically near rivers, and on ridgetops in mossy forests, from 0 to 1,600 meters elevation. Nepenthes veitchii usually grows as an epiphyte, though the form from Bario seems to be strictly terrestrial and has not been observed to climb trees.

Bruno Manser was a Swiss environmentalist and human rights activist. From 1984 to 1990, he stayed with the Penan tribe in Sarawak, Malaysia, organising several blockades against timber companies. After he emerged from the forests in 1990, he engaged in public activism for rainforest preservation and the human rights of indigenous peoples, especially the Penan, which brought him into conflict with the Malaysian government. He also founded the Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO) Bruno Manser Fonds in 1991. Manser disappeared during his last journey to Sarawak in May 2000 and is presumed dead.

Nepenthes lowii, or Low's pitcher-plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is named after Hugh Low, who discovered it on Mount Kinabalu. This species is perhaps the most unusual in the genus, being characterised by its strongly constricted upper pitchers, which bear a greatly reduced peristome and a reflexed lid with numerous bristles on its lower surface.

Mount Murud or Muru is a sandstone mountain located in Limbang Division, Sarawak, Malaysia At 2,424 m (7,946 ft), it is the highest mountain in Sarawak.

The Kelabit Highlands are a mountain range located in the northernmost part of Sarawak, Malaysia in the Miri Division. It hosts the Bario village. The highest mountains in this range are Mount Murud at 2,423 metres (7,949 ft), Bukit Batu Buli at 2,082 metres (6,831 ft), and Bukit Batu Lawi at 2,046 metres (6,713 ft). The current population of the Kelabit people is about 6,800.

Nepenthes hurrelliana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo, where it has been recorded from northern Sarawak, southwestern Sabah, and Brunei. It is of putative hybrid origin; its two original parent species are thought to be N. fusca and N. veitchii. A thick indumentum of rusty-brown hairs covers the entire plant, a characteristic presumably inherited from the latter.

Nepenthes murudensis, or the Murud pitcher-plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Mount Murud in Borneo, after which it is named. It is of putative hybrid origin: its two original parent species are thought to be N. reinwardtiana and N. tentaculata.

Nepenthes muluensis, or the Mulu pitcher-plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It grows in highland habitats at elevations of 1700 to 2400 m above sea level.

Ba'kelalan is a group of nine villages at Maligan Highlands of Limbang Division, Sarawak, Malaysia about 3,000 feet (910 m) above sea level and 4 km from the border with Indonesian Kalimantan and 150 km from the nearest town of Lawas. There are nine villages in Ba'kelalan. The villagers here belong to the Lun Bawang tribe.

Mount Mulu is a sandstone and shale mountain. At 2376 m, it is the second highest mountain in the state of Sarawak, after Mount Murud. It is located within the boundaries of Gunung Mulu National Park, which is named after it.

The Lun Bawang is an ethnic group found in Central Northern Borneo. They are indigenous to the southwest of Sabah, and the northern region of Sarawak, highlands of North Kalimantan, Brunei.

Bario is a community of 13 to 16 villages located on the Kelabit Highlands in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia, lying at an altitude of 1000 m (3280 ft) above sea level. It is located close to the Sarawak-Kalimantan border, 178 km to the east of Miri. It is the main settlement for the indigenous Kelabit tribe. There are regular flights between the Bario, Miri and Marudi.

The Pulong Tau National Park is a national park in Kelabit Highlands in Limbang Division and Miri Division of Sarawak, Malaysia.

Pelophryne linanitensis, also known as the Linanit dwarf toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Batu Linanit in Mount Murud in Sarawak, Borneo.

Pelophryne murudensis, also known as the Murud dwarf toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Mount Murud in Sarawak, Borneo.

Ansonia vidua is a species of toads in the family Bufonidae. It is endemic to Sarawak, Borneo. Common names Murud black slender toad and widow slender toad have been coined for this little known species. The latter name refers to the black colouration of this species and the fact that no male individuals are known.

Indigenous rainforest blockades in Borneo began during the late 1980s and 90s. Borneo’s forests contain a variety of ecosystems, including rainforests, peatlands, mangroves, heath forests, and palm trees. The Sarawak Region had been ruled by the White Rajahs of the Brooks for the previous 100 years. These forests supply ecosystem services to Indigenous communities in Southeast Asia. Due to anthropogenic land-use changes, particularly logging and dam building, the Borneo rainforests have been deforested and fragmented at a rapid rate. Indigenous people, non-human species and entire ecological landscapes have been impacted by these land-use changes.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Malaysian Nature Society 1998 Expedition of the proposed Pulong Tau National Park (PDF). Sarawak, Malaysia: Malaysian Nature Society, Miri branch. 1998. p. 69. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-10. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
1 2 3 Harrisson , T. 1949. Explorations in Central Borneo" Geographical Journal.Volume 114:129-149
1 2 "Gunung Tama Abu - Sarawak - Borneo - Malaysia". Gunung Tama Abu. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
↑ Judith M, Heimann (1998). The Most Offending Soul Alive: Tom Harrisson and His Remarkable Life. University of Hawaii Press. p. 228. ISBN 9780824821999 . Retrieved 30 December 2017.
↑ Elegant, Simon (3 September 2001). "Without a Trace". Time magazine Asia. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
↑ "Bruno Manser's biography". Bruno Manser Fonds-for the people of the rainforest. Bruno Manser Fonds. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
↑ Beaman, J. H. (1998). Preliminary enumeration of the summit flora, Mount Murud, Kelabit Highlands, Sarawak. In: Ghazally Ismail & Laily Bin Din (Eds.). A Scientific Journey through Borneo. Bario. The Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak. IBEC, UNIMAS. Pelanduk Publications.
↑ "Recommendation of 22 February 2010" (PDF). regjeringen.no. Retrieved 27 June 2023.