As planned in the FMP, approximately three quarters of DFR remains undisturbed or closed to forest management activities at any given time. This means all forest management activities (silviculture, enrichment planting and harvesting) is focused on a small portion (10,000 ha) of DFR staggered over a period of ten years, which translates to a management cycle of about 40 years. This is planned primarily to encourage plant succession without disturbance, and at the same time they act as a sanctuary for wildlife that thrives in DFR.
Wildlife and their habitat contiguity is ensured simply because DFR is a well managed forest and hopefully, it will stay that way in perpetuity. Regardless of this, mitigating measures are put in place to minimize the impact of human presence and interference to the eco-system.
The wildlife monitoring system employed in DFR is currently being revised by Dr. Marc Ancrenaz of HUTAN.
In addition, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) has collaborated once again with Sabah Forestry Department to assess the impact of the different forest management regimes on mammalian biodiversity in Sabah. This involves amongst other, DNA fingerprinting with blood sucking leeches.
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