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Up in the clouds: is sustainable use of tropical montane cloud forests possible in Malaysia?

Up in the clouds: is sustainable use of tropical montane cloud forests possible in Malaysia?
Up in the clouds: is sustainable use of tropical montane cloud forests possible in Malaysia?
Perched atop misty mountains, tropical montane cloud forests are one of Earth's most imperiled and neglected ecosystems. More than half of these forests occur in Southeast Asia; those in Malaysia are considered some of the best studied in the region. Malaysia has numerous mountains that are exceptionally rich in biodiversity and sustain numerous locally endemic species, but they are also threatened by expanding forestry, agriculture, infrastructure, and global warming. Malaysia serves as an excellent case study to illustrate the issues and challenges associated with tropical cloud forest conservation. We critically assess the current status of Malaysia's cloud forests—focusing on their biological uniqueness and prospects for long-term survival—and propose conservation strategies for agricultural, forestry, tourism, and policy sectors to help conserve these endangered ecosystems. It is our hope that decisionmakers around the region can use our review to evaluate and improve their national strategies related to cloud forest conservation.
agriculture, biodiversity, commercial forestry, roads, southeast asia tourism
0006-3568
27-38
Peh, Kelvin S.-H.
0bd60207-dad8-43fb-a84a-a15e09b024cc
Soh, Malcolm C.K.
a059045a-c476-4b31-ad8c-64e4e1d3a1b3
Sodhi, Navjot S.
3dcb4076-fe05-4a62-854e-ac587b5db377
Laurance, William F.
c9c382e0-ecab-4792-a747-488074babda5
Ong, Dylan Jefri
2ba14395-279c-4368-ae2e-31ff1213fa90
Clements, Reuben
fc6ff00f-1ec1-4f65-a35d-1a7c5d832480
Peh, Kelvin S.-H.
0bd60207-dad8-43fb-a84a-a15e09b024cc
Soh, Malcolm C.K.
a059045a-c476-4b31-ad8c-64e4e1d3a1b3
Sodhi, Navjot S.
3dcb4076-fe05-4a62-854e-ac587b5db377
Laurance, William F.
c9c382e0-ecab-4792-a747-488074babda5
Ong, Dylan Jefri
2ba14395-279c-4368-ae2e-31ff1213fa90
Clements, Reuben
fc6ff00f-1ec1-4f65-a35d-1a7c5d832480

Peh, Kelvin S.-H., Soh, Malcolm C.K., Sodhi, Navjot S., Laurance, William F., Ong, Dylan Jefri and Clements, Reuben (2011) Up in the clouds: is sustainable use of tropical montane cloud forests possible in Malaysia? BioScience, 61 (1), 27-38. (doi:10.1525/bio.2011.61.1.8).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Perched atop misty mountains, tropical montane cloud forests are one of Earth's most imperiled and neglected ecosystems. More than half of these forests occur in Southeast Asia; those in Malaysia are considered some of the best studied in the region. Malaysia has numerous mountains that are exceptionally rich in biodiversity and sustain numerous locally endemic species, but they are also threatened by expanding forestry, agriculture, infrastructure, and global warming. Malaysia serves as an excellent case study to illustrate the issues and challenges associated with tropical cloud forest conservation. We critically assess the current status of Malaysia's cloud forests—focusing on their biological uniqueness and prospects for long-term survival—and propose conservation strategies for agricultural, forestry, tourism, and policy sectors to help conserve these endangered ecosystems. It is our hope that decisionmakers around the region can use our review to evaluate and improve their national strategies related to cloud forest conservation.

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More information

Published date: 2011
Keywords: agriculture, biodiversity, commercial forestry, roads, southeast asia tourism
Organisations: Centre for Biological Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 352975
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/352975
ISSN: 0006-3568
PURE UUID: ffd0e81d-2efd-4485-96ca-9440d461d8f1
ORCID for Kelvin S.-H. Peh: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2921-1341

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 May 2013 12:19
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:44

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Contributors

Author: Malcolm C.K. Soh
Author: Navjot S. Sodhi
Author: William F. Laurance
Author: Dylan Jefri Ong
Author: Reuben Clements

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