o 25 The land capability classification of Sabah Volume 4 The Interior Residency and Labuan [LSöiXo] (AteSêXOfla^ (Dftvtf^^ Scanned from original by ISRIC - World Soil Information, as ICSU World Data Centre for Soils. The purpose is to make a safe depository for endangered documents and to make the accrued information available for consultation, following Fair Use guidelines. Every effort is taken to respect Copyright of the materials within the archives where the identification of the Copyright holder is clear and, where feasible, to contact the originators. For questions please contact [email protected] ndicating the item reference number concerned. The land capability classification of Sabah Volume 4 The Interior Residency and Labuan 2,4 5}} Land Resources Division The land capability classification of Sabah Volume 4 The Interior Residency and Labuan P Thomas, F KCLo and A J Hepburn Land Resource Study 25 Land Resources Division, Ministry of Overseas Development Tolworth Tower, Surbiton, Surrey, England KT6 7DY 1976 THE LAND RESOURCES DIVISION The Land Resources Division of the Ministry of Overseas Development assists developing countries in mapping, investigating and assessing land resources, and makes recommend­ ations on the use of these resources for the development of agriculture, livestock husbandry and forestry; it also gives advice on related subjects to overseas governments and organisations, makes scientific personnel available for appointment abroad and provides lectures and training courses in the basic techniques of resource appraisal. The Division works in close co-operation with government departments, research institutes, universities and international organisations concerned with land resource assessment and development planning. IV List of volumes Title The land capability classification of Sabah, P Thomas, F KCLo and A J Hepburn Volume 1 The Tawau Residency (with an Introduction and Summary for Volumes 1—4) Volume 2 The Sandakan Residency Volume 3 The West Coast and Kudat Residencies Volume 4 The Interior Residency and Labuan Contents Page LIST OF FIGURES ix LIST OF PLATES ix LIST OF MAPS ABSTRACTS AND KEYWORDS XI GLOSSARIES XII PART1. PREFACE 1 PART 2. GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND 3 Location 3 Topography and geology 3 Climate 4 Vegetation 9 Settlement and population 10 Communications 12 Economy 15 Agriculture 15 Fisheries 15 Timber 15 Industry 15 PART 3. SURVEY AND CLASSIFICATION OF RESOURCES 17 Survey and classification of specific resources 17 Geological surveys and mineral resource groups 17 Soil surveys and soil suitability (for agriculture) groups 18 Natural vegetation and timber resource groups 20 Hydrology and water resources 22 Topography and planimetry 23 Land tenure 23 Game resources 24 Recreation resources 24 Present land use 24 vii The land capability classification Land capability classes Land exploitation units Cartography, area measurement and data tabulation PART 4. THE RESOURCES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION Mineral resources Coal Soil resources Soil Suitability Group 1 Soil Suitability Group 2 Soils developed on gently sloping hills Soils developed on terraces Soils developed on meander belts Soil Suitability Group 3 Soils developed on strongly sloping hills Derived from sedimentary rocks Derived from alluvial deposits Soils developed on terraces Soils developed on valley floors and terraces Soils developed on meander belts Soils developed on floodplains Soils developed in freshwater swamps Soils developed on stranded beaches Soil Suitability Group 4 Soils developed on strongly sloping hills Soils developed on terraces Soils developed in tidal swamps Soils developed on stranded beaches Soil Suitability Group 5 Soils developed on mountains and steeplands Soils developed in freshwater swamps Forests and their timber resources Introduction Commercial forests: composition and distribution Dipterocarps Other commercial species Timber resources of the forest reserves Class I Protection forest reserves Commercial forests in Class I reserves Non-commercial forests in Class I reserves Class II Commercial forest reserves Commercial forests in Class II reserves Non-commercial forests in Class II reserves Class III Domestic forest reserves Commercial forests in Class III reserves Non-commercial forests in Class III reserves Class IV Amenity forest reserves Commercial forests in Class IV reserves Non-cómmercial forests in Class IV reserves Timber resources of the Statelands Commercial forests Non-commercial forests Mangrove forests Water resources Surface water and irrigation Groundwater Page Grazing resources 60 Present grazing land 60 Potential grazing land 62 Game resources 62 Mammals 63 Reptiles 64 Birds 64 Recreational land resources 65 High altitude areas 65 Beaches and islands 65 Areas of scenic attraction 66 PART 5. OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT 67 History of land development 67 Present land use and alienation and gazettement 69 Mining development opportunities 74 Agricultural development opportunities 75 Alienated land 77 Grazing reserves 79 Stateland 80 Soil Suitability Group 2 81 Soil Suitability Group 3 83 Forest reserves 85 Soil Suitability Group 2 85 Soil Suitability Group 3 87 Government reserves 87 Forestry development opportunities 88 Forest reserves 90 Stateland 92 Government reserves 94 Grazing reserves 94 Alienated land 94 Water resource development opportunities 95 Potable water 95 Water for irrigation 96 Water control and energy production 96 Grazing resource development opportunities 98 Grazing reserves 98 Natural grasslands 98 Forested land 98 Conservation development opportunities gg Conservation areas 101 Crocker Range 101 Trus Madi Range 101 Beaches along the west coast of the Klias Peninsula 101 Beaches on Labuan 101 Padas Gorge 101 Tambunan Valley 101 Labau Valley 102 Batu Punggul 102 General opportunities 102 General 102 Conflicting resource development potentials 102 Regional development opportunities 104 Crocker Range 105 Meligan Range 105 Trus Madi Range 105 Witti Range 105 Kuamut Highlands 106 Klias Hills 106 IX Page Crocker Foothills 10B Talankai Valley 106 Western Islands 106 Klias Plain 107 Crocker Plains 107 Tenom, Keningau and Tambunan Plains 107 Sook-Dalit Plain 107 Penawan Plain 107 Recommendations for further studies 107 PART 6. REFERENCES AND RELEVANT WORKS 109 LIST OF FIGURES 4-1 Present land use 71 4-2 Alienation and gazettement 73 4-3 Land suitability and agricultural development 76 4-4 Soil suitability of the alienated land and its 78 agricultural development 4-5 Suitability of grazing reserves for agriculture 78 4-6 Suitability of the stateland for agriculture 82 4-7 Suitability of forest reserves for agriculture 86 LIST OF PLATES 4-1 Dryobalanops rappa forest in Mesapol Forest Reserve 11 4-2 Communications are difficult in the interior. River 11 transport near Pensiangan 4-3 Good growth of cocoa, under Gliricidia shade, on 34 Group 1 soils on the Tenom Plain 4-4 Rubber cultivation on Group 1 soils on the Tenom Plain 34 4-5 Recently commissioned padi irrigation scheme near 59 Sindumin 4-6 Cattle grazing on improved pastures on the Sebrang 59 Cattle Station, Keningau 4-7 Oil palms cultivated on the Klias Plain. The lodging is due 70 to the poor-anchoring substratum afforded by the mixed alluvial and peat soils. Klias Settlement Scheme 4-8 Traditional land-use pattern in the interior, with shifting 70 cultivation on the lower slopes. Talankai Valley, Sapulut 4-9 Logging road in the Witti Range. The long haulage 89 distances greatly increase the cost of exploitation 4-10 Commercial forest on steepland near Mesapol. The terrain 89 imposes severe restrictions to logging, and the soils are very prone to erosion 4-11 Small disused reservoir in the northern hills of Labuan. 97 The water requirements of both Labuan and the Klias Hills might be based on such a form of water storage 4-12 Potential hydroelectric scheme site on the Padas Gorge 97 LIST OF TEXT MAPS Page 4-1 Location of the Interior Residency and its 5 administrative districts 4-2 Physiography 6 4-3 Selected rainfall, climatological and hydrometric stations. 8 Mean monthly and annual rainfall, and period of recording 4-4 Communications 13 4-5 Geological surveys 21 4-6 Forest surveys 21 4-7 Alienation and gazettement mapping 21 4-8 The Labuan Coalfield 30 4-9 Areas suited for agriculture 32 4-10 Commercial and productive mangrove forests 45 4-11 Forest reserves 45 4-12 Cultivated areas including urban land 71 4-13 Distribution of land categories 73 4-14 Areas suitable for agriculture, and the extent of their 76 development 4-15 Alienated land, its suitability and agricultural 78 development 4-16 Suitability of Stateland for agriculture 82 4-17 Suitability of forest reserves for agriculture 86 4-18 Suitability of forest reserves for commercial forestry 91 4-19 Suitability of stateland for commercial forestry 91 4-20 Suggested conservation areas 100 4-21 Areas of conflicting potential use between agriculture 104 and forestry SEPARATE MAP (in separate folder) Land capability classification, interior Residency. Scale 1:250 000 (4 sheets) 50-9,50-10,50-14,50-15. XI Abstracts and keywords ABSTRACT This report contains a brief description of the physical and human environment of the Interior Residency and the island of Labuan (Sabah, Malaysia) covering some 18086 km2 (6983 mi^). The various resource surveys carried out in the area are noted and the methodology of the land capability classification which is based on these sur­ veys is briefly outlined. This classification is shown on the 1:250 000 scale