Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Malaysia
By Janet Cochrane
1st December, 2009
Going bats in Mulu National Park
In mid-November Janet Cochrane travelled to Sarawak, in Malaysian Borneo, to research the
World Heritage Site of Mulu National Park. She says: “I was thrilled to see such a huge area
of pristine rainforest – it's increasingly under threat in South East Asia. It’s a really well managed park,
with excellent activities for a range of visitor groups.”
The park’s main attractions – and its claim to World
Heritage status – is the vast, dramatic caves gouged out by water acting on the
limestone. At sunset, millions of bats pour out of the caves and set off to
find food. It’s encouraging to see that the needs of wildlife are put first –
most tourists access Mulu by air (the alternative is a two-day boat ride), and
planes are not allowed to fly after 4 pm in case they interfere with the
bats.
Working with Dr Goh Hong Ching from the University of Malaya, Janet interviewed the park manager
and other staff, as well as accommodation providers and the Sarawak Tourist
Board, and Malaysian and international visitors to the park. As with the
findings from the Sumatra trip in August/September, the results will be compared with findings
from research into World Heritage Sites across South East Asia.
