List of World Heritage Sites in Malaysia

Situated in the lush Lenggong Valley, the property includes four archaeological sites in two clusters which span close to 2 million years, one of the longest records of early man in a single locality, and the oldest outside the African continent. It features open-air and cave sites with Palaeolithic tool workshops, evidence of early technology. The number of sites found in the relatively contained area suggests the presence of a fairly large, semi-sedentary population with cultural remains from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Metal ages.

Important both for its high biodiversity and for its karst features, Gunung Mulu National Park, on the island of Borneo in the State of Sarawak, is the most studied tropical karst area in the world. The 52,864-ha park contains seventeen vegetation zones, exhibiting some 3,500 species of vascular plants. Its palm species are exceptionally rich, with 109 species in twenty genera noted. The park is dominated by Gunung Mulu, a 2,377 m-high sandstone pinnacle. At least 295 km of explored caves provide a spectacular sight and are home to millions of cave swiftlets and bats. The Sarawak Chamber, 600 m by 415 m and 80 m high, is the largest known cave chamber in the world.

Kinabalu Park, in the State of Sabah on the northern end of the island of Borneo, is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. It has a very wide range of habitats, from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain forest, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations. It has been designated as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia and is exceptionally rich in species with examples of flora from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, as well as pan-tropical flora.

Melaka and George Town, historic cities of the Straits of Malacca have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West in the Straits of Malacca. The influences of Asia and Europe have endowed the towns with a specific multicultural heritage that is both tangible and intangible. With its government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications, Melaka demonstrates the early stages of this history originating in the 15th-century Malay sultanate and the Portuguese and Dutch periods beginning in the early 16th century. Featuring residential and commercial buildings, George Town represents the British era from the end of the 18th century. The two towns constitute a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.

The National Park of Peninsular Malaysia (Taman Negara), originally was gazetted as Gunung Tahan Game Reserve in 1925 and in 1939 it was declared as a National Park by the British Administrators under the name ‘King George V National Park’ under Enactment 1939, to commemorate the installation of King George V in England. Historically the three parts were enacted under the respective Malay states of Kelantan, (Taman Negara Enactment (Kelantan) 1938), Pahang (Taman Negara Enactment (Pahang) 1939) and Terengganu (Taman Negara Enactment (Terengganu) 1939), and hence came under the purview of the respective Sultans of the three states and the British High Commissioner. However, after Independence in 1957 “Taman Negara” came under the jurisdiction of the King (Yang Dipertuan Agong) and the respective Sultans of the three states. Administratively it was put under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the administration and management came under the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia or PERHILITAN. The National Park was declared as ASEAN Heritage Park in the year 1984.

The FRIM Selangor Forest Park (FRIM-SFP) is a 544 ha park consisting of man-made tropical rain forest, a meandering stream (the River Kroh), waterfalls, arboreta, and botanic gardens. Today, this verdant man-made forest stands as a result of FRIM-SFP’s successful reforestation efforts that were initiated back in the 1920s. Among the most famous attractions of FRIM-SFP are the unique crown shyness phenomenon of Dryobalanops aromatica, the forest canopy walkway, the hiking and cycling trails under the shade of the giant canopy trees. The property occupies 170 ha or one third of the total area of FRIM-SFP. The property is protected by approximately 262 ha of buffer zone, and 112 ha of tertiary zone.

In the early 20th century the quartz ridge was called the Klang Gates Ridge. This informal geographical named remained until the 1980s when the quartz ridge was then better known as the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge or Permatang Kuarza Genting Kelang. On 24 June 2015 the Klang Gates Quartz Ridge was formally named the Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge or Permatang Kuarza Gombak Selangor (PKGS) by the Selangor State Government.

The nominated site is built entirely of quartz, a natural mineral with chemical composition of silicon dioxide (SiO2), formed when residual magma crystallized and consolidated within vertical slab of dyke as the magma forced themselves through large linear fissures within massive granitic rock known as Kuala Lumpur Granite about 200 million years ago.

The most spectacular part of the quartz ridge is its protruding mid-section, which encompasses Taman Melawati, National Zoo (Zoo Negara) in the Ampang Jaya area and part of Selayang Municipal Area. From a distance, this section is said to resemble the guling ayam (cocks combs) or more dramatically, the spine of a dragon.

Pseudo-karst morphology comprising at least four shapes; the dome, table, ramp and tower may be observed on the Gombak Selangor Quartz Ridge.

The Royal Belum State Park, Perak Malaysia originally, was gazetted as Hutan Simpan Belum (Belum Forest Reserve) in 1971 and subsequently in 2007 it was regazetted in accordance with the Enakmen Perbadanan Taman Negeri Perak 2001 Sek. 6 (Section 6, Perak State Park Corporation Enactment 2001) as a State Park, stately called as the Crowning Glory of the Peninsula. In 2012, it was also gazzeted under the Enakmen Perhutanan Negeri Perak (Perak State Forestry Enactment) as well as National Heritage site which is the highest recognition accorded by the Government of Malaysia.

In the 1970s the importance of the Belum Forest Reserve was recognised for biodiversity conservation by the Colombo Plan Report and further recommendations for biodiversity conservation was made under the Third Malaysia Plan (1976-1980) and in 1988 by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia (PERHILITAN). The Royal Belum State Park borders the Halabala National Park, Thailand to the north, thus making the area of about 300,000 ha of a potential transfrontier park and the Peninsular Malaysian state of Kelantan on the east. The Royal Belum State Park was gazetted in May 2007 (Enakmen Perbadanan Taman Negeri Perak 2001 Sek. 6 No. 519) for biodiversity conservation to facilitate biodiversity education, research and ecotourism. The Royal Belum State Park is only accessible by boat via the public jetty at Pulau Banding (Banding Island) which is situated at the southern part of the State Park.

The total area of the Royal Belum State Park is 117,500 ha and straddles the northern undisturbed and pristine lowland dipterocarp, hill dipterocarp and lower montane forests (up to about 1,533 m above sea level) of northern Peninsular Malaysia forming the northern and strategic component of the Central Forest Spine (CFS). The State Park is considered as one of the oldest, protected, undisturbed and pristine land mass in Peninsular Malaysia of more than 130 million years old, relics of the geological confluence of the southern Gondwanaland supercontinent and northern Laurasian supercontinent. Geographically, about 57% of its area is located in the range of 80-300 m above sea level and 41% in the range of 300-1,533 m above sea level. There is only one main river system, Sungai (River) Perak that originates from the Perak-Kelantan border in the north-east and flows southward to the Straits of Malacca at Bagan Datoh. Among the smaller rivers that are found in the State Park and drain most of the areas are Sungai Kenarong that originates on the west, Sungai Tiang and Sungai Kejar that originate on the east of the State Park, in addition to more than hundreds of smaller tributaries and streams that feed the Lake Temengor.

Geologically, the Royal Belum State Park is situated on the eastern side of the Western Belt of Peninsular Malaysia, right along the tectonic boundary of two continental plates (Sibumasu and East Malaya plates). This area consists of diverse rock formations of mostly metamorphosed marine sedimentary rocks of Early Silurian-Devonian age (~ 440 to 400 m.y. ago) belonging to the Baling Group, and the Triassic granites. The igneous body intrusion that occurred in the Late Triassic age (ca. 220 m.y.) had lifted the area and became a land mass and physical landscape what we observed today. This intrusion and other related tectonic activities resulted from the collision of two supercontinental plates had shaped the area to what it is today as a metamorphed and uplifted Baling Group. This substratum has become the niche and habitats for the rich and diverse biodiversity in the State Park.

The Sungai Buloh Leprosarium, officially known as the National Leprosy Control Centre (NLCC), is located at the valley of Bukit Lagong in the state of Selangor, 25km from the capital city of Malaysia - Kuala Lumpur. It was completed in 1930. The Sungai Buloh Leprosarium has been known as one of the exceptional models in the liberation of leprosy institutions in the 20th century and also one of best treatment centers for leprosy. On top of this, the Sungai Buloh Leprosarium was also one of the key leprosy research center in the globe where some of its research, trials and experiments have greatly contributed to the treatment of the disease. The Leprosarium originally covered an area of over 562 acres, comprising more than 600 buildings in three sections. At its peak period, the patients numbered 2,440. Hence, the Sungai Buloh Leprosarium is the biggest leprosarium in the British Empire in terms of the number of patients and empirically, it was deemed as the second biggest in the world after the Culion Leprosarium in the Philippines.

The Niah Caves is located in Island Southeast Asia (tropical islands lying in between mainland East Asia and Taiwan to the northwest and Australia and New Guinea to the southeast) which is one of the most organically diverse regions in the world, where 25 biodiversity hotspots could be found (Gower et. al., 2012). The caves form a series of colossal interconnected caverns and numerous smaller caves, located in the Gunung Subis massif about 15km. inland from the north Borneo coast.The inundation of the Sunda shelf resulting from the onset of global warming in the Terminal Pleistocene had created a landscape surrounding Niah Caves that is made up of tidal swamp forest and high-canopy closed rainforest (Barker, 2011). Located about 65 km. South South-West of Miri city, Niah Caves is situated in a National Park measuring 3,139 hectares. The site is bordered on three sides by rivers in which Sungai Niah is the major waterway along the western boundary. Its tributary, Sungai Tangap, forms the eastern boundary and another tributary, Sungai Sekaloh, borders the Park from the south. Progressive erosion and slips from the cliff faces created boulder-strewn talus slopes at the base of some of the outcrops and the result of these processes had created a river-fringed area of tropical rainforest comprising two distinctive forest types - tidal swamp forest and high-canopy closed rainforest. Between the limestone outcrops, deep gorges and gullies have been gradually vegetated by specialised mixed dipterocarp flora that reflects the effects of torrential water flows from the outcrops. Pollen records suggest that this region of Borneo was impacted after 50kya by alternating phases of cool dry montane forest and grassland with warmer phases when closed canopy lowland rainforest was present although the rainforest never disappeared entirely from the region (Hunt et al. 2012). After many fluctuations in vegetation cover, post-glacial lowland rainforest began to dominate by 11.5kya and remained intact until today. Recognising the archaeological and cultural significance of the area, the Niah Caves Complex was declared a historical monument and site under the Antiquities Ordinance [Cap. 134 (1958 Ed.)] in 1972. Subsequently in November 1974, the limestone outcrop and forest margin of Gunung Subis was gazetted as Niah National Park, under the National Parks Ordinance [Cap. 127 (1958 Ed.)]. In 1994, all those parcels of land situated at Pangkalan Lobang and the Niah Caves described as lots Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7 Block 13 Niah land District and Lot 244 Niah Land District declared as historical monuments and sites in 1972 was included as part of the Niah National Park. The designation of the area as a National Park had two primary objectives. Firstly, it was to provide protection for the area’s unique combination of limestone hills, lowland dipterocarp forests and cave systems. Second and more importantly, it was to protect the globally significant prehistoric remnants in the caves consisting of wall paintings, wooden boat shaped coffins, and the site of a Palaeolithic human skull which is at least 40,000 years old.

Archaeologically, the massive Niah caves complex is of international interest given that it is one of the few places in Southeast Asia with evidence of continuous human occupation during the late Pleistocene and early Holocene (Barker et al., 2002). The acknowledgment of the significance of Niah Caves, as a site of international importance goes back to 1864 when A.R Wallace reported to Charles Darwin and Thomas Huxley the potential of the caves - as a site that was well worth investigating for evidence of early human fossils (Harrisson 1958, Zuraina Majid, 1982). Huxley subsequently organised the first European expedition to Niah Caves which was led by Alfred Everett in 1878-79 that did not bear significant findings. After a lull of 75 years, Tom Harrisson, who was then the curator of the Sarawak Museum organised the first archaeological digs at Niah Caves in 1954. Together with his wife, Barbara Harrison, the excavations ran for 13 years until 1967, digging in several of the caves in the Niah Caves Complex and the adjacent areas.

The bone assemblage from the excavations led by the Harrissons comprised around 750,000 fragments, making it one of the largest Late Pleistocene and early Holocene assemblage of archaeological vertebrate remains in Southeast Asia. The most renowned discovery was the ‘Deep Skull’ in 1958, which is a partial human skull from the deepest part of the West Mouth excavation, the so-called ‘Hell Trench’ due to the hot weather conditions the excavation team had to endure. Comparisons with other hominid crania proved that ‘Deep Skull’ was that of an anatomically modern human (Brothwell, 1960; Krigbaum & Datan, 1999, 2005). Charcoal samples taken from close to the skull returned dates of 35 000 and 40 000 bp, making it at the time the oldest authenticated modern human remains outside Africa.

In addition, the discoveries in the West Mouth of Niah Caves included 25 human burials dating to the Early Holocene, and over 200 burials with Neolithic material culture, constituting respectively the largest Mesolithic and Neolithic cemeteries in Island Southeast Asia (Barker et.al, 2011). Specifically, the main cave network consists of 21 caves with six large entrances or cave mouths surrounding a large limestone hill in the middle. The largest cave is the West Mouth (Lobang Kuala) which is more than 60 meters high in part - where ‘Deep Skull’ was discovered. Painted Cave is another significant cave known for its prehistoric rock paintings and burial ships which was discovered by Barbara Harrisson in 1958 and contained 128 small red-sized paintings on the cave walls. The paintings were made using hematite and dye material from plants and depict anthropomorphs standing on what appear to be boats or ships.

In addition to the archaeological significance of Niah Caves, its cultural features are equally compelling. In essence the caves have continuously provided a sustainable source of livelihood for its indigenous community. Within the chambers of the caves are millions of bats and swiftlets which populate the nooks and crannies of the caves collection. The swiftlet population of Niah is predominantly the Black-nest Swiftlet, Aerodramus maximus. The swiftlets make highly sought-after bird nests which are used for traditional Chinese medicine and to make birds’ nest soup. These nests are collected and traded by climbers who scale great heights into the highest ceilings of the cave using wooden poles without safety harnesses hence risking their lives in the process. The Niah Caves was once home to the Penan tribe who were the original inhabitants of the area, and acknowledged to have ancestry going back to more than 60,000 years. Furthermore, the Penan were believed to have been bird nest collectors since the early 1800s, and archaeological findings suggest that there might have been harvesting activity as far back as the T’ang dynasty (in China) between 618 – 907 - implying that international trade for bird nests products might had existed since this period (Beavit, 1992). Up till the 1960’s, the Penans were the sole harvester of the nests for shipping to Singapore and other harbours for processing and export. When it was the harvesting season, the climbers and collectors stayed in Traders Cave, a smaller cave on the way to the main entrance to the Niah Caves in order to not disturb the birds. The buyers came here to weigh and buy nests from the collectors. By and large, the traditional harvest of Niah’s nests was sustainable, and was governed by Penan social and cultural constraints (Harrisson and Jamuh 1956; Medway 1957; Sandin 1958; Earl of Cranbrook 1984). The Penans followed the principle of ‘Take only what you need to avoid overharvesting thus ensuring an abundant supply of resources for the future. The most important aspect of Penan management of these resources is the traditional action of molong, meaning preserving. Niah Caves is also regarded as a sacred natural site by the surrounding indigenous communities. One of the caves is believed to be the remnants of a former village which was flooded due to a breach of taboos that affected their reverence for the sacred natural site (Husain, 1958; Sandin, 1958). The cave was believed to be inhabited by various spirits, including some of the most important Penan heroes. It was the object of numerous taboos as well as important annual rituals aimed at securing peace, fertility and good luck. As part of the local belief, a ritual called semah used to be performed annually to appease the spirits of the caves and to ask them to protect the birds’ nest and guano collectors working in the caves. It is considered a Penan ritual, to be performed every year before the opening of the first formal harvest season in April. A spiritual medium (dayung), who has exclusive knowledge of the names of the spirits and can perform the chanting, conducts the ritual. The Penan participated in and monitored all aspects of the harvest, making collective decisions and carefully sanctioning any infringements of acceptable practice (Earl of Cranbrook 1984). As the oldest residents of the area, the Penans held most of the birds’ nest collection rights. Out of their reverence for the spirits in the caves, Niah Caves had been traditionally protected even before it was gazetted as a historical monument and site under the Antiquities Ordinance [Cap. 134 (1958 Ed.)].

An interesting development in the history of archaeological excavations in the Niah Cave Complex took place between 2000 and 2003 during which a series of short field excavations were undertaken by an international team of archaeologists and environmental scientists. Under the leadership of Prof. Graeme Barker from the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the Sarawak State Government, the Niah Cave Project (NCP) was initiated to re-investigate the remnant archaeology in the Niah Cave entrances. From on-site observations, laboratory research on materials from the fieldwork, and reference to the written and photographic archives, new 14C dates anchored the stratigraphy to an absolute chronology, confirmed a Late Pleistocene age for the ‘Deep Skull’ comparable to that proposed by T. Harrisson, and demonstrated that intermittent human habitation of the caves could be traced back to at least c. 45,000 bp (Barker et al., 2007; Higham et al., 2009). The project was also able to unravel some of the complexities of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene habitations of the cave entrances and the Neolithic and Metal Age burial activity.

The most recent excavation programme at Niah Caves builds on its archaeological significance in Island South-East Asia. Starting from November 2017, another international team led by Prof. Darren Curnoe from the University of New South Wales, Australia began a new phase of archaeological research at Niah Caves by focusing specifically on Trader’s Cave. This on-going research discovered a new timeline as they uncovered five pieces of microlithic tools aged 65,000 years as well as a human skull aged 55,000 years. The new discoveries suggest that human pre-history has been established to have existed about 65,000 years ago in the Niah Caves system, exceeding the previous estimate of 45,000 years. The research is still ongoing, albeit temporarily put on hold due to Covid-19, and the new findings are contributing to a better understanding of the Southern Dispersal Route and human migration out of Africa in general (Curnoe, 2018)– a theory that an early group of modern human beings left Africa between 130,000-70,000 years ago. This recent discovery could have substantial implications towards revisiting and rewriting the history of the Southern Dispersal Route.