Tallest Tropical Tree in the World, Tawau

Tawau, Sabah has the tallest tropical tree in the world.  In 2006, American scientist Dr Roman Dial and two friends climbed up a 'Seraya Kuning Siput' (Shorea faquetiana) in Tawau Hills Park or Taman Bukit Tawau. The trio risked life and climb in order to find out the accurate measurement of this tree, a tropical rainforest plant, located in the forest reserve of some 29,000 hectares.

After placing the end of the measuring tape at the tip of the highest point on the tree, Dr Dial, a professor in Biologi and Mathematic of Alaska Pacific University,  finally recorded the tree's height at 88.32 meters. That measurement made the Seraya Kuning Siput in Tawau Hills Park the highest tropical rainforest tree in the world.

After recording the tree's height, Dr Dial and his team then moved on to look for trees of other species in the park. In two square km there, they found seven more that measured more than 80 meters in height.

 

Source: SabahParks.org.my

Picture source: Sabah Parks.org.my and junglediary.com