What a view: The Forestry Department team and members of the Persatuan Komuniti Kg Nupakan at the peak of Mount Sinsing with the measuring apparatus. In the background is Mount Kinabalu.
KOTA KINABALU: Mount Sinsing, straddling the Crocker Range, is now officially the third highest mountain in Malaysia.
Standing tall at 2,586m in Sabah’s interior Tambunan district, Mount Sinsing is third after Mount Kinabalu (4,095m) and Mount Trus Madi (2,642m), both of which are part of the Crocker Range.
The little known Mount Sinsing within the Nuluhon Trusmadi Forest Reserve, under the management of the Tambunan District Forestry Office, is part of the Sustainable Forest Management Project (FMU10).
The height of the mountain became a subject of interest in 2018 when amateurs using the Global Positioning System (GPS) determined the height of the mountain at 2,603m, dislodging its neighbour Mount Tambuyukon (2,579m) from the third spot.
However, it remained unofficial until earlier this month, when the Sabah Forestry Department carried out an expedition to ascertain the official height of Mount Sinsing.
A team from the Sandakan-based Forest Research Centre in Sepilok, together with members from the Persatuan Komuniti Kg Nupakan, set out to get a more accurate height measurement of Mount Sinsing using the more sophisticated Stonex S900A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver.
Height data was recorded over a four-hour period on May 10.
The observation data was then sent to a licensed surveying company for processing to establish the height of the mountain at mean sea level.
Using this methodology, the height of the summit of Mount Sinsing was found to be 2,586m, placing it as the third tallest mountain in Malaysia and also on Borneo Island.
Chief conservator of forests Datuk Frederick Kugan said the Forestry Department would continue its endeavours to protect areas of interest, including Sinsing.Mount Trus Madi is located adjacent to Mount Sinsing, which is also under the management of FMU10 and covers an area of 88,401ha.
“Due to their elevations, these mountain forests are home to many unique flora and fauna, some of which are not found elsewhere,” he said.
Through the Heart of Borneo Initiative under the Sabah Forestry Department, he said an in-house scientific expedition was organised from May 14 to 20 to survey the flora, fauna and socio-economics of the local communities living near the forest reserves.
