Danum Valley Study Centre

Research station stay for birders

Rainforest research station

The Danum Valley Study Centre sits on the banks of the Segama River inside 438 square kilometres of unlogged lowland rainforest. The forest here is 130 million years old and features a towering canopy and a high concentration of fruiting trees. You can wake up early and spend the day exploring the 50-kilometre trail network before returning to a quiet room.

The station opened in 1986 under the name Danum Valley Field Centre and you will still see that legacy name in older guidebooks and itineraries. It is managed by Yayasan Sabah and serves as the headquarters for the South East Asia Rain Forest Research Partnership. Scientists from universities like Aberdeen and Zurich run long-term ecology projects from the laboratories here. The campus includes an environmental education building, a library, a computer room and a Global Atmosphere Watch station. This means your stay directly supports forest conservation and puts you at the centre of active field science. The trails are extensive and unpaved so the terrain suits people who are steady on their feet. There is no mobile phone signal anywhere in the conservation area so you have a complete break from the outside world.

Staying at the centre means adapting to the rhythm of a scientific campus. You will meet biologists, see equipment set up in the forest and hear about ongoing studies into the local ecosystem. The atmosphere is quiet and focused on the work so the evenings usually end early after the night walk. The unlogged forest around the buildings attracts Bornean orangutans on most stays along with Bornean gibbons, red leaf monkeys and proboscis monkeys. Terrestrial mammals like the Bornean pygmy elephant, the banteng and the Malayan sun bear are seen with luck in the Danum Valley Conservation Area. Look for slow lorises, Western tarsiers, flying lemurs, giant moths and Wallace's flying frogs on the night drive. The clouded leopard is resident.

Choose the Danum Valley Study Centre if you want long days on the trails and a close look at forest life through your binoculars or camera. You return from days looking for rare wildlife in a globally important conservation area to cafeteria meals and a choice of air-conditioned or fan-cooled rooms.

If you want a pool, a spa, 24-hour air conditioning and private dining, Borneo Rainforest Lodge is the one. Borneo Rainforest Lodge is located further inside the valley and provides a luxury stay with high-end gastronomy and en-suite climate control. A construction project is running at Borneo Rainforest Lodge from 1 January 2025 to 22 January 2027 so you will see new chalets being built between 8am and 6pm if you choose that option.

How to get there

The journey is part of it

The centre is 81 kilometres west of Lahad Datu and you reach it by private transport organised by the lodge. The journey takes 2 to 2.5 hours in a four-wheel-drive vehicle or a specialised van along an unpaved gravel logging road. The road carries industrial timber traffic for the neighbouring Ulu Segama Forest Reserve so the ride is rough and bumpy.