Forest Research Institute Malaysia

FRIM was founded in 1929 on about six hundred hectares at Kepong that had been stripped by tin mining and shifting cultivation - bare, eroded, degraded ground - and the institute planted it as an experiment in whether tropical forest could be re-established. It could: a century on, the canopy is closed, the trees are large, the soil has recovered, and the site is now used as a reference for rainforest rehabilitation worldwide, with research plots dating back to the beginning still monitored. It has been nominated for World Heritage status on that basis. There are arboreta of dipterocarps and other families, a canopy walkway strung between trees at around thirty metres, waterfalls and trails, and a museum. The essential thing to understand walking it is that none of this is natural forest - every tree was planted, which is why it is significant.

What you actually see

• A rainforest replanted from bare ground - mining land restored from 1929.
• A century of research plots - the original monitoring still running.
• A canopy walkway - strung between trees at around thirty metres.
• Arboreta by family - dipterocarps and other groups planted in collections.

When to go

All year, early. A day.

Honest expectations

The canopy walkway closes for maintenance and in bad weather - it has been shut for long periods and collapsed once in 2019, so check before travelling. Leeches after rain. Hot and humid.

Nearby

Kuala Lumpur is south-east; the Batu Caves are east.