An intensive camera-trapping study and a nutrient analysis were carried out to understand how natural licks are important for mammals in inland tropical rain forests where soil cations are usually depleted. Using camera traps, we investigated the fauna, food habits, and the frequency of visitation by species at five natural licks in the Deramakot forest reserve, Sabah, Malaysia. All food-habit types of mammals (carnivore, herbivore-frugivore, insectivore, and omnivore), which included 29 (78.4%) of 37 species known in Deramakot, were recorded at the natural licks. The sambar deer, followed by the bearded pig, the lesser mouse-deer, the Malay badger, and the orangutan were the most commonly recorded species and represented 77.5% in terms of the frequency of appearance in all photographs taken throughout the year. These results indicated that, although the proportion of species recorded at the natural licks relative to the whole mammalian fauna of the forest was high, the frequency of visitation greatly varied among the species, and only a few species dominated. The frequency of visitation seemed to reflect both the density of species and the demand for the minerals, because some endangered, low-density species were more frequently recorded by cameras than expected-for example, the orangutan which was one of the top five species among natural-lick users. The natural licks with greater concentrations of minerals in seepage soil water were significantly preferred by the sambar deer and the bearded pig than those with lower concentrations of minerals. This result suggests that the chemical properties of soil water in natural licks determine the frequency of visitation of these herbivorous species that have strong demand for minerals.

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In pursuance of economic growth and development, logging has exhausted the natural timber resource in the tropical rainforest of Sabah, Malaysia. Realizing the forest depletion, the Sabah Forestry Department, with technical support from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, begun developing a management system with the intent of managing all commercial forest reserves in a way that mimics natural processes for sustainable production of low volume, high quality, and high priced timber products in 1989. As dictated by a forest management plan based on forest zoning, about 51,000 ha of the entire area is set aside for log production and 4,000 ha for conservation in Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia. This Forest Management Plan has served as the blueprint for operational work and biodiversity conservation in Deramakot to the present. A strict protection area is set aside for biodiversity conservation within the reserve. A reduced‐impact logging system is being employed for harvesting with minimal impacts on the physical environment. Deramakot Forest Reserve was certified as “well managed” by an international certification body, the Forest Stewardship Council, in 1997 and is the first natural forest reserve in Southeast Asia managed in accordance with sustainable forestry principles. In addition to providing a “green premium,” certification provides easier market access, evidence of legality, multi‐stakeholder participation, conservation of biodiversity and best forest management practices, particularly reduced‐impact logging techniques. Deramakot Forest Reserve is the flagship of the Sabah Forestry Department and serves as a symbol of what can be achieved with political support and institutional commitment.