This project covered a three-year (2004 – 2007) ethnobiological assessment of key resources and anthropogenic landscapes important for indigenous Dusun communities living inside and adjacent to the Crocker Range Park (CRP) in Sabah, Malaysia. A participatory approach to examine the local knowledge of key plant and animal resources, agricultural patterns, subsistence hunting and freshwater fishing strategies was adopted.

In 2006, Sabah Parks, the State authority governing Parks, commenced the implementation of the CRP Management Plan, introducing a Zoning Plan that designates Community Use Zones (CUZ) as areas within the CRP specifically set aside for continued local community use. These CUZs are intended to be collaboratively managed by both Sabah Parks and the local communities living in these areas – a landmark development for protected area management in Sabah.

Results of this project have contributed to the conceptualisation and implementation of the Ulu Papar Community Use Zone within the CRP in balancing the  strict biodiversity conservation objectives of the park  with  community livelihood needs.