Danum Valley Conservation Area, Protected rainforest area in Sabah, Malaysia

Danum Valley Conservation Area is a 438 km² tract of lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia, managed by Yayasan Sabah. The valley is bowl-shaped and rises to 1,093 m; in places the forest canopy exceeds 70 m. The Danum Valley Field Centre serves as a research station and a nursery propagating Dipterocarpus trees by the hundred thousands.

Danum Valley lies within a forest concession managed by Yayasan Sabah, the Sabah state foundation. The 438 km² area was set aside for conservation, research and education rather than logging, and no human settlement existed within it beforehand. Proposals have been made to nominate it as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The sources record no human settlements inside the area before it became a conservation area, so there is no local origin story or tradition attached to the forest itself. What visitors can observe today is the research use: the Danum Valley Field Centre, run by Yayasan Sabah, hosts scientists and students and propagates Dipterocarpus trees in its nursery.

A visit requires permits and careful planning since the location is remote and only accessible by flights followed by ground travel. It is best to organize the trip with a local agency that handles all necessary arrangements.

The world's tallest known tropical tree, a yellow meranti named Menara, was measured here in 2019 at 97.58 m. The valley also holds at least 61 land snail species in a single 1 km² plot, and the spectacled flowerpecker has been recorded nowhere else.