[2] In 1984, it was made a separate reserve by the Sabah Forestry Department to protect the area's Rafflesia flowers.

Several sites with wild specimens of the parasitic flowering plant Rafflesia pricei are reachable via hiking trails from the centre.

The reserve is also home to montane forest tree species such as Shorea platyclados, Agathis kinabaluensis, Lithocarpus lucidus, Palaquium gutta, Shorea smithiana, Prainea limpato and Quercus kinabaluensis.

Kerangas forest tree species in the reserve include Schima wallichii and Elaeocarpus stipularis.

[4] Rafflesia Forest Reserve is home to a number of insect species endemic to Borneo, including Lyclene mesilaulinea, Problepsis borneamagna, Spilosoma ericsoni and Utetheisa abraxoides.