This dataset contains measurements of herbivory occurrence and herbivory intensity within 21 oil palm dominated sites in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Within each site, herbivory measurements were recorded for Clidemia hirta and Melastoma spp. plants along two 100m transects, one at the forest-oil palm edge and the other in disturbed forest. In addition to herbivory measurement data, the dataset contains measurements of the number of reproductive organs, local density of C. hirta plants and local canopy cover. These data were collected in order to examine evidence for the roles of natural enemy release and biotic resistance in invasion of C. hirta within agricultural landscapes of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, where C. hirta co-occurs with native species of Melastomataceae.