National Parks & Reserves in Sarawak

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There are 18 National Parks in Sarawak, of which I had only visited 5 of them. Not yet even to include another 5 Nature Reserves and 4 Wildlife Sactuaries. I think I may not have the chance to at least pay a brief visit to all of the existing Totally Protected Areas.

Compare to other states of the Federation, Sarawak surely championed other states in regard to total land area and numbers of TPAs.

However, if we look at total area of Sarawak, which is 124,450 km² ( 12,445,000 ha ), total TPAs of 492,973.47 ha is merely a 3.96% !

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	Area (ha)	%
Total National Parks	299,793.00	2.4089%
Total Wildlife Sactuaries	945.07	0.0076%
Total Reserves	192,235.40	1.5447%
Total TPAs	492,973.47	3.9612%
Total State Area	12,445,000.00

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NATIONAL PARKS

No	Name	Area (ha)	Division	Date of Gazettement
1	Bako NP	2,727 ha	Kuching	4-May-57
2	Gunong Mulu NP	52,865 ha	Miri	3-Oct-74
3	Niah NP	3,138 ha	Miri	2-Jan-75
4	Lambir NP	6,949 ha	Miri	26-Jun-75
5	Similajau NP	7,064 ha	Bintulu	20-Apr-78
	Similajau 1st Extension	1,932 ha		2-Jun-00
6	Gunung.Gading NP	4,196 ha	Kuching	3-May-88
7	Kubah NP	2,230 ha	Kuching	11-May-89
8	Batang Ai NP	24,040 ha	Sri Aman	11-May-89
9	Loagan Bunut NP	10,736 ha	Miri	29-Aug-91
10	Tanjung Datu NP	1,379 ha	Kuching	19-May-94
11	Talang Satang NP	0 ha(19,414 – water bodies)	Kuching	4-Nov-99
12	Bukit Tiban NP	8,000 ha	Bintulu	31-May-00
13	Maludam NP	43,147 ha	Sri Aman	31-May-00
14	Rajang Mangrove NP	9,373 ha	Sibu	3-Aug-00
15	Gunung Buda NP	6,235 ha	Limbang	18-Jan-01
16	Kuching Wetland NP	6,610 ha	Kuching	10-Oct-02
17	Pulong Tau NP	59,817ha	Limbang, Miri	24-Mar-05
18	Usun Apau NP	49,355ha	Miri	29-Sep-05
	TOTAL	299,793 ha

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NATURE RESERVES

No.	Name	Area (ha)	Division	Date of publication
1	Wind Cave Nature Reserve	6.16 ha	Kuching	4-Nov-99
2	Sama Jaya Nature Reserved	37.916 ha	Kuching	23-Mar-00
3	Semenggoh Nature Reserve	653 ha	Kuching	20-Apr-00
4	Bukit Hitam Nature Reserve	147 ha	Limbang	22-Jun-00
5	Bukit Sembiling Nature Reserve	101 ha	Limbang	22-Jun-00
	TOTAL	945.07 ha

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WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES

No.	Name	Area (ha)	Division	Date of Publication	Effective Date
1	Samunsam Wildlife Sanc.	6,092 ha	Kuching	22-Mar-79	1-Jul-78
	Samunsam 1st Extension	16,706 ha		3-Aug-00	29-May-00
2	Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary	168,758 ha	Sarikei, Sibu, Kapit	3-Mar-83	2-Feb-83
3	Pulau Tukong Ara Tukong Sanctuary	1.4 ha	Kuching	29-Aug-85	28-Feb-85
4	Sibuti Bird Sanctuary	678 ha	Miri	3-Aug-00	29-May-00
	TOTAL	192,235.40

Edible Zingiberaceae

Ginger - 薑 – Halia (Malay) – Zingiber officinale

Origin : probably India

Cultivation : S.Asia, SE.Asia, tropical Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia

Part Used : rhizome

Usage : spice, medicine, liquor & drinks, candy,

Chemical : zingerone, shogaols, gingerols, (-)-zingiberene, β-sesquiphellandrene, bisabolene, farnesene, β-phelladrene, cineol, citral

Turmeric - 黃薑 – Kunyit (Malay) – Curcuma longa

Origin : SE.Asia

Part Used : rhizome

Usage : spice, food colouring (E100), medicine, dye

Chemical : volatile oils ( odor and flavor ) : curcumin, turmerone, zingiberene

Galangal - 藍薑 – Lengkuas (Malay) – Alpinia galanga

Origin : south Asia

Cultivated : SE.Asia

Part Used : rhizome

Usage : spice, medicine, liquor & drinks

Chemical : galangin, b-sitosterol, emodi, quercetin, methyl cinnamate, cindol, camphor, a-pinene, eugenol, sesquiterpenes

Kantan (Malay) - Etlingera elatior

Origin : SE.Asia

Part Used : flower bud

Usage : spice, garnish

Chemical : quercitrin, isoquecitrin, catechin, chlorogenic acid

Cardamom - Pelaga (Malay) -- Elettaria cardamomum

Origin : SEAsia, southern India

Part Used : seed pods

Usage : spice, drinks

Chemical : a-terpineol, myrcene, limonene, menthone, b-phellandrene, sabinene

black cardamom - 沙仁 - Amomum subulatum

Origin : eastern Himalaya

Part Used : seed pods

Usage : spice, medicine

Black cardomon - 草果- Amomum costatum

Origin : southern China, northern India

Part Used : seed pods

Usage : spice, medicine

Chemical : cineol, limonene, terpinene, terpineol, terpinyl acetate, sabinene

Myōga - 茗荷 – Zingiber mioga

Origin : Japan

Part Used : flower bud, shoots

Usage : garnish

Chemical : pinene, phellandrene, elemene

Grain of Paradise -天堂椒- Aframomum melegueta

Origin : West Africa

Part Used : seeds

Usage : spice, medicine, liquor

Chemical : (6)-paradol

Dragonfruits 火龙果

Dragon fruits are from the family Cactaceae, of subfamily Cactoideae, of tribe Hylocereeae. They are mostly epiphytes or hemi-epiphytes, which means they grow upon another plants non-parasitically.

They are adapted to extremely arid or semi-arid hot environments, as well as tropical environments. Their stems have adapted to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the eaves have become the spines.

Most members of Cactaceae family are nocturnal blooming

Hylocerous undatus – White Dragon fruit

Its origin is uncertain, but somewhere in South America.

The flowers are 25 – 30cm long, 15 – 17 cm wide, nocturnal, scented, greenish yellow or whitish in colour.

The fruits are oblong to ovoid, 6 – 12 cm long, 4 – 9 cm thick, red, with white pulp.

Hylocereus costaricensis – Purple Dragon fruit

Native to Central America and northwestern South America. Its named after Costa Rica where it was first discovered.

The flowers are 22 – 30 cm long, strongly perfumed,

Fruits are broadly ovate to globose, brightly magenta, purple pulpa.

The fruits contain indicaxanthin, an type of betalain, a plant pigmant also present in beets, which is a powerful antioxidant.

Hylocereus setaceus – Red Dragon fruit

Originated from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Paraguay.

Fruit red with red pulpa.

Hylocereus megalanthus – Yellow Dragon fruit

Native to northern South America. The name megalanthus, in Greek, means large flowered.

The flowers are nocturnal, 32 – 38 cm long, white in colour.

The fruits are ovoid, yellow with white pulpa.

The Rubber Economist : Oldest rubber tree in Malaysia

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Standing tall outside the Department of Lands And Mines in Kuala Kangsar is one of the oldest rubber trees in the country, grown from an original seedling brought into the country (New Straits Times (Malaysia) 16 February 2010).

Before palm oil, Malaysia's "golden crop", the country was blessed with rich "milk" that never ceased to flow - latex that oozed from rubber trees.

But it has been decades since rubber was the No 1 or even a major contributor to the economy though it was rubber and tin that laid the foundation for the country's economy.

Although rubber prices have improved and many smallholders are returning to their plots to collect latex, the days of rubber as a pillar of the country's economy are unlikely to return.

Nevertheless, rubber will always have a special place in our history. Museum Negara, for instance, has a special mention of it. The story of rubber and how it came to the then Malay Federated States is a fascinating one, starting with a "crazy Englishman" Henry Nicholas Ridley. The botanist earned his "crazy" reputation because he was always stuffing rubber seeds into the pockets of everyone he meets, hoping they will plant the seeds.

The English had smuggled rubber seeds out of Brazil (then under Portugal) for planting in their colonies so that they would have their own supply of rubber.

Today, one of nine seedlings brought to this country by Ridley is still standing tall in Kuala Kangsar, the royal town of Perak. The tree is located just outside the office of the Department of Lands And Mines (Federal). It was planted there in 1877 and is said to be one of the two oldest rubber trees in the country.

This tree signalled the start of the rubber plantation era in the late 19th-20th Century, and turned the country into the world's largest producer of rubber at one time.

The story began in the 1870s with British administrators in India. Henry Wickham collected 70,000 rubber seeds from the Amazonian rainforest in Brazil and sent them to London's Kew Gardens to be germinated.

The seedlings were sent out to the British colonies and in 1876, nine were planted in Kuala Kangsar. The trees that came from the original Wickham stock were used to start the first plantation. For this, credit must go to Ridley, then director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

The "rubber revolution" of the early 20th Century saw virtually all other cash crops being brushed aside to make way for rubber plantations. In the 1930s, our rubber industry dwarfed that of Brazil's. The demand then for natural rubber worldwide, notably for making tyres for the newly-invented motorcar, gave the industry room to expand and rake in huge profits.

If you have difficulties locating the oldest rubber tree in the country, make your way to the Kuala Kangsar Tourist Information Centre right in the heart of town. Or call 05-777 7717.

If you're in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur, visit the Kiara Park where there are many rubber trees. You can even pick up rubber seeds to plant in your garden... or be a Ridley and give them to your friends as a reminder of what an important role rubber played in the history of this country.

http://www.therubbereconomist.com/News/Entries/2010/2/16_Oldest_rubber_tree_in_Malaysia.html

Sarikei : Rare Local Fruits

Salak, Snake fruit

Salacca zalacca

Arecaceae

Asam Paya

Eleiodoxa conferta

Arecaceae

Tematuk, Apong, Nipah, Atap zi

Nypa fruticans

Arecaceae

Tebulus ( Melanau ), Engkalak ( Iban )

Litsea garciae

Lauraceae

no idea...

Melinjau

Gnetum gnemon

Gnetaceae

Embawang

Mangifera pajang

Anacardiaceae

Limau Madu, 蜜柑

Citrus suhuensis

Rutaceae

terung iban
Solanum macrocarpon
Solanaceae

Sagittaria sagittifolia - Arrowhead 芽菇

Sagittaria sagittifolia ( also called arrowhead due to the shape of its leaves, ) is a flowering plant in the family Alismataceae, the water-plantain family. The Sagittaria genus consists of about 20 species worldwide. It is native to wetlands throughout the temperate regions of Europe and Asia.

The name derived from Latin word sagitta, means an arrow.

It is a herbaceous perennial plant, growing in water from 10 – 50 cm deep. It forms 3 types of leaves : submerged ( ribbon-like ), floating leaves ( transitional in shape ), and above water ( arrow-head-shaped ). The arrowhead-shaped leaves’ blade 15 – 25 cm long and 10 – 22 cm broad, on a long triangular petiole holding the leaf up to 45 cm above water level. The flowers are monoecious, 2 – 2.5 cm broad, with 3 small sepals and 3 white petals, and numerous purple stamens. Fruits are achenes.

It requires a moist or wet loamy soil in a sunny position. Due to its C3 photosynthesis pathway, it cannot grow in the shade. It prefers shallow, still or slowly flowing water up to 30 – 60 cm deep. The plants are fairly cold tolerant, surviving temperatures down to at least -10°c, though the top growth is damaged once temperatures fall below zero. Average yield maybe 12 – 15 t/ha. Reproduction by floating seeds or vegetatively.

Sagittaria is a general nuisance in the crops’ irrigation systems, drains and waterways of more than 50 countries.

The tuber is edible. It is know as cígū (慈菇, literally mean "benevolent mushroom") or yagū ( 芽菇 ).

http://ongrizinal-recipe.blogspot.com/2010/01/arrowhead_07.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittaria_sagittifolia

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Sagittaria+sagittifolia

http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/cropView?id=9441

http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?si=858&fr=1&sts=

The Gardener #1

SERVANT . Have mercy upon your servant, my queen !

QUEEN . The assembly is over and my servants are all gone. Why do you come at his late hour?

SERVANT . When you have finished with others, that is my time.

I come to ask what remains for your last servant to do.

QUEEN . What can you expect when it is too late ?

SERVANT . Make me the gardener of you flower garden.

QUEEN . What folly is this ?

SERVANT . I will give up my other work.

I throw my swords and lances down in the dust. Do not send me to distant courts; do not bid me undertake new conquests. But make me the gardener of you flower garden.

QUEEN . What will you duties be ?

SERVANT . The service of you idle days.

I will keep fresh the grassy path where you walk in the morning, where your feet will be greeted with praise at every step by the flowers eager for death.

I will swing you in a swing among the branches of the saptaparna, where the early evening moon will struggle to kiss your skirt through the leaves.

I will replenish with scented oil the lamp that burns by your bedside, and decorate your footstool with sandal and saffron paste in wondrous designs.

QUEEN . What will you have for your reward ?

SERVANT . To be allowed to hold your little fists like tender lotus-buds and slip flower chains over your wrists; to tinge the soles of your feet with the red juice of ashoka petals and kiss away the speck of dust that may chance to linger there.

QUEEN . Your prayers are granted, my servant, you will be the gardener of my flower garden.

A poem translated from the original Bengali by the author in 1915
Rabindranath Tagore
1861-1941