NST : Malaysian bonsai enthusiasts told to stop collecting endangered Mentigi trees

By ROSLI ZAKARIA

November 7, 2017 @ 2:15pm

KUALA TERENGGANU: Bonsai tree collectors have been told to stop collecting the highly-prized Mentigi tree (Pemphis acidula) which is now listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),

The Mentigi tree is a slow-growing species but a hardy plant which was once abundant along the rocky banks and broken corals in Pulau Redang, Pulau Perhentian and Pulau Kapas. It is not an easy plant to extricate as the roots are usually firmly embedded in rocks or boulders.

However, since the plants became popular as a bonsai specimen, it has become the target of collectors although most of the areas where it grows are gazetted forest reserves.

Removing the plant is punishable under Section 15 of the Forestry Act 1984 for taking forest produce from a permanent reserved forest.

Mentigi tree is now listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Photo by Ron Yeo of Tidechaser.blogspot.my

“The Mentigi is a unique plant. It is hardy and slow-growing. Its natural habitat along rocky shores on the islands suggests that it is providing protection just like mangrove does to coastal areas,” said State Forestry director Datuk Ahmad Fadzil Abdul Majid.

He said collectors take great risks by removing the plants because a Mentigi tree would have its trunk roots firmly embedded in the rocks or boulders.

“Collectors need to chisel away the rocks and the process may take days. They have to endure that heat and wind. More than one person may be involved in collecting the plant. Even if they succeed, there is no guarantee that the tree will survive re-potting.

“So it is best to leave the trees where they are. It is not worth risking the dangers and the possibility of being caught removing a protected plant species from a forest reserve,” he added.

Meanwhile, a collector who declined to be named said a top grade medium-sized Mentigi bonsai could fetch as much as RM30,000 per plant.

“What is available among collectors now are plants that have been trained over many years. New plants cannot be immediately made into a show plant,” added the collector.