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.