Category Archives: BioD Centre
Mossy Forest Tours and Reforestation for SKJC Kea Farm and SK Brinchang
31st October 2013- 2 schools joined the mossy forest tours today, SKJC Kea Farm and SK Brinchang.As with the other groups the kids were delighted to be out in the sun and cool mountain air.
Mossy Forest Education Tour and Reforestation on the 4th October 2013
4th October 2013-It came as a bit of a surprise to us when SJKT Boh 2 ( Boh 2 Tamil Primary School) was amongst the 1st few schools to voice interest in joining our Mossy Forest Education Tours ( sponsored by funds from The Embassy of Finland) . This is a school with predominantly Orang Asli children (indigenous people) from the village of Panggen. One would have thought that Orang Asli kids with the jungles of Cameron Highlands as their playground would have already seen the mossy forests. We were wrong. Perhaps we should not have been surprised given what we were told some months back when we were visiting the village of Post Trisu. An Orang Asli father actually said,”Baik juga ada program di Sungai Wi kerana anak-anak saya belum pernah tenguk sungai bersih” ” It is good that you are conducting programmes at Sungai Wi as my children have not seen clean rivers before.” That was a real shocker! That the environment around many of the Orang Asli villages are so degraded that not even one clean river can be found in their vicinity. This innocuous statement from an Orang Asli father sums it all.
Supermoon at the biodiversity centre in Gunung Brinchang.
Sometimes nature sends us strange but beautiful messages. On the 22nd of June 2013 we went up to the biodiversity centre to supervise the fixing of the solar street lights. At first we hesitated to go as the traffic was heavy as it usually is on a weekend. But then we did not want to procrastinate any further so off we went. The electrician and his assistant were quite efficient and the 3 solar street lights were fixed within a few hours, ready just as the sun was setting. The lights are automatically triggered and we were delighted when they lit up as darkness fell.
We adjourned to the Nissen Hut to have a home cooked dinner of rice, lettuce, sausages and black pepper chicken. When we came out we were treated to a beautiful sight. The full moon was up and it was unusually bright and large with a very strange quality to it. It looked hauntingly lovely and seemed to be in harmony with the 3 street lamps which were lit up for the first time. If I were to indulge a little, perhaps as if to tell us “ Hey, folks, what you are doing for the environment is right, do continue” We did not know it then but that was the supermoon which is actually the largest full moon of the year and the closest that the moon will be to Earth for the whole of 2013. What a delightful coincidence!
Cloud Harvesting
Ever since the cloud or fog harvesting idea was first mooted by the president, we were quite skeptical about its efficacy. Today we were proven wrong. It was a fairly sunny day and it had not rained for the past 24 hours. Yet the polyethylene mesh hoisted between 2 metal poles to trap the mist was quite damp.
Rama had seen the cloud harvesting technique first hand in Nepal when he was over there doing his extreme weather training and was quite confident it would work. Cloud harvesting is basically another human attempt at mimicking nature. The upper highland forest has been stripping moisture from the clouds for eons and doing so well in it. We are only just making baby steps.
Let There Be Light
12th June 2013- After weeks of gloom for nature lovers in Cameron Highlands with more and more forests coming down, it was rejuvenating to watch the solar lamps lighting up for the 1st time at our biodiversity site in Gunung Brinchang.
It is interesting to recall how the funds for the installation of the solar energy system in our centre came about. I was enjoying my afternoon nap sometime early last year when Mr Woon ( Melody’s Dad ) called to suggest that Reach should celebrate Earth Hour 2012. Being in the drowsy state that I was, I gave all the reasons why we should not. But Mr Woon was not to be deterred. So with the enthusiasm and help from Melody, her parents and friends, Carrol, and Reach committee members, Earth Hour 2012 in Tanah Rata came to fruition. Coincidentally some friends of friends had come to visit and Uncle Doc ( Dr Liau) brought them along for the Earth Hour celebrations. One of them happened to be the CEO of APM who was impressed with what he saw. When Dr Liau mentioned that we needed funds for the installation of the solar energy system at the biodiversity centre he asked us to write in and the rest is history. So what started out as a little idea had gathered a momentum of its own.
It had taken quite a while as the 1st few months were spent looking for an off grid solar system that was affordable,suitable for our small setting, efficient and easy to be installed and maintained. After much input from Rama, Dr Liau and Roy we finally sourced the system from Solar Voltaic, a company based in Kuala Lumpur whose boss, Paul gave us some good advice and suggestions. Since the solar panels provide electrical energy in the form of DC (direct current) and not AC (alternating current), our electrical appliances should run on DC too. That way we would not need a transformer or converter. Based on the amount of solar irradiance at our site the energy generated would not be enough to power the electrical stove and fridge so those would have to be run on LPG( gas).To save more costs he advised us to install it ourselves and that was what we did. We hired a local wireman and Siva (our committee member) liaised with Paul on the technical details when the circuitry was being set-up. Surprising the solar parts were not bulky except for the street lamps so transportation was not as problematic as we thought, thanks to Narwant (with his 3 ton lorry) and Cikgu Rama.
Today as we watched the solar lamps light up it was really a wonderful and rewarding sight.
Biodiversity Centre- Progress report 28th August 2012
28.08.2012
It was cold and wet but the site visit today was rewarding. The drains cum steps to the biodiversity centre was ready making the climb to the biodiversity and the descend much easier. Gone are the days when we had to choose between using the presidential gait ( short rhythmic steps, body leaning forwards), treasurer’s gait ( sliding, arms flailing, bottom shuffling), secretarial’s gait ( with walking stick)and workman’s gait ( running down in flip-flops without a care in the world).
The rainwater catchment system was up and running with water flow to the toilets much improved as the water pressure had increased.
The counter-top for the kitchenette too was done but looked a wee bit too luxurious for ‘ roughing it out ‘ in the wilds.
We were also delighted to see that the cloud panels ( trial run)set up by the president was holding in spite of the strong winds and collecting water from the clouds. What remains to be done is the piping and filtration system from these panels to the Nissen Huts. Wouldn’t it be thrilling to be actually drinking ‘ cloud water’(flavoured with leaves and insects!)
