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| Silvery langur, one of a large troop at the hotel in Kuala Selangor. |
It was half six in the morning, and the mercury had already
surpassed 25 degrees. The haunting, beautiful sounds of the early morning
mosque prayers filled the air as a very noisy (and ever-so-slightly annoying)
bird sung his little heart out outside mine and Ebony’s chalet. The hotel
grounds were run by a large troop of silvery langurs, as was the nearby little
town of Kuala Selangor. I had suitcases under my eyes having had a rough
night’s sleep, with air conditioning that sounded like it was going to explode
and kill Ebony and I at any given moment. It’s at that moment I thought to
myself “yep, I am definitely in Malaysia”.
A Hot Two Weeks!
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| The Petronus Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which my friends and I visited one evening |
I went to the beautiful country of Malaysia for the first
time with the university recently, and it was incredible. We spent two
wonderful weeks, melting in 38 degree temperatures, getting sweaty, sleep
deprived and over 5000 miles from Plymouth, studying the environmental systems
here. From huge swathes of palm oil plantations to mangroves, and from the
hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur to the sleepy and peaceful “Little England”
resort of Fraser’s Hill, it was (without sounding too “gap yah”) a real
eye-opening, inspiring trip.
For our first five days, we stayed in Kuala Lumpur, the busy
capital city. Among the apparent disregard for traffic lights and the abundance
of little trinket selling stalls, there was some stunning architecture to be
seen here. Hindu and Chinese temples, mosques, the Petronus twin towers, the KL
tower and Independence Square were just some of my favourite pieces of
architecture. There was also another “yep, I am definitely in the tropics”
moment; whenever we popped to the 7 Eleven shop near Chinatown, there was an
adorable lizard about the size of the palm of my hand crawling up the wall
outside. We visited the legendary Forest Research Institute Malaysia, and saw some incredible sights. Crown shyness, a monitor lizard about a metre long and tree frogs were just some of the highlights.
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| Crown shyness |
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| Monitor lizard |
The next two nights were spent in Kuala Selangor, a quiet
little town with quite the air of a fishing village to it. This is the hotel
with monkeys (which I found myself addicted to and taking several photographs of!)
running around the place, and with that (ever-so-slightly infuriating) loud
bird outside our chalet. On our first night here, we climbed a hill to the top
of the town, overlooking the mangrove forests as the sun set and an enormous
eagle soared overhead. The town was also alive with long-tailed macaques as
well as the silvery langurs.
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| Sunset over Kuala Selangor |
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| Fraser's Hill |
Finally, our last week was spent in the tranquil Fraser’s
Hill (it was also much, more cooler here!). Here, we conducted our group
projects. As someone who wants to be a wildlife conservationist, I found my
project to be of great interest, studying two endangered spider species (as
these are prized for the illegal pet trade, I will not be posting photographic
evidence that could give away their exact locations and won’t be going into too
much detail!). Also being surrounded by pristine rainforest, hearing and seeing
the primates, birds and insects, and waking up to the gorgeous view of the
morning mist over the jungle, just made me feel incredibly happy (again, I
apologise for the “gap yah”-ness, but it really made me so eager to just go out
there and make a difference!).
Man, Money and Tree
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| Collared kingfisher, Kuala Selangor Nature Park |
During the fortnight, we visited a number of places that
really got me thinking about the impacts of a rapidly developing economy on a
country with such extraordinary habitats, with equally extraordinary
biodiversity.
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| Fidler Crab at Kuala Selangor Nature Park |
One place that particularly springs to mind is the evening
we went to see the fireflies at Kuala Selangor. This was extraordinary, breath
taking. Little groups of four of us were paddled around the lake in an adorable
little wooden boat, to see the incredible spectacle of countless numbers of
male fireflies lighting up the mangrove trees in the dark of the night (Ebony
also liked how starry the sky was compared to back in Plymouth!). Now,
fireflies are very fragile insects; any change in their environment is likely
have to a detrimental effect on them. Here, in Kuala Selangor, the spectacle
has been turned into a large tourist attraction, bringing money and jobs to the
area. Peoples’ livelihoods depend upon the health of the lake here, therefore. Also
in Kuala Selangor is the Nature Park, which has mangrove habitat. Though to
some a mangrove may look devoid of life, look closely. There is life
everywhere. Mudskippers. Crabs. Bird species. Molluscs. These habitats provide
food security to locals, as well as important spawning grounds for commercially
important species. However, it’s not just that. They provide economic benefits
as natural flood defenses, through retention of sediments and nutrients, and
they stabilise shorelines from erosion. Therefore, getting rid of such a
wonderful habitat would not just serve the biodiversity badly, but also have
profound economic effects.
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| Genting Highlands |
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| Siamang gibbon at the Genting Highlands |
Another place I find worthy of discussion is the Genting
Highlands. En route to Fraser’s Hill from Kuala Selangor, we took cable cars to
the top across dense rainforest. I was absolutely delighted to see a Siamang,
the world’s largest gibbon if my memory serves me well. Sadly, like all
gibbons, this lesser ape is highly endangered, and one of the biggest threats
to its existence is with habitat loss. Atop of this very same mountain was a
Casino and a large development area. It made me wonder. if there was to be more
development, what would become of some of the last Siamangs on Earth? What other endangered species could be effected here?
The palm oil plantations also left me seriously thinking. We
visited such a plantation near Kuala Selangor. The crop, if utilised properly,
can be quite efficient. The oil, from the fruit, can be used in groceries,
cosmetics, and biofuels. It also requires less land on which to grow than soy
and rapeseed, for example. It’s huge business in Malaysia and Indonesia.
However, its growth in popularity is responsible for MASSIVE deforestation.
With that comes with a shocking loss of biodiversity, replacing rainforest with
a monoculture. Rainforest trees are important for anchoring the soil, too; as
is pointed out by the RSPO, removing this anchorage means a decline in
nutrient-rich soil as the rains fall, meaning that farmers may have to use more
fertiliser (thus causing further environmental damage and expenses). We have to
feed over 7 billion people somehow, but we have to also bear in mind that
environmental destruction comes with it side-effects! It raises the question:
just how do we find this balance?
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| Palm oil plantation- a tiny fraction |
Lastly, I mentioned that the spiders I studied were in
demand for the illegal pet trade. Though they ARE protected by law, part of me wonders just how effective this legal status has been in actually protecting them in practice. Firstly, we spoke to one local who told us that all of the spiders living near his garage had been poached. Secondly, there are many areas of Fraser's Hill that are pretty remote and away from the seeing eyes of people, meaning that, potentially, undetected poaching could still be happening. How do you go about actually protecting two endangered spider species (or any targeted species for that matter) to practice? What tactic do you take? Do you have increased patrolling? Do you make them essentially "too hot to handle" by increasing public awareness, or do you decrease the amount of public attention they receive so as to not draw attention to them?
These are all very difficult questions to answer. But as the human population continues to grow, and with it the pressures on the environment, we must find solutions to find the correct balance that works for every being (not just humans!).
So thank you, Plymouth University, for an incredible trip. It was unforgettable. I hope to return to explore more of Malaysia next summer!
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| The KL Tower |
