It’s World 🌍🗺️ Habitat Day today, every year the 1️⃣st Monday of October
Yeah‼️SiennyLovesDrawing 👩🏻 is gonna sharing 👩🏻💻📝 about her recent volunteer participation with Malaysian Nature Society (MNS), a non-governmental non-profit organization (NGO) to learn about ecotourism 💚 @ Belum Temenggor🌳🌳, in particular hornbill conservation & habitat for its local communities ~ indigenous people aka orang asli 👶🏽👧🏽🧒🏽👦🏽🧑🏽🙋🏽♀️🙋🏽♂️👵🏽🧓🏽👴🏽in Malaysia 🇲🇾’s national language
Since 2004, MNS aims to promoting hornbills conservation in Belum Temenggor Forest Complex 🌳🌳 (BTFC)(1️⃣of the oldest virgin rainforest on Earth, 130 million years old) & to enhancing public awareness of the importance of hornbills to the rainforests’🌳🌳 ecosystem 👍🏻🙌🏻
Malaysia 🇲🇾 is home 🏡 to 🔟 Malaysian hornbills & dubbed the ‘Hornbill Capital of the World🌍’ with its Perak state being recognized as the Land of Hornbills
- Oriental Pied Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_pied_hornbill
- Black Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hornbill
- Bushy-crested Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushy-crested_hornbill
- White-crowned Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-crowned_hornbill
- Wreathed Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreathed_hornbill
- Wrinkled Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrinkled_hornbill
- Plain-pouched Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain-pouched_hornbill
- Great Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_hornbill
- Rhinoceros Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_hornbill
- Helmeted Hornbill, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmeted_hornbill
Not only Borneo‼️ Yes ✅, in fact Peninsular Malaysia 🇲🇾 with all 🔟 hornbill species comparatively 😃
This volunteer participation has recalled her memory of 1️⃣st hornbill feeding @ Pangkor Island early this year
BTFC 🌳🌳 aka Northern Peninsular Malaysia🇲🇾’s Natural Jewels 💎, the only remaining contiguous block to tropical rainforests 🌳🌳 which linking to Southern Thailand 🇹🇭 i.e. Bang Lang National Park & Hala Bala Wildlife Sanctuary, also part of the Titiwangsa Range 💚
Currently, only BTFC 🌳🌳 & the Greater Ulu Muda Forest Complex 🌳🌳 are on par for the hornbill diversity in Malaysia 🇲🇾, then together with the Southern Thailand 🇹🇭, all made up for the Hornbill Triangle (HoT)🔺
Hornbills get its name from its horn-like projection i.e. a casque on their beaks (Hmm…Not all hornbill species have them though) 😊
Hornbills are well known as the farmers 👨🏻🌾👩🏻🌾 of the rainforests 🌳🌳
Ohh…Why❓⁉️
Hornbills fly long distances looking for fruits🍎🍏 & swallow fruits🍎🍏in whole. Hmm…Some fruits 🍎🍏 are with big seeds. As they spit out countless seeds, some seeds find a place to grow & become new 🆕 trees 🌳🌳
However, really dissappointed & sad 😧😔 that some of the hornbill species are experiencing critically endangered & vulnerable. In this connection, if lesser ⬇️ hornbills, many rainforest trees 🌳🌳 that depend on them to spread their seeds may disappear from the rainforest 🌳🌳eventually
Why❓⁉️ Why❓⁉️Why❓⁉️
Some of the main reasons are destruction/ loss of the hornbills’ habitats & degradation due to deforestation (Photo 📸 below captured from BRAINS Summit 2018), fragmentation of rainforests 🌳🌳, illegal logging (Photo 📸 below captured by SiennyLovesDrawing 👩🏻 during her volunteer trip), poaching & hunting, conversion to agriculture e.g. oil palm plantations, over-development etc. 😧😔
As the rainforests 🌳🌳disappear, so does indigenous peoples’👶🏽👧🏽🧒🏽👦🏽🧑🏽🙋🏽♀️🙋🏽♂️👵🏽🧓🏽👴🏽culture too 😧😔 as their living style very much depended on the rainforests 🌳🌳 for medicine, shelter, food, other necessities etc. They are not known to take more than what they need as this would be seen as a transgression of the rainforest 🌳🌳 & would bring curses to their people. So, the destruction of their prime resource is resulting in the destruction of their traditional ways of life 😧😔
You may not aware that BTFC 🌳🌳consists of 2️⃣ big parts,
- Temengor Forest Reserve ~ the southern part of BTFC is largely a production forest 🌳🌳
- Royal Belum State Park ~ the northern part, a protected area🌳🌳
MNS has been working hard for years to get the whole BTFC a protected area 🌳🌳 with its ecotourism 💚 efforts 👍🏻🙌🏻💪🏻 Hope they will achieve success very soon
“MY forest 🌳 , MY wildlife, MY responsibility”
Curious 🤔 about what SiennyLovesDrawing 👩🏻 has participated & learnt during her 4️⃣D3️⃣N volunteering with MNS❓⁉️
MNS Hornbill Festival🎉🎊
The 1️⃣st festival 🎉🎊 & annually every 16 Septto bring awareness & encourage orang asli👶🏽👧🏽🧒🏽👦🏽🧑🏽🙋🏽♀️🙋🏽♂️👵🏽🧓🏽👴🏽communities to participate for hornbill conservation under the Malaysian 🇲🇾 implementation of the project, My Forest ~ “Strengthening Non-State Actor Involvement in Forest Governance in Indonesia 🇮🇩 , Malaysia 🇲🇾 , the Philippines 🇵🇭 & Papua New Guinea 🇵🇬 ” which funded by the European Union 🇪🇺
She has captured an interview clip 📹🎥 with Mr Balu, the Head of Conservation with MNS ~ “Hornbill Conservation Effort by MNS“
MY forest is a high⬆️-impact partnership, as it looks at Malaysia🇲🇾’s natural 💚 heritage ~ rainforests 🌳🌳 & how non-state actors ~ non-governmental organisations, civil societies, local communities, the private sector & the public – can inform & change policies towards better rainforest governance. Under this 5️⃣-year project (2017-2021), MNS is tasked with building the capacity of non-state actors from all around Malaysia 🇲🇾 to engage more effectively with the government in protecting Malaysia🇲🇾’s rainforests 🌳🌳
She had great interactions with the orang asli kids 👶🏽👧🏽🧒🏽👦🏽🧑🏽 & adults🙋🏽♀️🙋🏽♂️👵🏽🧓🏽👴🏽about nature awareness, art🎨🖍activities, sumpit, balloons🎈🎈, survey questionnaires❓❓etc. by using simple Malaysia 🇲🇾 ‘s national language ~ Bahasa Melayu 👌🏻✌🏻👍🏻
She got inspired by the orang asli hornbill guardians’ passion 💗 towards hornbills conservation 👍🏻👏🏻🙌🏻 Truly motivated with the positivity 🙏🏻👆🏻Really wish local communities here with skills gained from ecotourism efforts by MNS to improving their overall living lifestyle & being happy self sufficient 👍🏻💪🏻🙌🏻
A short clip 📹🎥 about this 1️⃣st hornbill festival 🎉🎊, do enjoy ya 😃
Orang Asli Villages Visit
Chuweh Village
Arrival & impressed with its beautiful scenery from this village
SiennyLovesDrawing 👩🏻 & team went to visit the Hornbill House 🏡 aka Rumah Enggang 🏡 in Malaysia 🇲🇾 ’s national language. Each MNS volunteers period only for 4️⃣️pax due to the limited space
She 👩🏻 didn’t stay here due to her volunteer team with 9️⃣️pax. Communicated to 1️⃣️ of the volunteer named Ms Christine🙋♀️who stayed here & she complimented that she really enjoyed this 5️⃣️ star ⭐👍👆volunteering accommodation 🏡 in this village
A briefing by Mr Yeap & the orang asli hornbill guardians to all volunteers about the hornbills counting
Then, she👩🏻has learnt & experienced the use of blowgun aka sumpit 😀 Obviously she failed miserably, perhaps a good reason to volunteer again next Aug/ Sept, Ha…Ha…
Tasted some orang asli traditional dishes as tea time e.g. Perah nuts 🥜(Oppsss…Superb addictive delicious 😋🤤‼️ She even has placed next order 📌 of 2️⃣️kgs with Mr Woo🙋🏻♂️🤣😆), cassava & wild fern (paku pakis) from forest 🌳🌳etc.
Had a short chat 🗣👤with Mr Yeap🙋🏻♂️, the Senior Conservation Officer with MNS on hornbill studies for almost 1️⃣8️⃣ years & pursuing his PhD. Do enjoy an interview clip 📹🎥 with him about his hornbill conservation experiences
Tebang Village
SiennyLovesDrawing 👩🏻 has went here for the evening 🏙 hornbill counting 🔢
Guess what❓⁉️
She really viewed the flying Oriental Pied hornbills twice with binocular‼️So so happy😃😁
Also viewed the wild elephants 🐘🐘 crossed the river 💦💧Yeah‼️ So so lucky 🍀 for herself & volunteers team as the visitors to the rainforest
However, Mr Yeap 🙋🏻♂️ has alerted that if elephants 🐘🐘 are so near to human, it’s bad news to the orang asli as the elephants 🐘🐘 gonna destroy their houses 🏡🏡 & crops planted🌱🌿Sigh…
She has met the youngest volunteer named Shane 👦🏻, 6️⃣ years old & son to Ms Christine (Blue 💙 t-shirt in the photos 📸📸 below). Highly recommended 👍🏻👆🏻as 1️⃣ of the great education opportunities & childhood memories for kids
It was really fun to interact with the orang asli kids, they are just so simple & adorable, missed them a lot 👶🏽👧🏽🧒🏽👦🏽🧑🏽
An interview 📹🎥 clip with Mr Woo Chee Yong, the conservation research assistant with MNS on “Why to participate for Hornbill Volunteer Programme❓⁉️”
Despite learning about hornbill conservation & orang asli 👶🏽👧🏽🧒🏽👦🏽🧑🏽🙋🏽♀️🙋🏽♂️👵🏽🧓🏽👴🏽living, SiennyLovesDrawing 👩🏻 would like to share some exciting moments during her short volunteering,
- Jungle 🌳🌳 trekking🚶♂️🚶♀️& sunset 🌅 cruise 🚤
- Rafflesia spots (However, it wasn’t the Rafflesia blossom season, so she just got to view some flower buds & dried dead Rafflesia)
- Elephant 🐘 saltlicks aka Sira Gajah
- Observed elephants foot prints & poo poo, sun bear paw prints on tree trunk etc.
You may contact a friendly & helpful nature tour guide with boat services, Mr Muhammad Ali 🙋🏽♂️ either his personal FB 🌐 https://www.facebook.com/alie.gowloq or 📞☎️📱contact him +6013-4681040, he can customise your tour around BTFC 🌳🌳 accordingly
Yes ✅ She did it 💪🏻 How about you❓⁉️
Let’s sign up for MNS hornbill volunteer 🌐 https://myforestwatch.weebly.com/my-hornbills.html
It subjects for a fee as MNS is a NGO & unable to fund the volunteers’ transportation 🚌🚤, accommodation 🏡 & meals 🍽🍴
She also attended the BRAINS Summit 2018 ~ ‘Forest Biodiversity & Community: A Balanced Approach for Sustainable Development’, the 2️⃣nd iteration bi-annually with 80 delegates i.e. researchers, conservationists, orang asli communities & official representatives from government bodies to discuss pertinent issues affecting the survival & sustainable use of the BTFC🌳🌳
It was officially opened by the Duli Yang Amat Mulia Raja DiHilir of Perak🤴🏽, Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain ibni Almarhum Sultan Idris A’fifullah Shah
“Seeing all these stakeholders 👫👭👬gathered is a good sign 👍🏻 that we as Malaysians 🇲🇾👭👬👫 are ready to commit to conservation. The themes that will be discussed during this summit have significant ramifications for the future of our rain forests 🌳🌳 We are talking about boosting ecotourism 💚 to assist the local communities 👶🏽👧🏽🧒🏽👦🏽🧑🏽🙋🏽♀️🙋🏽♂️👵🏽🧓🏽👴🏽or a form of funding💰to maintain the rain forests 🌳🌳
I am confident that given enough time & support from all the relevant parties, we will be able to reduce ⬇️ our dependence on logging & ensure the continued survival of our rain forests🌳🌳” said Tuan Haji Ahmad Khalif bin Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal👨🏽💼, the Executive Director of the EMKAY Group & a Trustee of the Pulau Banding Foundation
Sharing a clip 📹🎥 captured by R.AGE & highlighted in the summit ~ Voices of orang asli communities
Conservation NGOs’ stalls, tree planting ceremony, statistics 📈📊📉 & findings relating to rainforests 🌳🌳 were presented too. More details via 🌐 http://www.brains2018.com/ & 🌐 http://www.brainsfeed.org/
In summary, she had a happy volunteering✌🏻😉
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