Work at the Biodiversity centre is progressing well except for the occasional glitches. Now that the services of the tractor is unavailable, transport of materials from the Gunung Brinchang road to the site requires good timing and help from local folks. Once again a farmer friend came to our rescue with his ‘workhorse’ , a trusty landrover. Looking at him negotiating the uneven road, slippery and steep surface with a load of door frames and wire meshes with relative ease…. well all I could think of was ... this is real four-wheel driving! The longer the building materials remain at the roadside and the more expensive they are, the higher the chances that they get pilfered. So we were very appreciative that Mr Jega took 2 hours from his busy work to assist us. With Chinese New Year round the corner, this is the peak season for farmers. Mr Jega had in fact just finished packing and sending off  the day’s load of cabbages, pak choy and poh choy to the lowlands. Back at the site, the steel framework of the huts are up and the dome shaped of the huts are now visible. Over the next few days more building materials will be arriving and it is quite thrilling to know soon our long awaited biodiversity centre will be completed.

By: Erica Jenkins ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )

Miss Erica Jenkins is a marine biologist from Canada who volunteered with REACH from 10-14th January 2012.. During her short attachement she helped us with data entry and analysis of the weather pattern in Cameron Highlands. We would like to thank her for her much needed help.

There are two weather stations in the Cameron Highlands, one is located at 1472 meters above sea level; data from this station is available dating back to Janauary 1951. Another station is located at 1545 meters above sea level, and data from this station dates back to April 1983. The data collected at these stations includes precipitation, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and evaporation. The following report summarizes these data.

Precipitation

Data from the station at 1472 m indicates that the mean yearly rainfall is 2539 mm, with an average of 224 rain days per year. The greatest amount of precipitation occurs during October and November, with mean monthly rainfall of 334 mm and 298 mm, respectively (Figure 1). Another peak in yearly precipitation occurs in April and May; the mean rainfall in April is 275 mm, while the mean in May is 271 mm. The least amount of rain fell in January, with and average of 109 mm, and February, with an average of 115mm of rain per year.

Figure 1. Mean monthly rainfall.

Since the year 1951, based on 5-year running averages, it appears that rainfall was greater in the years from 1951 until 1972, while rainfall tended to be lower from 1973 until 1990, and then again increased in the years 1991 to 2000 (Figure 2). The average rainfall was 2608 mm/yr from 1951 to 1972, 2392 mm/yr from 1973 to 1990, and 2653 mm/yr from 1991 to 2000. This change in mean precipitation may be related to long term climate patterns. A similar pattern has been observed in the Pacific Ocean, and is known as the ‘Pacific Decadal Oscillation’.

The first stage - We knew that building a biodiversity centre up on the slopes of Gunung Brinchang was going to be difficult but never realised how difficult until work started early this month (we had initially decided that in order to save cost we would have to source for materials and hire skilled workers by ourselves rather than to contract out the project. We would also seek help from the Public Works Department and local farmers).



So it was with great enthusiasm that we embarked on this project but from the word go, we encountered problems. First, sourcing for building materials. Not many suppliers wanted to go up the narrow road to the reforestation site. “Road too steep; road too slippery; lorry too heavy; lorry no jack; lorry only 3 tons no 15 tons” were some of the replies we got. But the most interesting reply we consistently get was “ Road too many tourists!”, “Lorry cannot gos tan (reverse)” We finally found a reliable supplier whose prices were reasonable.“ No problem” the boss said, “ Just give us a day’s notice” Then at the local quarry, it was another learning curve for us. After 2 day’s of miscommunication we finally learned the difference between ‘quarry dust, crusher-run and ¾ aggregate’. We would like to thank the company managing the local quarry for giving us discounted rates on the materials. Next, transporting the materials to the biodiversity site.



That was a real logistic challenge indeed. Public Works Department (JKR) was kind enough to transport the quarry materials with their lorries. After major hiccups on the first 2 days a routine was soon worked out. The laden lorries started out from the quarry no later than 8.30 am in order to arrive at the site by 9am and come down from Gunung Brinchang by 9.30 am This was to avoid the influx of tourists to that area in the later part of the day which makes  the one way road hazardous. Over the course of 14 days more than 20 lorry loads of building materials were transported. The last part of the transportation  involved moving the materials from the side of the Gunung Brinchang road to the biodiversity site via a Do-It-Yourself road with a gradient of 30 to 40 degrees. That would not have been possible without the help of tractors from local farmers. The rains did not help matters and work had to be stopped for a few days at a time. Finally on the 19th December 2011, work on the foundation of the first Nissen Hut started.

CIMB-REACH : RE-ACT  TRA$H IS CA$H

Results of the Inter School Competition 2011

“Papa!” The kids squealed in delight. “We are driving into the clouds.” And they proceeded to wind down the car windows to ‘touch’ the clouds, willing the clouds to come closer. The clouds obliged and wafted gently into the car enveloping us in a fine mist. It was so cool….(Fortunately the mist was not too thick that we could not see the road.) It was one of those special moments  that one won’t forget in a hurry. We were driving down the western slope of Titiwangsa Mountain range enroute to Ipoh from Kampung Raja.. On our right were panoramic views of Mount Korbu and Yong Belar. We could see the clouds over the valleys below moving  upwards as  they reach the mountain range, embracing the mountains as they go.

This phenomenon gives rise to the cloud forests that we are so enamoured with.Cloud forests (or mossy forest) are broadly defined as forests frequently shrouded in clouds. There are not many places left in the world where these forests are found . They usually occur at elevations of more than 1500 metres above sea level( in the tropical and subtropical areas )but may occur lower in some areas .Currently there are less than 546 km2 of cloud forests left in Peninsular Malaysia and these are mainly found in the Titiwangsa range in the states of Perak, Pahang and Kelantan..

The estimated cloud forests left in Cameron Highlands is around 60km2 but we suspect this to be lower due to illegal land clearing. With global warming, cloud forests cover will be reduced further as the cloud forest habitats will retreat to higher altitudes. Why are cloud forests so important  to us? These highland forests are 'water towers' providing fresh and clean water to the populace.

Cloud Stripping-highland sponges

Because of the cloud stripping effect of these forests, they capture water that would otherwise never fall to the ground as rain. These waters then feed the headwaters of river systems. Currently a large percentage of the water supply in Peninsular Malaysia comes from the highland forests in the main range. So there is an urgent need to protect these forests as by doing so we are protecting one of the most important source of water in Peninsular Malaysia. Cloud forests are also important because they are storehouses on biodiversity.

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Mossy bed - biodiversity of flora

Much of the species here are endemic and found no where else, (We are racing against time to record some of them before they are gone forever) Highland forests also protect the soil from erosion especially on steep terrains and help to prevent landslides and flooding. We hope that there will be greater efforts to protect these forests. Meanwhile we consider ourselves blessed to live here in the highlands where clouds hug the mountains and forests evergreen.

It has been a long time coming but REACH finally got its scrap metal license last week. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the relevant agencies for removing our application from hibernation and expediting the approval of the scrap license. (In fact we were so surprised that we almost fell off from our chairs!) We hope that henceforth our vendors would be able to collect recyclables from within Cameron Highlands without hindrance from any party. We will work hard to ensure that the collection of recyclables will continue to improve. (Currently the total amount of recyclables collected for this year is 105 metric tons, far short of our target.) Our plans include improving the road at the compactor site, working with the Department of Agriculture to improve the collection of pesticide containers and organising composting programmes for schools and community. Below is the chart showing the recyclables collected for the first 7 months of this year.