Pledge to abstain from eating Endangered Wildlife with WWF

Photo credit to Arbec

Eating endangered wildlife..... Let me think first!.... Did i eat any of wildlife listed as endangered species? As far as i can remember, i ever eat Malayan soft-shell turtle (Amyda cartilaginea) before. Hmm.. need to check for it's status first, lets see.

Errr... it's VULNERABLE (VU) in the IUCN Red List Category and Criteria not yet ENDANGERED. It is also listed on CITES Appendix II. Anyway, if there is a demand for the meat of this guy, i am sure five years from now he will go up to another level, maybe Endangered then Critically Endangered species. Let's me give you an ideas why is this guy includes in VU category (lets see some document first, so i will not give you guys the wrong information). Here we go:

A taxon is Vulnerable when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future, as defined by any of the following criteria (A to E):

A) Population reduction in the form of either of the following:

1) An observed, estimated, inferred or suspected reduction of at least 20% over the last 10 years or three generations, whichever is the longer, based on (and specifying) any of the following:

a) direct observation

b) an index of abundance appropriate for the taxon

c) a decline in area of occupancy, extent of occurrence and/or quality of habitat

d) actual or potential levels of exploitation

e) the effects of introduced taxa, hybridisation, pathogens, pollutants, competitors or parasites.

2) A reduction of at least 20%, projected or suspected to be met within the next ten years or three generations, whichever is the longer, based on (and specifying) any of (b), (c), (d) or (e) above.

B) Extent of occurrence estimated to be less than 20,000 km2 or area of occupancy estimated to be less than 2000 km2, and estimates indicating any two of the following:

1) Severely fragmented or known to exist at no more than ten locations.

2) Continuing decline, inferred, observed or projected, in any of the following:

a) extent of occurrence

b) area of occupancy

c) area, extent and/or quality of habitaty

d) number of locations or subpopulations

e) number of mature individuals

3) Extreme fluctuations in any of the following:

a) extent of occurrence

b) area of occupancy

c) number of locations or subpopulations

d) number of mature individuals

C) Population estimated to number less than 10,000 mature individuals and either:

1) An estimated continuing decline of at least 10% within 10 years or three generations, whichever is longer, or

2) A continuing decline, observed, projected, or inferred, in numbers of mature individuals and population structure in the form of either:

a) severely fragmented (i.e. no subpopulation estimated to contain more than 1000 mature individuals)

b) all individuals are in a single subpopulation

D) Population very small or restricted in the form of either of the following:

1) Population estimated to number less than 1000 mature individuals.

2) Population is characterised by an acute restriction in its area of occupancy (typically less than 100 km2) or in the number of locations (typically less than five). Such a taxon would thus be prone to the effects of human activities (or stochastic events whose impact is increased by human activities) within a very short period of time in an unforeseeable future, and is thus capable of becoming Critically Endangered or even Extinct in a very short period.

E) Quantitative analysis showing the probability of extinction in the wild is at least 10% within 100 years.

SO? Do you still feel eating Endangered wildlife? Me? NOPE, i will not eat them anymore. I still want to see the population come back and with hope they will not EXTINCT! The younger generations need to know the species of wildlife that we enjoy seeing them NOW!

To SUPPORT this CAMPAIGN just click this link: Pledge to "LIVE GREEN": Save Wildlife, Save Ourselves.

Till then!!!

Cheers!
Rose Ragai

Mapping A Bornean Soundscape Project

Where to start? I am trying my BEST to use any of my social networking to promote this research project and hope to get some feedback from my fellow friends and also my Blogger Buddies here. Okay, how to start this post? Let's start with who is Dr. Alison Styring?

Alison Styring is a field biologist with a focus in conservation and ecology. Her area of expertise is Southeast Asian birds. She has studied birds in rainforests and human-modified habitats in West Malaysia and Borneo (East Malaysia and Brunei) since 1998. She has published numerous papers on the ecology and conservation of Southeast Asian birds. Alison works with an incredible team of birders, biologists, tree climbers, and conservationists from the US and Malaysia. -- I quote this info from Kickstarter site and you can click on her name above where i have linked it to the Evergreen State College. 

How i get to know her? It was back in 2006, when i was working with Grand Perfect S/B. It was a very great opportunities to experienced bird's study with her and Dr. Fred Sheldon. I love birds but not as much as after i involved in her research. The first study was on the diversity of birds in tree plantation and habitat surveys. It was really interesting because we went to a different sites in the Planted Forest Zone, Bintulu. That is the first time i learn how to use Binocular correctly (don't laugh at me, coz its true..he he he). I don't know any scientific names for birds and i don't know how to identify birds (so la teruk). She is very generous in knowledge and her expertise, along the trip i learn so much from her. I get excited and excited everyday.

In 2007, i was ask to choose between bird's study and small mammal's study. I am in a big dilemma coz i really want to join bird's field work but it was because i am doing my small mammals project so i've decided to let go the birds study. Sad.

In 2008, i was lucky coz another field trip was organized and this time we will doing dawn chorus, bird's banding and observing bird's behavior. I am back on track with the birds study and this was my last trip because i was decided to left the company end of that year.

So, that is how i get to know Dr. Alison. Here is our random photos that i have from these two trips.

So, now let's talk about the Mapping A Bornean Soundscape Project. This is her latest project and she need fund to make it happen. What is this project about?

Bornean rainforests: an incredibly diverse and poorly understood treasure.  The rainforests of Borneo are among the most species-rich habitats in the world.  Listening to the sounds of these forests is an incredible and overwhelming experience as gibbons, hornbills, tree frogs, cicadas, and hundreds of other species advertise their presence. Our mission is to record and map these sounds while we still can.

The forests of Borneo are under incredible human pressure.  The giant dipterocarp trees that form much of the canopy are extremely valuable timber for furniture and other uses worldwide, and logged-over native forests are increasingly being converted to tree plantation and oil palm as the world demand for pulp wood and palm oil increases. -- Read more at Kickstarter. 

If you are interested to DONATE and SUPPORT this project and you are BIRD'S LOVERS, What you can DO is visit KICKSTARTER website (just click at the link) and read through the site. You will get more information there. There is only 19 DAYS to go and the project only get $1, 235.00 back up, up to today. There were another $18, 765.00 more to go. 

Do Support this Project! Thank you for your generosity. Till then!

Cheers!
Rose Ragai

#6 Walking Through Nature/ Villages

This is my current trip to Ulu Tomani, Tenom. I think i did mention about my work in five villages at Ulu Tomani before. But, what i want to share today is my recent trip to this village. What did i encounter through my walk? What interesting things i want to share with you guys throughout my walk? Yeah... this is cool!

The fruit of Torch Ginger. 

One of the menu for the day. The Torch Ginger fruits. See my previous post on Etlingera eliator about this ginger species. It is very sour and i like it though. Mix up with some chillies, it is delicious. Nyam..nyam..

Preparing coconut milk using the manual method. 

This reminds me of my mum at home. She use the same method to prepare coconut milk. It take some times but this is one way to get the white flesh of the coconut fruit to get the coconut milk (i hope i explain the right info... if not sure then you can Google for info... :-)..)

Indigenous Mustard Green (Sabi) 

I really love this veggie. It is bitter taste but still yummy for me. :-). In Sarawak, this veggie is famous among the Iban ethnic. You can read more about how Iban people prepare the salted Mustard Green here Salted Ensabi.

Learn how to weave.

 Most the activities were weaving. There were visitors from another district to this village during my visit. So, the Murut community at Alutok, Ulu Tomani teach these visitors how to weave. They start to exchange their expertise and it makes me happy. Yay!

Can you see the fish?

This part is the most exciting because the fish is tamer now. We can feed them at our hands. Yah! I love playing with this fish though.. :-)

This one is big now.

So, that is what i found along my walk to this village. I hope you enjoy walking with me. Till then! God bless. 

With Love,

Rose Ragai

Another Birding Activity

On 20th and 21st July 2011, i went for a site visit at our conservation area, Muaya Waterfall. I did some observation of the animals at the field centre. On the morning of 21st July i went for a bird watch. This is my observtaion lists:

1. Tailor bird
2. Little Spiderhunter
3. Orange-bellied Flowerpecker
4. Black and Yellow Broadbill
5. Lesser Green Leafbird
6. Black Hornbill
7. Chestnut-rumped Barbler

I still have a few problems on spotting the bird. Maybe i did lost some of my skills so i have to polish it back. I really hope to practice it and spend some time doing more birding.

Till then!

Hunting Sea Treasure

I visited one of the beautiful place to visit in Sabah in February this year, Simpang Mengayau, Kudat, Sabah. It was my first time and i am amazed by the beauty of the scenery. That is not all about it, my desire to explore that place is more strong. With my little digital camera, i walk down to the seaside. There are lots of people too. We are lucky because it is a low tide but the waves become more strong and stronger. Okay, lets see what i hunt there.

Did you see anything in this photo? Something crawling......?

What do you see in the above photo? I saw it from a far. Using my only 3x camera zoom, i can not get a clear picture of it. Yai! A little bit frustrated. My friend got his DSLR but he did not see this guy when i pointed out to him to capture some of it's picture. Still, need an eye like me (opsss.... he he he). 

In a blink of eyes, it disappear........

When i get closer, as usual i lost it. That crab slipped away down into the water. Maybe hiding under the rocks and laugh at me because i couldn't get him close up. Hmmmph.... Disappointed again but still it is exciting. What else i find?

Yes, it is a hole of a rock.....

I saw a hole. A big hole of a rock and got sea water inside it. Must be something interesting can be found inside it though. Something unique maybe. My curiosity sometimes scary but i like to find it out. But still i will not put my hand inside it because i know safety first (not like my early days, just do whatever i like without thinking twice).

Did you see anything? It's like a star inside......

Yep, there is a big size of STARFISH. I am excited but only can take pictures. Not brave enough to take it out besides i don't want to disturb this guy resting inside this hole so called little pond. There were a lot more other living creatures beside this guy, small prawns and fishes, crabs and snails... There are living together in this hole. Nice to see them together even though i am not sure which and which is the prey and predator. 

So, that is my findings for my hunts at the Tip of Borneo. I met Mr. Crab and Mr. Starfish. Quite an interesting and exciting experienced. Till then!

It's Been A While....

Seems to be i am out of ideas when i log in to this blog now. I can not crack on anything interesting to share with you guys, my fellow nature friends. If i do so, i only recall back all the good memories of working with the animals, plants about three years ago. No fresh new stories to be shared. I am very sorry for that. I did promised to share any of my observations while i am trekking inside the forest or villages but till now, i have none. Yep, i did have a while ago but recently not much of new things. I am out of focus with nature now. I am too much on humans (but still it is a good thing, maybe it can make me more humane..ha ha ha.. just joking!).  

Even so, i still once in a while update this blog if i got anything interesting to share. Most of the time i am writing about my current work and some thoughts in my ^-^TRUE CONFESSIONS^-^ blog. So, if you feel to visit me and still to get connected with me do drop by there.

So, this is it. Till then!

Memories

Just to reflects all the good memories i had with my colleagues back in Bintulu a few years back. There is quite an interesting experienced with them. I may say the hard work we had to understand and learn about science. Our superior always told us our work is not Animal Planet shows, it is the real science. So, i believe that and for so long i believe our work will mean something for the sake of science. New discoveries makes us feel excited and worth of doing this tough work.

As i came across my old photo folder i saw some of our field trip photos. Maybe i did post it in my previous posts but i will share it again here. Just a little reminder for myself of what we have been gone through all those years working with wildlife.

Sometimes, the road is very bad and we stuck in the middle of nowhere. 

Sometimes we have to climb up and down the hill just to make sure our work is done.

Sometimes when we are very tired, we take a nap and rest under the acacia trees.

Sometimes when we get back to our camp we are already starving and we need to cook fast.

However, still we enjoy the surroundings of our great camp when doing our work. 

Tadaaaa..... We are SuperMan & SuperWoman!!!

Till then!

Cheers!
Rose Ragai

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Rufous-sided Sticky Frog

Kalophrynus pleurostigma (Rufous-sided Sticky Frog)

Taken at Kg. Munchu, Ulu Merapok, Lawas.

Birding With My Friend

It was quite a while (almost three years actually), i did not really went for birding. Last weekend my friend asks me to join her doing some field work at Lawas, Sarawak. I was so excited but i am already feel exhausted because that Saturday i was working half day too. However, she success in convincing me to join her for that field work.

We stayed at Murut village, Kg. Munchu, Ulu Merapok. On Sunday, we walk through the village road until we reach the last village named Kg. Jelatung, Ulu Merapok. This village is located only five minutes walk to reach Sipitang - Tenom main road. We have a short conversation with three villagers (one man, two women) in the village. We ask them where we can find Magpie Robin and White-Rumped Shama. These two birds is the bird species that we hunt for. My friend is doing her PhD on this two birds species. So, we need to find information from the villagers (hey! they are more expert than us in term of cathing this birds you know!)...

Along the walk, we did some observation but not so many species. Maybe because most of the area is rubber and palm oil plantation own by the people of these two villages.

Here is my observation list (birds, small mammal and frog):

1. Merops viridis (Blue Throated Bee Eater)
2. Arachnothere longirostra (Little Sipder Hunter)
3. Pycnonotus goiavier (Yellow Vented Bulbul)
4. Copsychus saularis (Marpie Robin)
5. Callosciurus notatus (Plantain Squirrel)
6. Kalophrynus pleurostigma (Rufous-sided Sticky Frog)

That is all i can lists here. Till then!

World Environment Day 2011

I forgot to write about this event and it has been a while i am away from this blog. I am really sorry for that guys. Anyway, this year WED theme was "FORESTS: NATURE AT YOUR SERVICE". India is the host country for this year event. There quite an interesting programme arrange in India to celebrate this event. To know more about it, visit here: India Host Country.

Since the theme is mentionong about forests and service so the logo is really reprents it. Not agree with me? See this logo:

What did we do to celebrate this event here at my work place? There are two things that i involved in. We are working together with our employee's family at the housing area to do Green Earth Campaign, together with Agriculture Department. In-conjunction with that too, i was working with our Youth Group with our mini project Takakura Home Method Composting. We started it in March and this coming Saturday they will do a demo to our housing residence. Visit this group blog at PROJEK MINI BELIA - BAJA KOMPOS (but it is in Malay langauge).

The other one is, we will be involved as a host for ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION RACE 8 or better known as EERace 8 for teachers, end of this month. This programme is organized by Environmental Protection Department, Kota Kinabalu. This programme is a yearly programme and first initiate by Rainforest Discovery Centre (RDC), Sandakan.

So, that is a brief share of activities that i will involved in conjunction with WED 2011. How about you? What did you do at your work place or home? Together make our living greener.. Till then!

#1 -- Go Green ^-^ My Green Friends

I want to GO GREEN so where do i start? Hmmm... I was thinking planting some indoor plants or flowers. I already have three small pots for creepers on my table in the office. At home, i have none because of my hairy friend, Joy keep on disturbing my plants. She always drink all the water in the glass vase and also took out the flower from the vase. She really great of doing that.

So, last Saturday, my friend and i visit one of the shop selling flowers and plants for gardening. I saw a tiny little cactus, so i was attracted to it. Hoping that i can take care of this plants well so i ask the owner of that shop to teach me on planting cactus. She did gave me some advice and it sure will help me. I need a cactus soil which i can bought from the shop itself. Need to water it once in three days. Okay, sounds not that difficult. I hope this cactus will survive well with me.

Besides those cactus, i already have two types of creeper plants that i took from one of the site visit last month. It looks like growing well in those small glass jar/bottle. I recycle it.

Have a look of my green friends in the house. (^___^)

All four on the fridge....

Creeper plants on my dining table....

Another small creepers on my working table in my room....

Till then!!! ....

#5 - Walking Through Nature/ Villages

My walk continues to another village called Meligan. This village is about two hours drive from Sipitang. It is almost in the middle of Sipitang and Long Pasia. These village populated by about 1000 people. Quite a big numbers but yes it is. This village have their own primary school, health clinic, pre-school, public hall and also SIB church. The main ethnic in this village is Murut Tagal. I impress with this village because it is very clean. As we walk through the village, there were no rubbish along the road. It was totally clean. Thumbs up to the leader of the community in this village. That is why we plan to have this village as a host for the up coming ****, okay i almost reveal it here but i need to keep it secret though. I will share after the event happen.

My friend and i continues with our interviews from door to door. As long as there is people and the house is open, we tried to have conversation with them. It is really not an easy task to be done because both of us were new to the people in this village. We just approach them and if we have luck then maybe they will agree to be interviewed. We did not get many people but enough with the data. But then, we were attracted by the movements of the blue bird flying in the air and then perch on the fruit tree nearby one of the house. The bird keep on doing it for at least twice. As we get closer to it, it was a flycatcher but not sure what is the species. As we get closer, i can get about five shots and this is two of it. 

Just stand still for about a minute while my friend and i captured his/her
photos. I am not sure if this is male or female. I don't have my birds field
guide book. Yai! I wish i have one. I only have the pocket guide book. 

When he/she notice of our movements, the he/she flew away but still
i can capture him/her. After this he/she flew away till we can not him/her
anymore. Anyway, it was great to captured his/her photos that day. 

Here is an info about this species that i get from Global Species website:

The Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassina) is an Old World flycatcher found in the Indian subcontinent, especially in the Lower Himalaya. It is named after its distinctive shade of copper-sulphate blue and has a dark patch between the eyes and above the bill base. The adult males are intense blue on all areas of the body, except for the black eye-patch and grey vent. Adult females and sub-adults are lighter blue. In Sundaland, it can be found in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. 

So, that is about our little friend that we discover that day. Quite an interesting discoveries even though that is not the main purpose of our visit. But still, the love of the NATURE will always keep us alert and aware of anything related to our MOTHER NATURE. So, before i end this post, let's share two of my favorite view in this village. Of course the hanging bridge and the peaceful river. Till then!

Every time i visit this village, i will always wanted to let
my feet step on this hanging bridge.  

The river is so nice to see. The view is outstanding. It was so clean okay.
I hope the villagers will keep it clean since they will launch a Tagal System
for this river somewhere in June. 

#4 - Walking Through Nature/ Villages

Hey guys! Quite a while i did not share my adventure with my dear mother nature right? Actually last week i have a trip to one of the rural area called Ulu Padas area within Sipitang District. Can i consider walking in those villages also close to nature? I may say, yes because these villages is adjacent to a very amazing and beautiful forested areas. So called Mother Nature.

Location of Long Pasia. Credit to Google Maps.

The first village we visited was Long Pasia. It is situated in Sabah, Malaysia, its geographical coordinates are 4° 23' 0" North, 115° 44' 0" East. This village is beautiful. If you not agreed with me, see this photo below. 

Village view from entrance of the village. 

What do we do at this beautiful village? Actually we are doing survey on herbal usage and hunting practices. It is quite interesting findings and it will be useful for our next programme. I will not elaborate further on that. What i want to share here is some of our findings on the herbal and animals that these people hunt. 

Not all of them use herbs as their traditional cures anymore after religion and clinic is built in the village. There are only two or three elderly people still practicing it. They are not really interested and aware of this practice/ traditional knowledge will disappear when these elderly people leaving them behind. 

One of the herbs that traditionally use to cure sickness. 

When comes to the hunting activities, people in this area really need protein from wild meat such as bearded pig, Sambar dear and barking deer. There is also human-animal conflict occurs such as this little fella. 

Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)

This fella was killed because he disturbed villages chicken coop. He killed the chicks but then not eating them. This makes the owner of the chickens mad and killed him. Pity little fella. Actually i am not sure if it is the true story because, adjacent to this village is a vast, huge forested areas. Is there human activities that makes this fella enter their village? That is still a questions in my mind. Not only this wild cat but another things that happen in this village is they love to have young animals as their pets. Such as this bearded pig.

Sub-adult bearded pig (Sus barbatus)

So, that is my sharing or my walking to this village last week. Quite an interesting experienced and information right? I was happy because i have this chances but then, i am a little bit sad because these people not practicing sustainable hunting. There are excessive hunting activities in this village. I do hope our awareness programme will help them to start sustainable hunting practice. Till then guys!

Earth Day 2011

Do you ever heard of Earth Day? Earth Hour was celebrated on 26th March and i did wrote a post about it even do some campaign about it too. So, for today i want to do some campaign about the Earth Day 2011. It will be fall on 22 April 2011. But, on the same day will be a Good Friday for Christian all over the world too.

Earth Day Movement History as adapted from Earth Day Network:

The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. "It was a gamble," Gaylord recalled, "but it worked."

So, it is always, when something happen, then action will take place to make things better. Better world to live in. If you want to read more about the history of this movements or any other info about Earth Day, just visit the website Earth Day Network. Who knows you will be able to do something when you visit this site.

Oh ya... coincidently i found GLEE also promoting Earth Day 2011 for FOX. They shares their thought on Earth Day too.

So  how about us? What can we do to support this movement. To stop climate change and global warming.

It is all up to our actions. Till then! 

WORLD WATER DAY - 22 MARCH 2011

I supposed to promote this campaign a while ago but i forgot about this world wide event. To promote awareness is one of my agenda using this blog, but i forgot. Just a little reminder about this event, i would like to share a little bit info about it today.

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day.

Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater. Here are lists of WWD celebration with each year theme since 1994.

• 2010 -- Clean Water For a Healthy World
• 2009 -- Shared Water - Shared Opportunities
• 2008 -- International Year of Sanitation
• 2007 -- Coping with Water Scarcity
• 2006 -- Water and Culture
• 2005 -- Water for Life 2005 - 2015
• 2004 -- Water and Disasters
• 2003 -- Water for the Future
• 2002 -- Water for Development
• 2001 -- Water for Health - Taking Charge
• 2000 -- Water for the 21st Century
• 1999 -- Everyone Lives Downstream
• 1998 -- Groundwater - The Invisible Resource
• 1997 -- The Worlds Water - Is there Enough
• 1996 -- Water for Thirsty Cities
• 1995 -- Women and Water
• 1994 -- Caring for Our Water Resources is Everyone's Business

The main event for World Water Day 2011 was celebrated at Cape Town from 20th - 22nd March 2011. The African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW) is pleased to join UN-HABITAT and UN-Water in co-organizing the official World Water Day 2011 event. Ceremonies was hosted by the Government of South Africa at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Here is a bit of World Water Day 2011:

• This is the first time in human history that most of the world's population live in cities: 3.3 billion people ...and the urban landscape continues to grow.
• 38% of the growth is represented by expanding slums, while the city populations are increasing faster than city infrastructure can adapt.
• The objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems.
• This year theme, Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge, aims to spotlight and encourage governments, organizations, communities, and individuals to actively engage in addressing the challenges of urban water management.

To read more and find more information about this year WWD event, do visit this site World Water Day 2011. Most of the info that i shared here also i get from this site. Happy Reading and let's support this campaign. Hope i can do something about this event too for next year. Till then!

Be Alert

Taken at Muaya Waterfall, Sipitang

Youth Mini Project -- Takakura Home Method Composting

Currently i am working on mini project for my youth. This mini project is something that related to living green, i may say. Since last year is the year that we did quite a few environmental education programme. This year seems to be a little bit slow. So then i was thinking hard (sort of..hehehe..) on what is the next project to be done. World Environment Day will be fall on 5th June 2011 but we still did not plan anything for this year celebration. Therefore, i hope this mini project will become a starting point.

Owh! I forgot that we just working together with Agriculture Department on the Green Earth Programme. That is a starting point and this mini project is the next step to the WED 2011 (okay, i am just assuming it.. no plan yet actually..). See, i am start to mumbling again. Let me just go straight to my story.

Do you ever heard of TAKAKURA HOME METHOD Composting? Wanna know more of this method? Just GOOGLE it using the Takakura Home Method Composting keyword and you will find many articles about it.

Actually, during Environmental Awareness Workshop for youth in March last year, one of our invited facilitator from Sabah Nature Club did a demo on this method. However, after that demo we did not implement or do an experiment on it. I may say that, it was my fault because i did not do a follow-up programme with my youth. Since that was happen last year, i will try my best to work it out this year! Wish me luck guys!

This coming Saturday, we will do a demo again for our youth and i hope this time we can produce an organic fertilizer from this composting. So, i will update it after we finish with the demo this coming Saturday. Wait for my update ya! Till then!

Earth Hour is back! Get a free reminder to turn off your lights.

Earth Hour 2011 on 26th March prepares to showcase a global community committed to taking environmental actions that go beyond the hour. Now Malaysians can join this global community to take simple actions towards a more sustainable lifestyle for everyone. For example, individuals can pledge to switch off their TV and computer, instead of leaving these in standby mode.

So, sign up, and make pledge to 

"Live Green: One switch at a time!"

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Rock Formation

Photo taken at Tomani, Tenom, Sabah

I Love Nature

Is it enough by saying it and tell the whole world about it? Mmmm.. I am not sure because lately, i find out that my knowledge about nature is decreasing not increase anymore. I even can not identify a pitcher plant, one of the plants that i always love to take picture before.

I took this photo last year during my visit to Long Pasia, Sipitang, Sabah.
I can not tell, what is the species of this Nepenthes... 

How pity i am now. That is what i think though... Will i give up on this because the pitcher plant case is not the only one. A bird, one of the group of animals that i used to study before also become fading from my brain cells. I can not tell what is the species of the bird that i found at one of the Bird's Shop.

Photo taken using my phone camera.
It was taken last week at one of the pet shop somewhere in Sabah.

Feel a little bit disappointed of myself because i really want to share something about all the animals that i found. However, i can not do it because i can not identify them. I can not share much about those animals with you guys here. Hmmm... Maybe i am pushing myself too hard now since this year will be my 3rd year of away from this field. I will return .. and i promised to myself that i will be back to nature. With God's will...

Till then!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - A Wooden Boat by the River?

Photo taken at Sg. Mio, Long Mio, Sipitang, Sabah

#3 - Walking Through Nature

What to share today? Anything interesting? Hmmm... Okay, to begin with, i am glad that one of my best buddy in nature Mr. Bel is back on track with his blog. I am really glad that he working on his blog again after his silence in 2010. His blog title The Living Conservationist is something interesting to read. Do drop by his site and you will amazed with his stories. Been working with him for three years and gain knowledge and valuable experience. He is one of a kind, i may say. So, to know more of him visit his blog by clicking the link that above or just search for him in my collection of links at Nature Lovers Stories. If have time and more ideas i will share about him here in my blog. But, for today i want to share about my encounter with Mr. Sundasciurus jentinki, the Jentink's Squirrel last week.

How to describe my feeling when i observed him? Hmmm... overacted a little bit because i am very exited. As i walk through the plank walk, my eyes captured by the movements of the tree leaves and small liana on the left side of the plank walk. Trying to find out what is was, my eyes keep on searching for another movements on the trees. Yep.. about 4 meter above me, there he was. The most obvious things that i saw was the tail. It is very slender tail compared to the other squirrels that i observed before, Prevost's squirrel, Plantain squirrel etc. This is something different and i know i never seen one in wild before. I only saw it in the book.. hmmm.. lucky i am today that i saw him. But, i can't captured his photos because he is too far and my camera is out of battery. With that, i am not that lucky. But lucky enough to encounter one of my new friend Mr. Jentink's Squirrel.

To share it with you guys, here is the photo of him that captured by one of my friend Ch'ien Lee somewhere in Sepilok, Sabah. Just to share a bit of how is actually this fella looks like. (mmm...i am sorry that when i share my story i make/describe this little creature just like human...he he he).... Here it is:

Photo Credit to Ch'ien Lee
Sepilok, Sabah

See the tail?? That is what i saw... he he he... Till then... (",)

#2 - Walking Through Nature

On the January 11th, i was standing in front of the staff house at one of our plantation area. It was about 6pm and i am trying to observed anything interesting on the trees somewhere in front of me. Yep.. something moves on the tree. Jumping from one branch to another branch. There you are black in colour from head to tail and reddish brown underparts. Trying to recall all the species of squirrel but can't think of any species that looks like that. But, from the size it looks like Prevost's squirrel. I am sure it is one of those and maybe subspecies of Prevost's squirrel. I jot down all the coloration for my own reference later when i get back home.

As i promised, this year will be my come back to the nature. Will fulfill my own wish.. he he he he.... So, the answer for this puzzle was this fella:

Photo Credit to Wong Tsu Shi
Taken at Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia

This is what i saw on the tree. I observed it for about 10 minutes but i am quite far from the tree. No binocular with me, so i am depending on my only eyes. He he he...

Common Name: Prevost's Squirrel

Scientific Name: Callosciurus prevostii pluto

Till then!

Conserving the Bornean Leopard

The Star Online
Monday, Janury 24, 2011

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Wildlife Department wants to launch a Bornean clouded leopard captive breeding programme at the Kota Kinabalu Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.

The move follows the discovery of the endangered leopard. The Bornean clouded leopard is a unique subspecies distinctly different from their relatives in Sumatra.

Sabah Wildlife Department director Dr Laurentius Ambu said the uniqueness of the Bornean clouded leopard put it on the high priority list for conservation.

He noted it has already been listed as endangered on the International Union of Conser­vation of Nature Red List.

Unique breed: A close-up photograph of the Bornean clouded leopard taken in
Sabah’s Deramakor Forest Reserve last year. – Wilting and Mohamed.

“To maintain the diversity of the species, Sumatran and Bornean clouded leopards need to be managed separately in captive breeding programmes,” said Dr Laurentius.

Currently, this clouded leopard species, the largest carnivore in Borneo, is not kept in any European or American zoo.

The leopard was first caught on camera in the wild in Sabah’s central Deramakot Forest Reserve last year.

An international team of research scientists led by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin, in cooperation with the Sabah Wildlife Department, had only recently classified the Borneo clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi borneensis) as distinct from its relatives in Sumatra by using genetic and morphological analyses.

# 1 - Walking Through Nature

It has been a while i did not share my experienced walking through nature. This will be my story for today. On the 10th of Jan, i went to the waterfall area, one of our conservation area to do some site survey for my Vanilla trial plot. Along the walk i observed a few interesting small creature and plants. Actually we wanted to plot a 50m x 50m plot and do some clearing for our pathway. So, along the pathway that we cleared we cross two rocky streams that have a very clear clean water. Cold and refreshing. Here is photos of four interesting fellas that i met along the walk.



A shy little criket on the mossy rock near the stream.
Keeping itself silence and static on the rock.
When i wanted to capture more of it photos, it flew away.

Climbing lianas with it's beautiful flower. It is quite interesting
because before this i captured a photo of liana's fruits.
Now i got one that with flower. Quite interesting for me because liana
is one of the important climbers for small mammals movements in the forest. 

The tree roots attached to the rock inside the rocky stream.
Amazing right? How the tree survive just attached its root to the rock.

Is this fungi? Hmmm... i think this is a fungi. One of the species.
Not sure what is t exactly.

That is all the findings for the day! Will share more stories of my walk in my next posts. Till then guys!

My Nature Activity - New Year Resolution For 2011

It's a new year, a new beginning and a new start of something interesting and adventurous. I thought of my return to what i love, what i really like to do. NATURE, of course and anything else that surrounds the nature, of course people, the human being that live near it. So, what is my plan for this year? Here is some that come up in my mind.

1. Doing more activities related to nature such as exploring new places in Sabah. I was back here in Sabah for almost two years but i only went to only a few places, limited to my working areas. So, this year i am planning to go beyond my working areas. This coming Chinese New Year, since i didn't have leave, so, for these two days, i will explore Kota Belud and Sempang Mengayau, Kudat. Hope to see and find something interesting along my journey there.
2. I believe that i still can do bird watching, so i want to be active and reactivate my knowledge about birds. I want to recall back all the knowledge that i have and memorize back all the birds species and identified them in the field. I really need to do this because i don't want to lost all the valueable knowledge that i gain during my previous works.
3. Thinking of doing some environmental friendly things. I MUST use shopping bag starting from this month every time i go for shopping. Reduce plastic bags and support the NO PLASTIC BAG campaigns. Hmmm... i have to be very serious about this. Besides that, i want to divide my trash into degradeable and learn how to do organic fertilizers. Yep... More to environmental approach. I have to learn from my own experiences only then i can teach the youths that actually i am working with right now. 
4. I am adding another one to my NY resolution this year.... I will get my DIVING LICENSE this year. It is a must do too because I've wanted to get one for so long already. I think since i am still in uni.... So, this year i will get it. So that i can explore sea too... Finding Nemo... he he he.. (updated on 24th Jan 2011). 

Is that three enough? Hmm... i think it will be a good one and i have to say it loud to myself, telling the world about it and put my ACTION on it. I will work hard to make this three things happen. Wish me luck guys!!!

By the way, how about you? What is your nature new year resolution? Any plans for this year??

HAPPY NEW YEAR MY NATURE BUDDIES!!!!!    

Rare bay cat spotted in Pulong Tau national park

Posted on January 4, 2011, Tuesday
The Borneo Post Online

KUCHING: One of the rarest cats in the world, the Bornean bay cat (Catopuma badia) has been recorded in Pulong Tau National Park (PTNP)’s extended areas of Batu Lawi and Long Repung in the state’s northern region.

Photo taken from Borneo Post Online

A statement by PTNP’s project manager Dr Paul Chai Pang Kiong said three images of the cat had been captured via camera traps by the Forest Department Sarawak and Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

The camera traps were sponsored by Sarawak Timber Association (STA), while PTNP’s Phase II project is supported by International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO).

“The presence of the bay cat further heightens the importance of PTNP as a reservoir of the highlands’ rich biodiversity, of which many species are endemic, rare and/or threatened,” said Dr Chai in the statement. He said the bay cat is an endemic species categorised as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List.

The bay cat is also listed in Appendix II of Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and is totally protected in Sarawak.

“A mature bay cat is normally the size of a large domesticated cat albeit with an extra long tail. It has two colour morphs, with the reds much more common than the greys.

“The last photograph of the wild bay cat in Sarawak was also captured by camera traps in Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in a joint study initiated by Unimas in 2003. Other than that, most other information consists of historical records, morphological descriptions and anecdotes from various sources,” he said. PTNP is located in Sarawak’s northern highlands in Miri and Limbang Divisions, northeast of Sarawak.

The park was gazetted in 2005 to protect an area of about 60,000 ha of pristine rainforests. It includes Mount Murud, Sarawak’s highest peak at 2,424m and the Tama Abu Range.

“It is the site for the transboundary biodiversity conservation project with the Kayan Mentarang National Park in East Kalimantan. The project is supported by the ITTO with Forest Department Sarawak as the Implementing Agency,” he said.