Tea as a tourist attraction

Tea as a tourist attraction
Friday March 23, 2007
By Nik Naizi Husin

Talk time: Maznah (second from left) talking to Boh Plantation chairman Tristan Russell while Caroline and Datuk Meriam Yaakob representing Permoladan Nasional Berhad look on.

The home of the country’s favourite and leading tea brand, from Boh Plantations in Cameron Highlands, has been one of the main tourist attractions in Pahang.

It is learnt that more than 5,000 visitors per week, both locals and foreigners, spend their time having a taste of the uniqueness of the tea, and some make purchases for their consumption at home from the plantation.

Recently, the company officially opened its new Boh Tea Centre in Sungai Palas to provide tourists with a unique and comprehensive experience of the tea industry.

Fresh: Caroline explaining a new product to Maznah.

Pahang Tourism, Arts, Culture, Heritage, Women and Family Development Committee chairman Datuk Maznah Mazlan, who officiated at the ceremony, said the Boh Tea Centre was more than just a commercial entity as the plantation has helped in environment preservation.

Maznah said most visitors spend at least two hours at the centre while having their “tea break” and enjoying the greenery.

“It is a beautiful landscape where tea trees are grown on the hills in rows. It is such a wonderful sight,” she said after the launch of the centre recently.

Modern method: Caroline explaining the machinery used in processing the tea leaves.

The company’s chief executive officer Caroline Russell said the visitors participating in the conducted tours at the centre will gain first hand information of how tea is grown and processed to provide the “ummph” (the wonderful taste as advertised), that Boh is known for.

“The centre also boasts a 6.096m (20ft) overhanging platform which presents a spectacular view of the estate and this balcony is a favourite spot for visitors as they immerse themselves in the beauty of the surroundings while savouring one of Boh’s many types of tea,” Caroline said.

According to Caroline, the Boh Tea centre has received recognition for its design, and in 2006, the Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) has awarded the centre a honorary mention in the category of public and civic buildings for the building’s design quality supported by the surrounding environment.

Patience: A worker sifting tea leaves at the factory.

“The timely launch of the centre is in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and aims to complement the efforts and enhance tourism in Cameron Highlands.

“By launching the centre officially, I believe it will cater and contribute to the increasing flow of visitors to the highlands and our estate,” she said.

Boh Plantations is the largest tea-growing company in the country and owns four tea gardens in Fairlie, Bukit Cheeding, Boh and Sungai Palas, all in Cameron Highlands.

It started operations in 1929 and has been the tea pioneer and tea expert since then.

The plantation covers 1,200ha of tea gardens in highland and lowland areas and produces four million kilogrammes of tea annually, which translates to about 5.5 million cups of tea per day. -- The Star

Rubbish mars entrance to mossy forest

Rubbish mars entrance to mossy forest
Friday March 23, 2007

I took some friends from Germany who were on holiday here to visit the famous mossy forest that is located at Bukit Brinchang, Cameron Highlands.

We were all shocked and disappointed that the first thing that we saw was a pile of rubbish that has been lying there, and judging from the smell, for quite some time.

All parties, the authorities and the visitors themselves, must play a bigger role to protect the very place that has become an attraction to tourists, both local and foreign.

The reality is, it is the rubbish that they will have memories of and not the beautiful mossy forest that they drove all they way from Kuala Lumpur to see. Word of mouth advertising is the best way to sell tourism products, but it can also have a reverse effect.

OMAR ARIFF,
Kuala Lumpur.

Bharat Tea Plantation

Green, green tea of Camerons
Wednesday March 14, 2007
By CLARA CHOOI

HE opens his windows every day to ‘savour’ a magnificent view of undulating hills dotted with millions of emerald-green tea bushes that sparkle like gems beneath rain-washed skies.

If he looks even closer, he would see his over 300 workers in a flurry of activity on the 650ha fields, their nimble hands skimming the low bushes in search of fresh two-leaf buds, which they pluck by the basket-loads.

Not far off, steam is billowing from the smokestacks of a tea-processing factory, the place where the leaves are sent to be withered, rolled, fermented and then dried into black tea.

If he listens hard enough, he could also hear the sound of tourists’ laughter in the wind, carried across the hills from a pretty cafe built to overlook the entire plantation.

Still, even with the knowledge that every grain of soil on that vast land contains a century worth of his family’s blood and sweat, Datuk A. Kesav Kumar is never one to stand on ceremony.

---

On the tea trail: A splendid view of the Cameron Bharat tea plantation in Cameron Highlands, Pahang.


Seeing green: Kesav Kumar explaining how only two-leaf tea buds are plucked to be processed into the finished product.

---

“I guess sometimes we just take the things we have for granted,” said the humble 50-year-old owner of the Cameron Bharat Plantations in Cameron Highlands, Pahang.

The plantation is the producer of the Cameron Valley brand of tea, available exclusively in the highlands.

Kesav Kumar said the birth of the plantation was truly a rags-to-riches tale – one that began with his grandfather A. Shuparshad and his migration to Malaya in the early 1900s.

“My grandfather came from Uttar Pradesh in India to get into the sundry business,” said Kesav Kumar.

Shuparshad, he said, opened a shop in Tapah supplying provisions to the workers who were then building the road to the newly discovered Cameron Highlands.

What followed was years of toil as the young Shuparshad slowly moved from his humble shop in Tapah to become the pioneer owner of a larger sundry shop business in Cameron highlands and finally the owner of a small tea plantation.

“He first started out by purchasing a 20ha plot of land at RM8 per acre. That same plot eventually grew into the 650ha that we own today,” said Kesav Kumar.

He added that his father, the late Datuk A. Brijkishore, took over the plantation in the 1950s and began expanding it single-handedly.

Today, the plantation’s yearly yield is about five million kg of tea leaves, 80% of which is sold to the country’s over 100 tea blenders, said Kesav Kumar.

“The rest is used to produce the Cameron Valley blend of tea, which is made from two of the best grades of tea leaves,” he said.

He added that the tea shop, located by the trunk road between Tanah Rata and Ringlet, was opened by his wife and sister-in-law three years ago.

As it fronts the panoramic view of the plantation’s rolling hills and manicured tea bushes, the shop has become a regular stopover for tourists, he said. -- The Star

Highlands development pushed to the limit

Pushed to the limit
By Hilary Chiew
Tuesday March 6, 2007

Our highlands are no longer cool as buildings, farms and roads have displaced trees.

Land clearing: Road construction is another problem plaguing the highlands.

THE warmer weather in our highlands has led many to believe that global warming has arrived. But the environmental circle hesitates to make a similar conclusion, stating that deforestation plays a bigger role in the rising temperatures.

Some also said the rise from 24.6°C in 1984 to 27.9°C in 1997 was influenced by a severe El Nino in 1997.

Veteran environmentalist Gurmit Singh says a warmer Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands and Frasers Hill is to be expected as these popular hill resorts face forest clearing for development of townships, vegetable farms and tourism infrastructure.

However, he points out that the temperature rise recorded by the Meteorological Services Department (METS) is indicative of a small area in Cameron Highlands, and thus should not be construed as representative of the overall highlands situation.

“The temperature is recorded in one location in Cameron Highlands and is therefore only indicative of condition around that station. At the moment, there is not enough scientific spread of data to conclude that the highland is indeed warming,” he said.

The sole METS weather station is located in Tanah Rata where rapid development has occurred in the last 20 years.

While reports about ‘highland warming’ may seem speculative and inconclusive in the absence of empirical scientific data, anecdotal accounts of people living there should be a wake-up call for authorities to heed the many guidelines on management of montane forests.

Gurmit, who chairs the Centre for Environmental Technology and Development Malaysia, said concern over this matter should spur authorities to conduct a thorough study including documenting the experiences of local residents.

He lamented the lack of action by the National Climate Change Committee, chaired by the secretary-general of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which has not met for the last three years.

“We submitted an action plan as a result of consultation with many stakeholders on the issue of climate change but till today we have not had a chance to meet and discuss the recommendations.”

Weather event

Global Environment Centre director Faizal Parish agrees that the severe 1997 El Nino event played a significant role in warmer temperatures but notes that average minimum and maximum temperatures have risen at least 1°C over the last two decades.

“Malaysia is affected by both global and regional temperature changes.

“On the regional front, weather predictors have overlooked a significant weather phenomenon, the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), that also contributes to the dry spell that affects the overall temperature,” he said, adding that the phenomenon was not identified until 1999 by Japanese climatologists.

He said IOD has the same effect as El Nino, which causes drought in South-East Asia, and together the two phenomena will intensify dry spells.

Faizal said this happened last year, resulting in Java not receiving rain for five months and severe bush fires in Sumatra.

Such variability in the oceanic-atmospheric circulation has a profound effect on climate in the southern hemisphere and will drive temperatures upward as the drought prolongs.

He said El Nino historically occurred at intervals of two to seven years and lasted one or two years but there was indication that the period was getting longer and the frequency, shorter.

Nevertheless, global and regional climate patterns only have a big influence on local conditions where the micro-climate has been altered.

Muddy waters: Silt carried along by a river in Cameron Highlands.

Land loss

Faizal warned that further uncontrolled development in the highlands would have dire consequences on the local weather condition.

He pointed out that on top of the 10,000ha between Ringlet and Kampung Raja that were cleared in the past, the local structural plan indicated plans to convert 30,000ha of Cameron Highlands for temperate agricultural use.

Describing the plan as paradoxical, he said: “Cameron Highlands and other highlands attract tourists and farmers because of the cooler climate. But if we continue to pile on the pressure, the coolness will be destroyed and there goes the tourism and temperate vegetables.”

Clearing of forests on the highlands continues unabated. Beyond Cameron Highlands, tarred roads are being built on parts of the Main Range like the Gua Musang-Lojing road, thus opening up more forest for vegetable cultivation.

And all this massive clearing will have an adverse, long-term impact on the country’s water supply.

Stripping the highlands of their tree cover leads to erosion and landslide, which then silt up tributaries that flow into major rivers in the lowland. Landslides are abundant along the Old Tapah Road up to Cameron Highlands as well as the Simpang Pulai-Kampung Raja road.

Development: Poor landuse planning has led to wanton cutting of hills.

Faizal said erosion caused by the Gua Musang-Lojing road construction was already being felt at Sungai Nenggiri, threatening populations of the prized freshwater fish, kelah (golden mahseer).

He warned that Pahang would become water stressed if it failed to address land clearing in Cameron Highlands, which is the headwater of Sungai Pahang.

As of now, massive erosion due to deforestation in the Sungai Jelai area is polluting the river that feeds Sungai Pahang. -- The Star.

Opinion of warming climate of highlands

It may not be too late to reverse damage done to highlands
Thursday March 1, 2007

WITH reference to your report “Highland Warming” (The Star, Feb 26), I would like to add on some of my views, particularly on Cameron Highlands.

Our future generations, especially the poorer ones, can kiss and say goodbye to experiencing what “Mediterannean weather” is all about as the remaining three main highlands are going to be “warmed up” by this generation, leaving nothing for future generations.

My observations are:

> OVER-development of three highlands, especially Cameron Highlands over the past five years. Forests are stripped so much so each year during Chinese New Year Brinchang and Tanah Rata are without water.
> NO effort has been made to plant thousands and thousands of trees to lower the temperature.
> NO control of vehicles, especially buses and lorries emitting black smoke into the environment.
> MORE rubbish being burnt in open areas.

To save the highlands, the Government should:

> Ban the construction of buildings and apartments.
> Embark on making tree planting a priority.
> Place barricades along the roads leading to Cameron Highlands to keep out polluting vehicles.
> Enforce laws against anti-littering.

We need people who are committed to bringing changes to protect the environment.

FRANK TAN,
Ipoh.

- The Star.

Van crash along road

Desperate metal thieves are at work again. And this time to dire consequences as the metal guardrails could have saved a life if not for the missing guardrails stolen by thieves. Read on the news from Star newspaper...

Van driver dies in crash
Thursday March 1, 2007

Ipoh: A computer technician died after his van plunged into a 25m-deep ravine at Km32 of the Simpang Pulai-Kampung Raja road near Pos Slim.

The body of M. Sharma Das was found some 10m away from the vehicle yesterday.

The accident was believed to have occurred sometime on Tuesday as a receipt found in the vehicle showed that the victim had exited the Simpang Pulai toll plaza at 11am that day.

Ipoh traffic chief Asst Supt Razali Bakar said the 33-year-old man might have lived if not for the theft of guardrails along the stretch of road leading to Cameron Highlands.

He said the victim was believed to have lost control of the vehicle, possibly due to a punctured tyre, while travelling uphill alone.

“The van might not have ended up in the ravine if not for the missing guardrails,” he said.

ASP Razali said family members found the van belonging to the victim’s company after combing the road in search of him yesterday.

“The victim had been missing since Tuesday. He was last seen at his office here before leaving for Cameron Highlands for work,” he said.

When contacted, state Infras-tructure and Public Utilities Committee chairman Datuk Ho Cheng Wang said the problem of missing guardrails along that stretch of road had been discovered a few months' back.

“As the road came under the purview of the Federal Government, we made a request for them to be replaced.

“However, the contractor engaged to maintain federal roads had yet to take any action,” he added.
- The Star.

Highlands warming

Highland warming
Monday February 26, 2007

Petaling Jaya: Temperatures in Malaysia’s highland areas including the three major hill resorts – Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands and Fraser’s Hill – are rising and over-development has been blamed for this.

Global Environment Centre (GEC) director Faizal Parish said the maximum temperature in the highlands had climbed between 2°C and 3°C in the last 25 years due to the clearing of forests and over-development.

A check with the Meteorological Services Department confirmed this.

(GEC is a non-profit organisation which was established in 1998 to work on environmental issues of global importance, undertaking strategic projects particularly in developing countries.)

In 1984, the annual maximum temperature in Cameron Highlands was 24.6°C and over the years, it has gradually increased, hitting 27.9°C in 1998.

In 2005, it registered 26.7°C and last year 25.9°C.

Even the annual minimum temperature has gone up – in 1984, it was 12°C, 1989 (10°C), 1995 (13.2°C) and last year 12.9°C.

Faizal said: “If you clear trees, it results in what we call a microclimate change, which means a change of the climate within that area.

“While 1°C or 2°C does not sound like much, these small changes can cause major changes in the rainfall and weather patterns, which in turn, can affect crops.

“So far, the ones which have been more badly affected are Genting and Cameron Highlands.”

In Cameron Highlands, residents and visitors are saying that it is no longer as cold as before.

Now, lowland birds are being seen there while highlands species are “moving out” – an indication of a warmer climate.

Genting Highlands is not faring any better. Residents there remember having to start up a coal stove in their rooms before leaving for work in the morning to keep the room warm when they get home. There is no need to do that now.

In Fraser's Hill, back in the 1970s, one only needed to immerse a bottle of soft drink in the water at the waterfall to chill it.

Faizal explained that trees cooled the air around them, adding: “One big tree is the equivalent to 10 air conditioners”.

He said the climbing temperature in the highlands could also cause chaos to the ecosystem.

“As the lowland species of insects, plants and birds start to move to the highlands, it can lead to the extinction of certain highland species as they have nowhere to go,” he said. -- The Star.

Signs in bird migration

Signs in bird migration
Monday February 26, 2007

Ipoh: Birdwatchers at Cameron Highlands are noticing lowland birds that have never been seen in the highlands area “moving in” while indigenous birds have flown elsewhere, presumably to colder climates.

This is a clear sign that the area was warming up, according to Regional Environmental Awareness Cameron Highlands (Reach) president R. Ramakrishnan.

He said that in the past one or two years, birdwatchers had spotted the fire-tufted barbet, rhino hornbill, mountain imperial pigeon, black eagle, mountain bulbul, black-crested bulbul, grey wagtail and Asian brown flycatcher.

“These are species that have never been spotted in the Cameron Highlands area before. The mynah bird, another species you don’t see there, are found in huge numbers now,” he said in an interview.

Ramakrishnan, 42, noted that birdwatchers were reporting the absence of indigenous species that used to frequent the jungle trails of Cameron Highlands.

“Plant species that used to inhabit the trails are also dying. All of this may be also due to local development, not just the warmer climate,” he said.

Another worrying problem, he said, was that the hotter weather might aggravate the water shortage currently faced by Cameron Highlands residents and tourists.

Ramakrishnan said Cameron Highlands, with a population of some 33,000 people, already faced a shortage of some four million litres each day. -- The Star.

No more need for stove

No more need for stove
Monday February 26, 2007

Genting Highlands: Low Siau Kien remembers having to start up a coal stove in her room here before leaving for work in the morning to keep the room warm when she gets home.

“It would be freezing without the stove,” said the manager who works with Highland Mushroom (M) Sdn Bhd.

However, that is a thing of the past.

The weather, she said, is warmer now and her family had not used the coal stove for the last five to six years.

Another resident here, Lam Chee Wah, 55, said the indoor temperature used to be 16°C back in the 1970s.

“It would also get misty almost every day,” said Lam.

“Once, I remember that the temperature even went down to 9°C,” said Lam.

“Now, I can walk around indoors at night without a shirt,” he said.

Source: The Star

New booster system to ensure water supply at Camerons

New booster system to ensure water supply at Camerons
Sunday February 25, 2007
By Hah Foong Lian / The Star.

Cameron Highlands: Water cuts during periods of high demand when tourists jam up this popular hill resort may be a thing of the past by next month.

This is because the new booster system at the Kuala Terlah water treatment plant here will begin operating to overcome the water supply shortage.

Pahang Water Supply Department director Datuk Ismail Mohd Noor said his department was aware of problems faced by residents living in high places at Tanah Rata and Brinchang here.

“Whenever there are too many people in Cameron Highlands, it can be a problem. But I am confident that the water shortage will be resolved by March with the commissioning of the booster system at the Kuala Terlah plant,” he said.

Ismail added that the department was keen to resolve the water woes here because it was Visit Malaysia 2007.

Greenhill Resort resident of seven years Khoo Kheng-Hor said he had been experiencing water supply disruption since Monday.

The author said the disruption had caused a lot of inconvenience and what was worse was that they were not informed when the supply would resume.

A hotelier who declined to be named said some of the guests hadchecked out earlier because there was no water supply.

“This is a perennial problem and it is not good for a place like this because this is a tourist destination.”

He added that it would help if there was more than one tanker to deliver water to those who needed it. -- The Star

Rare orchid found in Malaysia

Rare orchid found in Malaysia
Wednesday February 21, 2007

IPOH: The mysterious orchid picked up by two environmentalists deep in the jungles of Cameron Highlands has turned out to be the rare Monomeria barbata – a first for Malaysia.

Embi Abdullah, 59, who stumbled across the orchid with his friend while trekking in the Ruil mountains last year, said the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) and the French Orchid Society had recently confirmed the genus and species.

Exciting find: Embi examining the orchid, which has been confirmed as ‘Monomeria barbata’.

The Monomeria barbata, first discovered 200 years ago in Nepal and the Eastern Himalayas, grew only in cool weather on treetops some 1,600m to 2,000m above sea level, he said.

“This is an exciting breakthrough for Malaysia because this genus of orchid – the Monomeria – has never been found here before.

“The plant has been recorded in Nepal, north-eastern India, Vietnam and Myanmar, but never in Malaysia,” he added.

“This canopy orchid is also rarely found in the wild even in its countries of origin because of ongoing development now,” said Embi, who has studied orchids for over 15 years.

According to a scientist from FRIM, Embi and his friend N. Madi were not the first to discover the orchid as another Malaysian had brought it back for identification about two or three years ago.

However, this has not damped Embi's excitement as he has been asked by the French Orchid Society to submit a paper describing the Malaysian variant of the flower.

Although the flower is now widely available among orchid enthusiasts in Europe, the Monomeria barbata found in the Cameron Highlands might be unique to Malaysia alone.

“There is a difference between our plant and those in Europe. The colour on the surface of the lip is yellow on theirs, while ours is brown.

“In Europe, the plant is also described as small and miniature but ours is medium-sized,” said Embi. - The Star.

Farmer drops veggies for roses

Farmer drops veggies for roses
By Chan Li Leen
Wednesday February 21, 2007

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: A rose is a rose to most people.

A trip to the Rose Centre here, however, might just change one’s mind for this tranquil little garden grows over 100 different types of roses.

According to the centre’s director Chai Keok Chew, few people realise that roses not only came in different colours but also in varying shapes and sizes.

“Some roses have fragrance but even that differs from plant to plant,” said Chai, 55, who loves the sweet-smelling American Rose.

A thing of beauty: Chai admiring one of the many types of roses grown at his centre in Kea Farm, Cameron Highlands recently.

Formerly a vegetable farmer, Chai opened the centre in Kea Farm here some 14 years ago.

“I eventually gave up farming to concentrate on the centre.

“Over the years, I’ve managed to plant more than 100 varieties of roses and over 1,000 types of cacti,” he noted.

Some of the cacti, which he has kept for almost 20 years, have grown beyond the centre’s ceiling.

Although this place is a rose centre, it is filled with other flowers such as the Bird of Paradise, begonia, hibiscus and lavender.

There are a few, such as the Lady’s Shoe and the Jade Vine, which Chai also called the Japanese Blue Butterfly, that are uncommon but extremely special.

Unusual species: Also at Kea Farm is the Lady's Shoe, named so for obvious reasons. —Lew Yong Kan / The Star

“I’m not too sure what is the native country of the Japanese Blue Butterfly but a friend from Australia gave it to me some years back.

“Many rare flowers at the centre were gifts but I also bring them from my overseas trips to cultivate them here,” he added. - The Star.

Hopeful of discovering new orchids

Hopeful of discovering new orchids
Tuesday February 20, 2007

Common but precious: Dr Jaap Vermeulen with wild orchids found at many roadsides in Cameron Highlands.

IN 2002, Dr Jaap Vermeulen purchased an orchid plant from a nursery in Cameron Highlands because he knew it could well be a species new to science. He later described the plant and named it Bulbophyllum ochthodes.

In a recent collection trip with researchers from the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (Frim), the orchidologist could hardly believe his luck when he came across the same species perched on a mossy branch in the montane jungle.

“That was the first time I saw it in the wild,” says the expert in the orchid genus Bulbophyllum. He has described more than a third of the 3,000-odd Bulbophyllum in the world.

“If we find a single plant and are not sure if it’s rare, we take a little for description purposes and leave enough for it to grow in the wild. We’re rather careful with that,” he explains.

The lanky Dutch is one of many plant scientists engaged under the Flora of Peninsular Malaysia project to share his expertise and guide the pool of young botanists. He has also conducted an illustration workshop for Frim staff. Illustration of plants is an important component in documenting them for scientific publications.

Vermeulen is the orchid curator with the National Herbarium of Netherlands in Leiden that has a wide collection of plant specimens from this region and a long-running collaborative arrangement with Frim.

As if to further sweeten his memory of Cameron Highlands, Vermeulen left for Leiden hopeful that he has stumbled upon yet another new species. He has left the budding plant at Frim and is eagerly waiting for the flower to bloom so that he could ascertain its status. - The Star.

Treasure trove of rare species

Treasure Trove of Rare Species
Tuesday February 20, 2007

Serious business: Dr Saw Leng Guan (right), head of the Flora of Peninsular Malaysia project, scrutinising the wild pitcher plants collected by nursery operator Tai Teck Boon.

WHEN Tai Teck Boon was a young boy growing up in Cameron Highlands, he witnessed constant deforestation for vegetable farms and other development projects. He saw huge ancient trees brought down together with many wild, epiphytic plants such as orchids.

Valuable specimen: This flowering rhododendron is collected to enrich the Kepong Herbarium.

“It was such a pity to let the orchids die just like that. So, I took them back and grew them,” recalls the 60-year-old from Brinchang. His hobby later turned into a business and he has been running a nursery for 40 years selling mainly montane plants.

Unwittingly, Tai has rescued many plants from possible extinction, such as the one that Dutch orchidologist Dr Jaap Vermeulen described as Bulbophyllum ochthodes.

Over the years, Tai’s wild collections have grown into a treasure trove of rare and endangered species that attract researchers and enthusiasts, locals as well as foreign. He readily allows scientists like those working on the Flora of Peninsular Malaysia project access to his collections.

Little green wonder: Mosses found in a ditch next to a vegetable plot in Cameron Highlands.

Project director Dr Saw Leng Guan admits that collaborating with nursery operators can be a “tricky” undertaking as a bona fide scientist would not want to be seen as endorsing such commercial activity. However, given the difficulties in obtaining certain rare plants, he says researchers have to work with private collectors.

Tai insists that he is not breaking any laws because he merely picked up ”discards”. His nursery was previously raided by Department of Forestry staff when word about his huge collection of wild plants got around but the enforcers did not find any incriminating evidence.

Saw says enforcement is hampered by the absence of laws. “Unlike the Protection of Wildlife Act that protects fauna species, our flora species are largely unprotected. Until we get our act together, the loophole will be exploited.”

Forest beauty: A herbaceous plant that thrives in the understorey of tropical forests and on slopes in the montane jungle of our highlands.

Clearing of forests requires a licence from state forestry departments but it is silent on non-timber products extracted from the concession. There is indication that illegal collections do occur in Cameron Highlands for high value species such as orchids, either for personal collections or nurseries that cater to overseas collectors.

Tai, however, might be a different sort of collector – he does not to hide his collection and is willing to share them. Given his vast experience in dealing with plants, he is assisting in the setting up of the Montane Flora Conservatory under the Cameron Highlands Montane Park project – a collaboration between Forest Research Institute of Malaysia and Pahang Forestry Department.

The conservatory at Brinchang aims to be the central depository for montane species in an effort to preserve them for conservation, research and education. It houses collections from Frasers Hill, Gunung Jerai and Cameron Highlands and will soon be opened to the public.
- The Star.

Metered Taxis allowed to tourist destination like Cameron Highlands soon

Taxis can ply in tourist areas soon
Wednesday February 14, 2007

PUTRAJAYA: Metered taxis operating in the Klang Valley will soon be allowed to ferry passengers to, as well as pick them up from, tourist attractions in Malacca, Port Dickson, Genting Highlands and the Cameron Highlands.

The Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) said yesterday that this was decided during a meeting on Jan 4.

It was also decided that Malacca taxis would be allowed to ferry passengers to and from the Klang Valley.

CVLB chairman Datuk Markiman Kobiran said the decision would come into effect on Friday.

“The relevant enforcement agencies, state governments and taxi operators and associations have been notified.

“The decision is made to ensure that passengers, especially tourists, can travel to these tourist attractions without hassle.

“However, the taxis ferrying passengers to and from the areas must issue receipts to the passengers,” he said in a statement.

Markiman said the areas designated as being under the Klang Valley in this context are Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, the whole of Selangor (except Kuala Langat and Sabak Bernam) and Seremban.

Markiman said the board had also decided that from tomorrow, taxis operating in Penang could send passengers to the Bayan Lepas International Airport but would not be allowed to pick up passengers from there.

Markiman said the board agreed that a surcharge of RM7 be imposed on passengers travelling to Penang airport.

“The surcharge is a form of incentive to the taxi drivers, who will have to leave the airport without any passengers,” he said. - The Star.