At the height of biodiversity

When it comes to escaping the hustle and bustle of city life, nothing compares to reconnecting with nature.

Nestled within Genting Highlands is a lush rainforest with a rich biodiversity which would delight nature lovers.

 

Located between 914m and 1,828.8m above sea level, the rainforest can be categorised into three different types – the Fashion Forest at Awana (upper dipterocarp forest); Sky Forest at Chin Swee Temple (montane oak forest) and Chocolate Forest (montane ericaceous forest). The Genting Skyway Cable Car allows visitors to have a scenic view across Skyride Forest, connecting the forests.

 

Resorts World Genting (RWG) is working together with Treks Nature Enterprise, a consultancy that designs nature activities to promote nature in a fun way while instilling the spirit of conservation among the public.

 

As such, RWG recently brought a group of city dwellers on a weekend escapade to discover the nature treasure trove at Awana Genting.

 

Guided by Eddie Chan and Pat Ang from Treks Nature, the group which comprised media members and RWG staff were given a of nature activities at the Treks Events outlet located at Awana Hotel’s lobby.

 

Once we settled in, our nature experience kicked-off at the 130-million-year-old Fashion Forest, situated right next to Awana Hotel.

 

We were introduced to Celebri-Tree, a campaign to celebrate the abundance of biodiversity of Fashion Forest.

 

“The initiative is to create awareness of the importance of nature through social media by capturing a photo or video of a plant or an animal, and sharing it to spark interest among friends.

 

“This will encourage people who feel the same to repost to reach out to a wider community,” said Chan.

 

The forest, he said, was similar to a biodiversity playground while plants and animals were supermodels.

 

“Visitors can have a more engaging experience by scanning the barcodes to identify specific plants as well as getting to know fun facts about nature by solving quizzes,” said Chan, adding that Internet accessibility was one of the significant factors contributing towards the success of Fashion Forest.

 

Treks Events aims to reimage how art, music, fashion and social media can inspire people to love nature by introducing creative features into the forest.

 

Art forms such as tree trunk sculptures and multi-coloured mobile frames spruced up the forest environment while popular personalities and characters are used to label prominent plants and natural pergolas.

 

“These features serve as attractive props for photos and also offer a fun learning experience for visitors,” explained Chan, while showing a mini leaning tower of Pisa carved on a dead tree trunk and a 42.6m-high timber tree named Optimus Prime, which is also one of the many natural pergolas in the forest.

 

He added that the area also serves as a platform for private events and live music performances.

 

Moving upwards to Chocolate Forest, we were introduced to the Nepenthes Conservation Display Wall located at the English Garden of Theme Park Hotel.

 

Nepenthes, or commonly known as pitcher plants, trap insects with their pitcher cups containing fluid that can digest preys.

 

These carnivorous plants come in various shapes, sizes and vivid colours, with a lid on top of the pitcher’s opening to shield excessive rainwater from diluting the fluid.

 

According to Chan, Genting Highlands is home to three main species of pitcher plants – N. Macfarlanei, N. Ramispina and N. Sanguinea.

 

“Through the process of natural hybridisation, these species has produced many hybrid species of different colours, shapes and sizes,” said Chan.

 

Being the main conservation project of Treks Events, pitcher plants found in Genting Highlands are being rescued from roadsides, hillslopes and lands earmarked for development.

 

Other than learning how to differentiate the types of species, we had the opportunity to decorate the seven-panel display wall with rehabilitated pitcher plants.

 

The live specimens displayed are open for public viewing and will be changed every three months to highlight different types of species as part of the conservation project.

 

We ended our day by taking the Genting Skyway Cable Car from Chocolate Forest back to Awana and were mesmerised by the breathtaking view overlooking lush valleys of the rainforests.

 

Awana is one of the 55 Important Bird Areas (IBA) in Malaysia, home to a variety of endemic and migratory birds including four species of hornbills; Helmeted Hornbill, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Great Hornbill and Bushy Crested Hornbill.

 

Led by Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) president and MNS Selangor branch chairman Henry Goh, we managed to pick up a few tips in bird-watching as we headed out early the next morning.

 

Goh said birds were identified by their call, and knowing their favourite food and the fruit season helps provide better observation.

 

“Quite a fair bit of birds love the macaranga seeds while hornbills feed on figs,” explained Goh, adding that migratory birds were best to spot between September to March.

 

By using the Internet in the forest, we were able to research the birds’ species and learned how they looked like before spotting them.

 

We successfully spotted birds such as pin-striped Tit-babbler, Magpie Robin and Trogon and we were in luck as we saw a flying lizard in action.

 

Later that night, we were introduced to “herping” – an act of searching for amphibians or reptiles – by MNS Selangor branch Herpetofauna Special Interest Group head coordinator Steven Wong.

 

“Herpetofauna are reptiles and amphibians, sometimes shortened as herps. Herping is the act of looking for herpetofauna,” explained Wong, adding that it was a night activity when these nocturnal creatures were most active.

 

During the briefing, we learnt to differentiate frogs from toads, types of lizards and snakes as well as precautions and treatments to take if bitten by snakes.

 

Most people say the more colourful a snake, the more poisonous it is, but the fact is poisonous snakes can be in plain colours too, said Wong.

 

The rain did not dampen our enthusiasm for herping as we spent at least two hours led by Wong exploring the path towards Awana Longhouse.

 

At the end of the night, we managed to spot a spider, three frogs, a toad, a moth, a gecko and a viper in their natural habitats.

 

RWG and Treks Nature Enterprise are looking towards a bigger picture of conservation, not only to protect the flora and fauna of Genting Highlands, but also to inspire and create awareness by incorporating interactive programmes catered to all ages.

 

For details on the programmes, visit www.facebook.com/treks.events or treks.events