PLANTATION LIFE (2) – jungle clearings and earthworks

Whenever I had the opportunity I would tag along during my husband's routine site inspections, to take pictures of the goings on in the plantation. Sharing here are photos on jungle clearings and earthworks activities in oil palm/cocoa cultivation - Tenegang, Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia.

Greenpeace, Wetlands and Friends of the Earth are currently running elaborate campaigns against palm oil, pressuring developing nations to reduce or even eliminate the land conversion necessary to cultivate this basic food ingredient.

These green activists claim oil palm cultivation causes tropical deforestation, poses a serious threat to the global climate.

But these NGOs are silent on soya bean, rapeseed and sunflower farming causing deforestation in temperate countries. Too many questions remained unanswered:

……"How come these NGOs do not lobby for reforestation in Europe and the US? At the very least they should campaign for 10 per cent of the 100 million hectares planted with soyabean, rapeseed and sunflower to be with replanted with trees to absorb carbon dioxide from the polluted air there?….. quote

…..How come these NGOs do not tell their own governments to replant forest and restore the habitats for racoons, beavers, frogs, wild foxes, deers and bears?" …... quote

……Surprisingly, there is no such call by these NGOs for a moratorium on cars, ships, airplanes, oil exploration, coal mining and petrochemical processing industries, which all emit more carbon dioxide to the air than agriculture.


 "Isn't it ironic that the carbon emission of 3.5 tonnes from one tonne of depleting fossil fuel is tolerated while biofuels, which have the advantage of being renewable, are abhorred even though they are proven to be 35 to 65 per cent less polluting than fossil fuels?" …….quote

At the Malaysia-Indonesia Economic Seminar 2009, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad advised the two top producers to speak with one voice to counter the anti-palm oil lobby by Europe-based environmental activists.

For more interesting read and a better understanding of this controversial environment issue please follow;

Everyday we consume palm oil without even knowing it. 
It starts with the toothpaste we use when we wake up in the morning; to the moisturizer we rub on our skin, to frying oil at restaurants. Even our electricity grids are powered by biogas plants at palm oil mills. Here.

The Impact of Oil Palm in Borneo
By Rhett A. Butler. Here

Is Harvesting Palm Oil Destroying the Rainforests? Here

 

Environmental impact of palm oil. Here

Among The Great Apes With Michelle Yeoh :  A must watch!

This 50-minute documentary, which took 18 months to produce, tells of Malaysia's conservation efforts to protect the orangutan, which are among the planet's most endangered primates. Being the only great apes found in Asia, they now survive only on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Here

Remembering Michael Jackson and 
his beautiful “EARTH SONG” here.
 

“What about the bleeding Earth
(What about us)
Can't we feel its wounds
(What about us)
What about nature's worth”

MORE:

Part 1: PLANTATION LIFE - How to Get there

PLANTATION LIFE (1) - Oil Palm, Rubber, Cocoa, Jelutong Plantations

(view taken from my verandah)

Malaysia is one of the world’s largest exporters of palm oil and rubber. Many of the huge plantations are under private ownership or plantation companies. The plantation I was in grew oil palms, rubber trees, cocoa and jelutong (for chewing gums) all on one contiguous block of land of approximately 50,000 hectares located in the oil palm belt of Sabah.

During the initial development stages to open new plantations, Planters endure harsh living and working conditions coping with the minimum of basic necessities. A couple of years before we went in, security was tense as these areas were constantly under the threat of pirates and heavily armed robbers. 

Sharing here are some photos taken during my 10 years living in and around the jungles of Borneo (Kinabatangan, Tabin and Sukau). 

GETTING IN AND OUT

 

Traveling in or out was greatly influenced by the weather, the sun, the moon and vehicles must be in perfect condition (breakdowns you huff and puff and scream and walk for hours to get to the nearest help - consider yourself lucky if another vehicle passes by).  Good weather and bright sunny day means you will reach your destination as scheduled. Distances are not measured by kilometres but by the hours. 

BY AIR

The fastest was by air - Malaysia Airlines System Bhd flies in twice weekly. Our airport, ooops, a shelter with some benches and the landing strip were managed by the Plantation. This part of the plantation (block) is fully developed with mature oil palms/cocoa/jelutong trees, factories, administrative center, research facility center, clubhouses, mosques, temples and a Primary school.

During bad weather air travel can be a heart thumping experience, choppy and bumpy sometimes flights were cancelled without notice - while on your way to catch your flight you may suddenly see the plane taking off. For urgent/ emergency cases we charter helicopters from Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

RIVER CROSSINGS

From Sandakan to Lahad Datu you will come across Sungai Kinabatangan and Sungai Segama. The nightmarish daily traffic crawls, queuing and the wait to get across these rivers is bound to test your patience. 

Depending on the weather and pray that no over-loaded lorry slips or overturns on these cable ferries; it may take from 3 hours to an overnight snooze by the roadside for your turn to get on the ferry. 

The slightest rain may cause the river to swell and fast-flowing water will make it impossible to cross.  Either you wait for your turn or head back home and hope for the weather to improve. BTW there were no public facilities such as toilets or restaurants, in cases of emergencies;  just leave this to your own imagination Okay! 

We can get the villagers to help us across on small boats (private sampans) for a fee and have another vehicle wait for you on the other side of the river. No public transportation available here.

Today these cable ferries are no longer in operation. 
(Photo: Bridge under construction).

River crossing inside the plantation.

SURFACE  TRAVEL

 The narrow and bumpy jungle track winds through Tabin Forest Reserve. If staying atop the bucking bull for eight seconds is considered a risky sport and claimed as "the most dangerous eight seconds in sports" imagine you having to sit on the bull every 15 minutes for the 5-7 hours journey. For security reasons night travels across the forest reserve are not permitted.

During heavy downpours jungle tracks may completely disappear under water, log/timber bridges get swept away by the dangerously swift flash flood waters.

 

What are these? Logs lay across jungle tracks - dare to venture this trail will take you deeper into the forest and you may discover illegal logging activities going on.

RIVER TRANSPORTATION

Rivers are used mainly to transport heavy goods to the plantation. (Photo: Friends visit to the plantation – boating trip/cruise and to watch the villagers retrieve prawns traps/bubu from the river).

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PLANTATION LIFE (2) – jungle clearings and earthworks

A visit from Anguilla - one of the smallest inhabited Caribbean islands - BERMUDA TRIANGLE

ANGUILLA

Last 28^th October 2011, I received a visitor from Anguilla. Welcome to Woman724 and curious as always, surfed the net to know more about this country. I must confess; I have very little knowledge of this place before this date.

I am sure many have read about the Bermuda Triangle; a stretch of water between Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Florida, the site where many planes and ships disappeared under highly unusual circumstances. Anguilla is one of the smallest inhabited Caribbean island  just outside this triangle.

Some sources claim that Columbus sighted the island in 1493, while others state that the island was first discovered by the French in 1564 or 1565. According to tradition, Christopher Columbus gave the small, narrow island its name in 1493 because from the distance it resembled an eel, or in Italian, anguilla. It is also possible that French navigator Pierre Laudonnière gave the island its name from the French anguille. 

The territory consists of the main island of Anguilla itself, approximately 26 km (16 mi) long by 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its widest point, together with a number of much smaller islands and cays with no permanent population.

The island's capital is The Valley. The total land area of the territory is 91 km² (35 sq mi), with a population of approximately 13,500 (2006 estimate). Here and here.

ORANG UTAN BECAME INTERNET STAR CLEANING ITSELF WITH A WASHCLOTH SEPILOK, SANDAKAN, SABAH, MALAYSIA - ORANG UTAN SANCTUARY

ORANG UTAN

And obligingly will pose for

a photo with the kids too!

Discovery News

Analysis by Jennifer Viegas
Mon Aug 22, 2011 12:33 PM ET

An Orang Utan at Tokyo's Tama Zoo has become an Internet star thanks to a video that shows the tidy primate cleaning itself with a washcloth. The two-minute clip, shot on an 86 degree day at the zoo, shows the Orang Utan dipping a washcloth in water, wringing it out and wiping its face and upper body. The primate even mops up spilt water droplets afterward. Source and video here.



Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping nests each night from branches and foliage.


Their hair is typically reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes. An infant weighs around half a kilo at birth. Adult females grow to 1.3 metres in height and can weigh 45kg. Males can sometimes reach 1.8 metres in height and can weigh over 120kg.

Orang Utans are the slowest breeding of all primates and, at eight years, have the longest inter-birth interval of any land-based mammal. A female Orang Utan will normally have her first infant between the ages of 12 and 15.

Offspring are dependent on their mothers for at least five years and with a life expectancy of 45 years plus, females will normally have no more than three offspring.

With these factors combined, the Orang Utan population, especially small fragmented populations, are at considerable risk. These amazing apes are extremely endangered and we must act now to ensure their existence in the future.

The Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre was established in 1964 to return orphaned apes back to the wild. The centre, located near the town of Sandakan, is one of the best places on earth to see the famous wild man of Borneo in its natural habitat.

Here at the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Center, the largest and oldest of its kind on earth, a dedicated team of professionals work tirelessly to assist orphaned, abandoned or abused Orang Utans to learn the survival skills they need to return to their natural habitat - the teeming jungles of Borneo.

The objectives of the project include public education on conservation, research and assistance to other endangered species such as captive breeding of the rare and endangered rhinoceros. Considering how difficult it is to see an orangutan in the wild, the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary offers an exceptionally rare experience.

Visitors are confined to wooden walkways with the twice daily feeding times being the easiest for visitors to observe the majestic animals. The Sepilok centre supplements the rehabilitated Orang Utan's diet with a feeding at 10.00am and 3.00pm.

An open access feeding station continues to lure and supplement the diet of the now wild Orang Utans. During this time, visitors to the Sanctuary can observe the great apes slowly emerge from the rainforest to be fed by the rangers, socializing and partaking in an afternoon snack.

If you are a nature lover and Orang Utan enthusiast this is a perfect destination for you. 

More on Orang Utan below;

.... Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary, Sabah, here.

.... Orang Utan Project at Sepilok, here.

.... Orang Utan Conservancy, here.

.... Orang Utan Foundation, here.