Updates from the Field - Bukit Piton Reforestation for Orangutan
Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from Borneo. Today, we just wanted to share with you the updates on what goes behind the scenes for the Reforestation Project for Orangutan Habitat at Bukit Piton Forest Reserve
As you are well aware, due to the partial lockdown in Malaysia, we were only able to run the first maintenance work for 2020 on 4 July 2020. Mr Hoe from Kontraktor Fajar, a subject matter expert at reforestation in the jungles of Sabah, came highly recommended to us from Sabah Forestry Department. Mr Hoe has spent over decades spearheading tree planting and maintenance projects with numerous international and local NGOs to restore the forests in Sabah and has been working closely alongside with Sabah Forestry Department.
Mr Hoe and the team from Kontraktor Fajar did a great job recently with the maintenance work at Brothers Cycling project plots in Bukit Piton. They cleared the tall growing grass and removed creepers & climbers that threatened the healthy growth of the seedlings. As mentioned in previous report in July 2020 for the 4Ha plot, we had to painfully replace in total 145 trees as the some of the trees unfortunately did not make it. The long pause for maintenance work has resulted some plants to lack of exposure to sunshine or tangled by creepers and climbers or destroyed by wildlife.
We are lucky that since 2019, we have dedicated a small part of our home garden to a mini nursery especially dedicated for Bukit Piton. As such we had some tree saplings ready to replace the trees at Bukit Piton. Kontraktor Fajar’s maintenance work for Brother Cycling has been inspected, verified and approved by the Sabah Forestry department to proceed for the next maintenance work due in Oct 2020.
We are also blessed that the team from Sabah Forestry Department took the time to visit Brothers Cycling project site at Bukit Piton on 16 July 2020. It was an insightful meeting as we got to learn a bit more in depth on the efforts that Sabah Forestry Department has taken throughout these years at sustaining and protecting Bukit Piton as a first-class forest reserve.
As we shared with you in the previous newsletter dated 20 Oct 2020, the second maintenance successfully took place in early Oct 2020. We are now in preparation for the next maintenance work. Mr Hoe has collected some trees from our mini nursery last week to take to his nursery which is much closer to Bukit Piton. He and his team has replaced the trees to bigger poly bags and will nurture the trees till it’s time to be planted to Bukit Piton.
Detailed write up and some photos can be viewed [https://www.brotherscycling.com/en/projects/orangutan-bukit-piton/updates-field?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=Brothers_Cycling_Newsletter_EN&utm_medium=email]
The update covers the activities we undertaken since July 2020 for Brothers Cycling Reforestation Project for Orangutan Habitat at Bukit Piton.
Above are some of the activities that took place for the Brothers Cycling Reforestation Project for Orangutan Habitat at Bukit Piton Forest Reserve. We hope the above gives you a bit of an idea on the work and the people involved to make this project happen. We wish to thank all of you for giving us the trust to execute and manage this reforestation project. We thank you for your contributions. A special thanks to the Sabah Forestry Department for your support, guidance and advice.
Heres to seeing Bukit Piton Forest Reserve and the hope that the continuous reforestation effort will provide enrich living quality and offer continuous food supply for the endangered Borneo orangutan and other wildlife.
Terima Kasih.
Warmest wishes from Borneo,
Simon and Itisha
