In the year 2013, an ecopreneur I became

A nature park in Bintulu 

Fresh Cempedak taken
today

In the year 2013, an ecopreneur I became.  Is there a time in your life that you can have the greatest fun doing what you love?  I have, and that happened in 2013 when I decided to call my eco-farm in Bintulu - the Kambatik Park.  It is the culmination of my strengths in landscaping, writing, photography, wildlife, aesthethics, planning, entrepreneurship, healthy life style, and passion in plants and life-long learning.  Here I build an eco-model for the cultivation of oil palm.  The sub-heading of the Kambatik Park's blog reads:" A private nature park developed by MOOD based on the principles of ecological diversity, oil palm integrated agro-forestry practices and Kambatik landscape design philosopohy and aesthethics".  You don't have to visit the park to experience it.  Making use of internet  technology I blogged on the development and happenings at the park for the whole world to see.  It has been more than two years since  and the story and discoveries keep on coming.  My ultimate vision is to see the model adopted along the 1000 km length of Sarawak trunk road such that it become a chain of 'kambatik park', the longest nature parkland  developed by rural entrepreneurs in Sarawak.
Sarawak - you are just so beautiful.

Happy Malaysia Day, Sarawak.

( This is the 13th and final posting for my writing contribution on what it is meant to be a Malaysian as a way for me to celebrate Malaysia Day this year, 2015)

An oil palm tree planted 4 years ago (2011)  and bearing fruits...
Zone C.

Small to medium-sized birds of the lowland dipterocarp rainforest

Ornamental trees along the road

  As part of the agro-forestry practices at the Kambatik Park, oil palm trees and many other fruit trees as well as landscaping ornamental trees are mixed in a new landscape to encourage maximum ecological diversity.  The idea is to preserve and enhance the rainforest ecology from 0-50 meters above sea level as  represented by the original forest formation at the park.  The idea of developing the nature park is to conserve the birds habitat and other wildlife.  Many small to medium-sized birds (8-20 cm) will come out of the forest and forage the forest edges, plantation and cultivated gardens to look for insects, nectar etc. The park provides shelter, food, water, and nesting sites for these birds. Over a space of about a year and a half, I have noticed many small to medium-sized birds that come perching on twigs and branches of tall trees in the botanic islands, mixed planting areas and many open grassland spaces here.  I have taken some pains to compile these pictures and to identify and group them under their family names in this posting for study purposes and a quick reference of the kind of birds that can be observed at the park.

Blue -throated Bee-eater (Merops viridus)
Family : Meropidae - Bee-eater family

Blue -throated Bee-eater (Merops viridus)
Family : Meropidae - Bee-eater family

Brown-throated Sunbird (Anthrepes malacensis)
Family : Nectariniidae - Sunbird family

White- breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus)
Family : Artamidae - Wood-swallow family

White- breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus)
Family : Artamidae - Wood-swallow family

Little Green Pigeon (Treron olax)
Family : Columbidae - Pigeon family

Little Green Pigeon (Treron olax)
Family : Columbidae - Pigeon family

Oriental Magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis)
Family : Muscicapidae - Thrush family

Oriental Magpie-robin (Copsychus saularis)
Family : Muscicapidae - Thrush family

Philippines Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)
Family : Sturnidae - Starling family

Philippines Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)
Family : Sturnidae - Starling family

Philippines Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis)
Family : Sturnidae - Starling family

White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicuruc)
Family : Rallidae - Rail family

White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicuruc)
Family : Rallidae - Rail family

Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica)
Family : Rhipiduridae - Fantail flycatchers family

Pied Fantail (Rhipidura javanica)
Family : Rhipiduridae - Fantail flycatchers family

Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pyconotus goiavier)
Family : Pycnonotidae - Bulbul family

Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pyconotus goiavier)
Family : Pycnonotidae - Bulbul family

Red-eyed Bulbul (Pyconotus brunneus)
Family : Pycnonotidae - Bulbul family

Red-eyed Bulbul (Pyconotus brunneus)
Family : Pycnonotidae - Bulbul family

Black-headed Bulbul (Pyconotus atriceps)
Family : Pycnonotidae - Bulbul family

Brown Barbet (Calorhamphus fulginosus)
Family : Capitonidae - Barbet family

Brown Barbet (Calorhamphus fulginosus)
Family : Capitonidae - Barbet family

Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus)
Family : Caprimulgidae - Nightjar family

The Jering tree

The Jering tree ( Pithecolobium lobatum) is fruiting well at the Kambatik eco-farm. What is interesting is the fact that this tree while heavily fruiting is starting to show off new flowers at the same time.  Thia is the first time I notice this phenomena.

 Flowers of the Jering

Having a good time this morning collecting the Jering fruits .
I use a long bamboo pole to twist the soft end branches.  The Jering is a well-known local fruit to help out with high blood pressure.  

 Jering fruit when ripe is roundish and has a dark brown thick covering. 

I prefer to eat it raw with the famous Bintulu belacan or shrimp paste pounded with fresh ginger, chillies and anchovies.

Evening colours over the Kambatik eco-farm, Bintulu.

Well, it has been a while. A long while.  Here's this evening colours over at my farm in Bintulu..

Images of Bintulu Today

At Zone E of the Kambatik Botanic garden I found this spectacular blackish white-rimmed fungus thriving on a rotten tree stump.

In close-up, the long protruding stamens of the Golden Penda ( Xanthosemon chrysanthus) resembles fireworks in the night sky. The Golden Penda belongs to the genus Eugenia and they have the characteristic powder puff-like flowers. The "Jambu" ( Eugenia jambos) and Eugenia oleina flowers also have similar masses of flowers. The picture was taken along a side road at Kampung Assyakirrin. More such trees should be grown in Bintulu. The genus Eugenia belongs to the family Myrtaceae (Myrtle family).

A common resident at my eco-farm is the Bulbul bird. It loves to eat the ripe juicy red seeds of the 'Simpoh Air' ( Dillenia suffructicosa) that are found growing along the stream at the farm and often builds nest at the Eugenia oleina trees that are grown as roadside trees here. I have seen them eating the berries of the Eugenia oleina trees and this fact makes me feel that planting the Eugenia trees have brought in much needed wildlife.

Challenge my dracaena !

Vegetation island no.1 at Kambatik Botanic Garden, Bintulu.

I have a find. It was there a few years ago but I did not what to show it off because I was still trying to find more information on it. Yes, I have checked many books and googled for any similar image but to no avail. I therefore decided to finally post it in this blog today before the year is gone and just have a go with it. Well, can never tell this could be a find of the century!!

The plant that I found intriguing is a dracaena species which I can't find any name for many years now ( see inset). The leaves are spirally arranged and formed a distinct collar around the stem. It is a single- stemmed treelet which grows as an understorey plant in my vegetation island no.1 at my eco-farm in Bintulu. Dracaenas are classified under the Agave family ( Agavaceae) and I'm sure I'm correct in placing this find under the dracaena genera.

The dracaena treelets

Note the environment that manages to preserve the dracaena. The thick vegetative matter, humus, plenty of shade from canopy trees, and tropical humid climate all does their magic to sustain the dracaena until I stumbled upon it. The lateral or horizontal leaves arranged in multiple tier formation resemble very much like an umbrella or parasol and a multi-tiered one at that. This formation has strong ornamental effect. The plant specimen here shows that the plant can grow into a treelet. I have not noticed any flowers yet.

Fish eye view - note the semi-woody erect stem

I consider the presence of this rare dracaena as a gift of the land to me. It is therefore a very unique botanical specimen in my kambatik botanic garden thus far. All this attest to the wisdom of preserving the vegetation islands around the eco-farm when I opened up the jungles before for the cultivation of oil palm trees.

For want of a better name I would therefore propose to call this plant ' Dracaena kambatik ' in honour of the kambatik eco-farm and the kambatik botanic garden where it was found. If any soul out there in cyber space can show me another image of the above plant and referenced its name, I am prepared to retract this posting and the proposed name. Well, guys surprise me.

Impressionistic monsoon

Title: Monsoon is back.

Early this Sunday morning I went about taking photograph of the light pink flushes of the Ceylon ironwood tree ( Mesua ferrea) (see inset at left) . It was fine weather throughout the morning and I had a field day taking more pictures of plants that abounded in the farm. Since our arrival here less than a week ago I have found that the weather in Bintulu is mostly rainy during the day time. This is not common because when compared to Kuching, Bintulu mainly experiences rain at night whereas in Kuching it rains mainly during late afternoons, say from 3-4 p.m. almost daily. By afternoon time it dawned upon me that the weather pattern isn't unusual after all. It's the return of the seasonal winds and rains. I was fortunate to have my Sony Cyber-shot camera handy and with a little bit of imagination I tried to capture an impressionistic rendition of the monsoon rains as it arrived by the farm today . I think the picture on top is a beautiful rendition of the monsoon in digital medium.

Leaves of the oil palm and mango trees blown wet by the sudden gusts of wind . The terminal spike of tiny red pagoda flowers swayed vigorously as seen at the bottom left side of the pix above. In the background the skies download tons of rain.

Despite the gathering force of the winds and heavy rains hitting on the rooftop, I decided to take more shots of the monsoon outside as it drenched the light ochre flushes of the mango leaves. Within less than half an hour the stream that meanders by the verandah was in spate. To my mind the monsoon season is here and as speculated would last till February next year until of course the global warming phenomena worldwide alters significantly this annual climatic schedule. Any significant differences from previous years will be experienced as the months go by. And knowing how the weather has been playing havoc throughout the world recently I'm ready for any surprises this year for Sarawak. For whatever it is, I always welcome the monsoon rains because it brings so much renewed rhythm and variety in the lives of wildlife and plants at our eco-farm in Bintulu.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

Lianas or climbers, rattan whips, decomposed leaves, numerous jungle tree species making up the original forest are preserved in three big vegetation islands within the farm. The strategy is to create a botanic garden around and within the forest environment.

Yesterday I started a new blog named " my Kambatik Botanic Garden". I guess this will be a lifetime adventure. It is something delightful and meaningful to me in order make a statement about the state of agroecological farming I'm developing at my eco-farm here in Bintulu.

Over the five years that I spent developing the eco-farm, I've always thought of making it an example of a sustainable oil palm cultivation business. What more to glorify it if not for the fact that along the way I can develop a botanic garden within the original habitat out of which the farm slowly evolved. Thus grew the idea of a botanic garden within a forest.

The blog will document the different species that were there originally and those that I introduced. Today, while making out a section of the mid-hill footpath at the vegetation island no.1, and trying to get pictures of the Caladium bicolour ( Angel's Wings) something dropped down from the canopy of leaves above. A tiny black bird was hopping desperately and trying to take flight but couldn't because it was too young to fly. I got hold of the bird in my right palm and there it was to my surprise, two startling red eyes caught me close and personal.

I think it is rare to catch a red-eyed starling bird. Today I consider myself lucky . Isn't it not what people say, " A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush". Just like the idea of the botanic garden, to have one at my own backyard is worth more than just dreaming about it. What more could I ask?

A special attraction of the botanic garden will be a heliconia collection, besides collection of fruit trees, herbal and medicinal plants, landscaping plants ( interior, roadside, residential, edible), fernery, etc.,.