At the end of 1989, an estimated 18.5 million hectares or 56.3 percent of the Earth were covered with rainforest. More than 8000 species of plants were recorded in Peninsular Malaysia alone and 2500 of them were tree species. Malaysia was a home to 200 species of mammals, 115 species of snakes, 80 species of frogs and 80 species of lizards back then but these days, the number declines drastically. The cause of the steady declines is mainly because of deforestation due to illegal logging activities, open forest burning, illegal hunting and many more.
There’s not much things we can do as individual to stop the developments. We are fighting giant companies and powerful people with great influence, after all, but small efforts goes a long way and not all giant companies and land owners are an absolute evil.
Resorts World Genting, for an example is one of the companies that takes forest conservation efforts seriously. They have done a lot to spread awareness on forest conservation. For example, they have the annual Genting Back to Nature Eco Retreat program where children from underprivileged school and homes are invited to experience their untouched rainforest and they also host eco-related programs so that the younger generation can understand how important it is to conserve nature for a better future.
The most recent effort is their collaboration with Treks Enterprise, a third party company that provides eco-related packages for Resorts World Genting guests to aggressively rescue pitcher plants that’s being destroyed by private land owners in Genting Highlands due to land clearing.
This is Pat and Eddie. They’re the backbone of Treks Enterprise. Hand in hand with Resorts World Genting, their current endeavour is to rescue pitcher plants from the land that’s being cleared and relocate them to designated conservatories in various locations in Resorts World Genting.
Eddie on a rescue mission with one of the Resorts World Genting guest.
Eddie posing with pitchers plants that he spotted.
Pat and a guest have their hands full with lovely pitcher plants.
Huge pitcher plants spotted in the wild and will be re-homed accordingly in designated areas in Resorts World Genting.
Eddie, explaining to guests about the pitcher plants and showing them how to replant them.
Eddie replanting the pitcher plants that he found.
Rescued pitcher plants nicely potted
A closer look at the pitcher plants. These are just so beautiful. It is a shame if these are destroyed just like that.
English Garden, the public garden that is located in front of the Theme Park Hotel is one of the places where you can see the relocated pitcher plants in Resorts World Genting.
This is the Nepenthes’ Wall where various kinds of pitcher plants are relocated and flourish in a natural environment, making them a beautiful addition to the garden’s population.The Nepenthes’ Wall in the English Garden is a part of Treks Enterprise’s effort to educate people about the beautiful plants and conserve the pitcher plants that they found.
Eddie showing us how to differentiate a male and female pitcher plants.
A closer look at a pair of pitcher plant. The pitcher plants in the English Garden grows in riot over the wall and besides taking pictures here, visitors are also allowed to ‘adopt’ one of the wild pitcher plants grown here and decorate the wall of the English Garden to their liking.
Here’s me, adopting a pitcher plant and tying it to the wall as per instruction by Eddie.
Taking pictures to immortalize the pitcher plants.
Watch this video of Eddie, explaining to us all about pitcher plants in Treks outlet in Awana Hotel, Resorts World Genting. If you wish to read about pitcher plants, however, do click the link HERE. I’ve written in details about pitcher plants during my visit to Treks Nepenthes Conservatory.
Pitcher plants, or the common scientific name for it, Nepenthes, is indeed beautiful and is a part of our green lungs. They are protected under CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Animals and Flora) and AKTA 313 (Pindaan 1993) AKTA PERHUTANAN NEGARA 1984, but many are not aware of that and it has come to my attention that apart from the usual activities that we know of, the culinary world started to be unkind to nature too. Exotic animals and plants are sought after to be made into meals and pitcher plants is one of the victimized species. I’ve spotted pitcher plants being made into exotic glutinous rice dish countless times and was guilty of enjoying some of them too, but now that I know how endangered they are and how close they are to extinction, I think it is important for all of us to play a part and help conserve them. If you can’t help to rescue them, at least stop eating them. That will at least contribute to their survival.
We may or may not realize it, but the forest played an important part in a well balanced ecosystem. Small lives like the pitcher plants matters. It is part of our green lungs and if we don’t do something to conserve what’s left them, they will be completely eradicated and extinct and slowly, the rest of the inhabitants in the forest would too and we would all ended up living on a desert planet.
Wanna be a volunteer? Wanna be a Nepenthes heroes? Or just wanna learn more about pitcher plants? Just hop over to Treks’s website and Facebook page or please call 03-27181118 or logon to www.rwgenting.com for more information.
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