Project update - Malaysia Tropical Forest Conservation Project - July 2004
Added to website: 01 July 2004
Project Brief
Aim
The Malaysia Tropical Forest Conservation Project is a collaborative project between Coral Cay Conservation and the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. The aim of the project is to conduct rapid biodiversity assessments of the islands forests, in order to compile a detailed species list and highlight the species distributions between and across the two main islands.
Location
The islands of Besar and Kecil of the Perhentian Archipelago, Terengganu, approximately 20km off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
CCC Partners
CCC is working at the invitation of and in partnership with the Negros Forests and Ecological Foundation Inc. (NFEFI), local community of Patag and other groups such as government offices.
Terrestrial Science Programme
Baseline Surveys
Number and location of Surveys
This month we spent four nights at our East Besar campsite to further investigate this little disturbed region, hiked deep into the forest to spend four nights in the north of Besar and 2 nights at our popular Jungle Trail site. Two nights were spent further a field on the tiny uninhabited island of Rawa with an exciting hours bird watching on nearby Susudara island.
Interesting / Unusual Sightings
Working on information from local counterparts we visited Rawa in search of possible breeding sites for the IUCN Red Listed, Nicobar Pigeon (Caloenas nicobarica). On route we took the opportunity to visit nearby Susudara. We observed several Nicobar feeding - and a few individuals even chose to land in trees above our position! In contrast, we saw none on Rawa but we were still able to add a further 3 species of bird to our growing list for the Perhentians: Philippine Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis), Flycatcher sp. (Muscicapa) and Little Spiderhunter (Arachnothera longirostra).
Our north side hike started off well with a snake dropping into our laps (quite literally!!) whilst searching for the ideal camping location. This was seen as a good sign of things to come so we set up our kitchen on the very spot. We were rewarded for our decision when on the final night, polishing off the last of our food, the striking black and white stripes of a juvenile Malayan Banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon subcinctus) slithered right amongst us. Another new species is added to our records!!
Environmental Awareness
Capacity Building/Training of Local Counterparts
A series of education posters for the local school are currently being developed and information fliers have been produced for locals and tourists who pass by the research base.
