Piasau Nature Reserve: Green Lung for Miri

Tree planting at this nature reserve alone may not fulfil Miri’s need for urban reprieve, reports Mallika Naguran at Borneo Jazz Festival 2016.

Miri, 12 May 2016. Musicians, journalists, students, politicians and Shell staff came together this morning to plant trees at the start of the two-day Borneo Jazz Festival in Miri, Sarawak. 

The act of tree planting at this musical event can be seen as a symbolic gesture. It is also a reminder for all - from the producers of fossil energy to consumers - to conserve the forests and natural areas of Sarawak, which have taken a hit with increasing deforestation due to urban and agricultural development. 

The Sarawak Forestry Corporation sponsored 67 tree seedlings that are indigenous to Sarawak, which were planted at the Piasau Boat Club compound. The three species planted were: ranggu/sentang, Azadirachta excelsa; bungkang, Eugenia grandis; and kasai, Pometia pinnata. 

Klazz Brothers love tree planting at Borneo Jazz 2016

“It feels good to be part of tree planting here in Malaysia. In Cuba, tree planting takes place all the time, from schools to concerts and festivals, and we love it!” said Roland Grzegorz Abreu Krysztofiak, a musician from Klazz Brothers & Cuba Percussion. "But back home we get our hands dirtier as we really dig in and for many hours!" he added.

Piasau Historical Development and Now

Shell’s interest and involvement in Piasau Nature Reserve (PNR) stemmed from its ownership of what was formerly known as Shell Piasau Camp, a residential area of the expatriate community in Miri, mostly from the oil and gas industry.

Shell first began operations in Sarawak by drilling for oil in Miri 125 years ago, according to Jonathan Jolly, Government Relations Manager, Sarawak Shell Berhad Miri. Apart from greasing the economic growth of Malaysia, Shell sees itself as an important stakeholder of local communities. “We continue to invest in the areas of health, environment, capacity building, arts, culture and more,” said Jonathan at the event.

Shell and the Sarawakian government, at the request of many residents, decided to create a “green legacy” in this area. This initiated the transfer of land rights from Sarawak Shell Berhard to Sarawak Forestry Commission in 2015. Before the handover, efforts were already made to preserve the tree population in the area. As such, Piasau Camp area was gazetted as a nature reserve in 2014. This means that Piasau Camp has been accorded legislative protection against development, encroachment and poaching.

According to the forestry department, PNR has 17 species of fauna protected under  the Wildlife Protection Ordinance, 45 bird species (including the hornbill), three mammal species, five amphibian species, 12 reptile species, 10 butterfly species and 107 plant species. 

“There are 21 Oriental-pied hornbills, to date,” said Mr. Kamal Abdullah of Sarawak Forestry, who told Gaia Discovery that more can be done to conserve the forest and promote species’ habitats, starting with educational walks and activities. 

Piasau - Beyond Conservation

Among those who called for the Piasau Camp to be conserved as a natural reserve rather than a commercial development was YB Datuk Lee Kim Shin, citing the need to preserve both built and natural heritage areas with more conservation activities within the reserve.

Awareness of the PNR among Miri residents is still not as high as desired, apparently. “With more environmental and eco-tourism events and conferences taking place within the reserve itself instead of the city centre, we hope that the Piasau Nature Reserve will become an icon among the urban parks in Miri and in Malaysia,” said YB Datuk Lee Kim Shin, Assistant Minister of Social Development & Assistant Minister of Communication, Sarawak. 

While this nature reserve in Miri has been accorded national recognition, and efforts to plant more trees are done on a regular basis, this is still not enough. Musa Musbah, Chairman of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) Miri Chapter, is calling for more land to be converted for wildlife to flourish.

“Conserving the forest for iconic birds like the hornbill is one thing, but the other more pressing matter is to enlarge the boundary of the PNR to include the land surrounding the Miri River and in front of the beach,” revealed Musa to Gaia Discovery. This, he says, would increase the present acreage at 88.5 hectares (ha) by another 40 ha, which will boost wildlife survival and growth.

To compare its size to another prominent wildlife area - the Semenggoh Nature Reserve in Kuching at 653 ha - the PNR s rather small.

“I have been pushing for more land conversion for nature every year, and I keep getting nowhere. I am so frustrated,” he added. It is understood that the surrounding land areas referred to may in future be developed for commercial purposes. 

If this were to happen, it would make the PNR a very small green lung for Miri, and miles away from achieving the iconic status that Datuk Lee desires.

The tree planting event at Borneo Jazz Festival 2016 was organised by Shell, Sarawak Forestry and Sarawak Tourism Board.

Bee habitats: Natural, industrial, even underground

Bees aren’t all alike. Tens of thousands of different bee species exist around the world, and they all like different habitats. Encouraging different species to settle in restored habitat is even more complex. By J.Green

Megachilid bees have been the subject of much research

Edinburgh, 17 March 2015- The UK currently has more than 260 bee species, with some 26 of those being social (that is, they live in swarms, nests or hives). There are also 25 native bumblebee species but sadly two have recently become extinct. While there are still many types of bees, research shows bee diversity has significantly decreased in more than 50% of the UK’s landscapes since 1980.

Recent research from the UK-based Centre for Ecology and Hydrology has confirmed that the situation for British bees is pretty dire. Some 75% of the UK is agricultural land. And because of that, researchers estimate around 97% of natural bee habitat - wildflower meadows, small woods, open heather moors – is gone. As a result, “bees have significantly declined over the 20th century,” says the report. That is an understatement.

But bee help is at hand. To combat these trends, the authorities have initiated a program that pays subsidies to landowners for the “intensification of landscape quality.” Farmers chose wildlife-friendly options to qualify for those subsidies, which can total GBP280 a year. One common outcome of this subsidy is natural strip of land left at the edge of existing farmland. There, a mix of agricultural plants and grasses that bees like are added. Bumblebees take to agricultural legumes, while sunflowers are also good for bees.

Strips of land at the edge of a field provide essential bee habitat

In one recent project, ecologists tested a few different options. In land where were there simply crops, there was no value for bees. In areas without pesticides, there was likewise a limited response. Where the “natural generation of plant communities” was allowed, there was also only a limited response. The key to making bees feel at home is creating sites that offer pollen and nectar, with a diverse seed mix. This, says the research, results in a “significant response” from bees.

Bees and Seeds

But a single seed mix, no matter how diverse, will “not have sustained benefits,” say researchers. There is also a seasonal component; some plants die off. So flowering plants that offer nectar need to be re-sown every 3-4 years, and a diverse plant mix ensured that includes perennials.

Former mining sites are a surprising potential bee habitat, and are found everywhere in the world. Given all the untapped land, there are lots of opportunities to restore them as habitat for bees. Karen Goodell, an ecology professor at Ohio State University has investigated mining sites as a potential new home for bees.

She says reclaimed mines “can aid bee conservation,” but they will not be as good as remnant or untouched habitat. It’s difficult to restore plant communities that existed in mining areas before. Forests can be re-created, but a full ecosystem is more difficult. Goodell says “floral diversity and abundance will positively affect bee recruitment,” so consequently bees will be less diverse in reclaimed mining sites than in remnant habitats.

Karen Goodell researches bee ecology at Ohio State UniversityIn a study of 24 sites at The Wilds, a leading conservation site in Ohio, Goodell netted bee species, counted floral resources, and assessed nest habitat. She looked at sites that were closer and further away from natural habitat, looking specifically at Megachilid bees, which are more solitary than honey bees and nest on or in the ground. Strikingly, she found that the abundance of floral resources wasn’t really important - but restoring nesting substrate was far more critical. The ‘nesting subtrate’ includes stem wood and bare soil but the use of additional artificial nest substitutes didn’t help the bees feel at home. “It’s important that habitats, whether they are restored or not, have ample hollow stem wood lying around, shrubs, dead wood, and bare ground, if you want to attract (Megachilid) bees,” she noted.

Ecosystem Restoration

Another bee expert, Neal Williams from the University of California, Davis, confirms the transformation of wild areas into agricultural areas is the primary reason for bee habitat loss. Near the Sacramento River in California, a group of farmers and other activists are restoring an 80-kilometer stretch along the river banks from Red Bluff to Chico. Williams’ is studying the community of pollinators in the restored fragments and comparing them to remnant riparian forests while looking for “persistent differences” that stand out between the two areas.

Williams says the sites were successfully restored - a mono-cultural walnut orchard landscape was turned back into a forest - but now there is no understory which meant the bees came back, but not to a thriving overall ecosystem composition.

But bees are essential for both ecosystem health, and for the honey industry too. With around 85% of the world’s flowering plants needing a bee or other pollinator in order to reproduce, these tiny insects are crucial to our survival.

So much so that in California, more than 3,500 truckloads of bees are trucked in every spring from other, less intensively-farmed parts of America to pollinate over 1 million acres of almond trees during their three-week spring bloom.

So it looks like although some dedicated activists are working hard to keep the bees happy with new homes, there is nothing like original, pristine habitat for a happy hive. Farmers in the UK are doing their best, thanks to the government subsidy, but simply describing empty land as a potential bee haven is not realistic. Bees need a complete ecosystem to thrive. The best way to ensure that – and a good supply of honey for us all – is to avoid turning pristine land into mines or wheat fields.

For more information look to : https://eeob.osu.edu/people/goodell.18; http://www.ceh.ac.uk; http://www.helpabee.org