A Swede's Passion For Sabah's Forests

By Emin Madi KENINGAU (Sabah, Malaysia), July 23 (Bernama) -- A picture of Dr Jan Falck hugging a tree with an affectionate expression was not a spur-of-the-moment gesture but reflective of his deep passion for forest conservation. Falck, 75, is a lecturer in forestry at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SUAS) but found his way to Sabah through IKEA’s project called Sow A Seed Foundation (SASF), of which he is a board member. SASF is based at Luasong, a village in the heart of the Kalabakan Forest Reserve, near Tawau in Sabah, but IKEA is also Sabah Foundation's biggest sponsor for its conservation programmes in the Maliau Basin Conservation Area (MBCA). Falck's first visit to the MBCA was in 1997 and he must have been so mesmerised by the unique beauty of Sabah’s "Lost World" that he keeps coming back. "I have been to Maliau Basin many times, perhaps more times than any officer of Yayasan Sabah (Sabah Foundation). "When I first visited the place in 1997, I used to go trekking. It was a very steep climb up to the rim and down to the other side. "I enjoyed it (walking in the jungle). Sometimes, I became tired and had to rest because it was so steep," he told Bernama. On several occasions, Falck also played host to some guests from Sweden and other European countries visiting the MBCA, which he regards as one of the most interesting destinations in the world. "I think Maliau Basin is something unique, and for the Scandinavian people, it has a nice climate, it has the sound of monkeys in the mornings and cicadas in the evenings. "I truly enjoy the climate. It's a bit colder in Maliau Basin than in Luasong and it’s nice overnight," said Falck, whose last visit to the 588.4 sq km MBCA was in December 2012 together with a lady from the Sow A Seed board. IKEA’s contribution to the MBCA was the funding of the classroom, hostel, environmental education interpretation displays, and setting up of nature trails, the canopy walkway, observation tower, suspension bridges and satellite camps. Other facilities at the Maliau Basin Studies Centre include an office building block, conference room, nature gallery, dining hall and accommodation like a resthouse, VIP chalets and researcher’s annexe. IKEA has invested around US$750,000 a year to support the Sow A Seed Foundation, including for Falck's logging technique research as well as the INIKEA (YS-IKEA collaboration) project on forest restoration and rehabilitation which was initiated in 1998. The bulk of the fund was channelled into reforestation efforts at the upper reaches of the Kalabakan River, while 10 per cent went to research efforts in the pristine Maliau Basin and another 10 per cent to similar work carried out by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences' scientists in East Malaysia state of Sabah, one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. A 10-day intensive resource and wildlife inventory survey to the MBCA recently discovered evidence of environmental and wildlife disturbances in the protected area, including close encounters with a band of suspected poachers or gaharu (sandalwood) collectors. The study confirmed that the national heritage, which is slightly larger than Penang Island, is home to some of the state's most rare and endangered species, including the pigmy elephant, orang utan and proboscis monkey. The reseachers also recorded the presence of other mammals through direct sightings or captured by camera traps such as the clouded leopard, Malayan sunbear, bay cat and banded palm civet. -- BERNAMA