VOLUNTEER CONSERVATION
Text: Pamela Lim
Photographs: Pamela Lim & courtesy of REACH
Volunteerism is the willingness of people to work on behalf of others without expecting to be paid or obtaining other tangible gain. Combined with the skills of the individual, volunteers may have special training as rescuers, guides, assistants, teachers, missionaries, writers, divers, or may not have had any experience but with the desire to gain knowledge and awareness through participation and running of events.
Some of these projects have backgrounds in conservation-centred efforts which lead to a unique travel experience for those who volunteer their time to serve. Some of the world's most critical conservation and community volunteering projects begin with a love and passion for the environment. The desire to make a difference & to affect lives around them is the reason people commit to a cause.
Highlighting some of the outstanding conservation efforts in Malaysia that has made a difference in the lives of the local community, we take a look at how volunteers had helped create change, contributed value, and inspired hope in the lives around them. Regional Environment Awareness of Cameron Highlands (REACH), Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU) and Reefs Around Malaysia (RAM) under the Reefball Foundation all have causes worthy of support from their large volunteer base.
REACH was founded in 2000, by a group of residents who were concerned about the environment and deteriorating water quality in Cameron Highlands. They unanimously voted for Ramakrishnan Ramasamy, the man who reached the peak of Mount Everest, to lead as the President. The local community began to volunteer in reforestation exercise after illegal farmers cleared the land for lily farming. Apart from the main activity of replanting trees in areas affected, REACH also rescues endangered species of orchids threatened by development and propagates them to be reintroduced into the wild. Of the 1,300 orchid species found in Malaysia, REACH has documented and identified 650 species.
Encouraging residents to adopt a river, volunteers will monitor the water quality by sending it for testing. The results would usually astonish residents before they too begin to change their habits to adopt a conservative attitude towards the environment. When REACH began a recycling exercise, many were sceptical of its success but the members of REACH who are the volunteers themselves, began to diligently collect recyclable goods such as plastic water bottles, glass, newspapers, carton boxes and such from residents and companies to sell. The vendor who collects them gets a part of the proceeds and the rest goes back to the contributors. The main objective is prevent these wastes from ending up in a landfill contaminate water source and the environment. When the residents saw that it was good and sustainable, they began to see the benefits as the President had always reiterated that the earth is something that we borrow from the future and the best legacy is to leave the earth in the best possible condition for our kids. As a result of consistency, the State Council then built a compactor site to compress the recyclable goods and handed over its management to REACH.
Word got around and corporate companies began to show appreciation for the environment and helped replant trees in Gunung Brinchang area, promoting volunteerism and conservation in the exercise. REACH became the educator and soon, volunteers were coming from all over the world to assist the local community that REACH belongs to. The office bearers who passionately contribute to the betterment of the community and environment of Cameron Highlands have become iconic in the awareness campaign. The moment they initiate any effort, the residents will follow suit. From mountains to rivers, to trees and orchids, anyone who has ploughed with a hoe, staked a tree in the ground, collected water samples and propagated wild orchids, would remember the lesson learnt in being a part of the magnanimous work of the people of REACH.
Down by the shores, SEATRU was started in 1984 when research on the leatherback turtles of Rantau Abang was first initiated by Prof Dr. Chan Eng Heng and Dr. Liew Hock Chark as part of the Faculty of Science and Technology of University College of Science and Technology Malaysia (KUSTEM). This husband and wife team, set out to start a program to release as many turtle hatchlings to the sea as possible as turtles take 30 years to reach sexual maturity and only one in a thousand hatchlings released to the sea, may survive to adulthood. Their biological make up causes them to return to the beach they hatched from. Due to this sad fact, efforts have heightened to conserve this wonderful sea creature. Since then, the unit had developed into a multi-disciplinary programme aimed at studying all aspects of the biology and ecology of sea turtles, threats to their survival, and how they can be managed in order to restore the various species to a stable population level. The vital information resulting from these studies have formed the basis for many important recommendations made by SEATRU to relevant government agencies to conserve sea turtles, especially within the state of Terengganu.
The conservation-oriented research approach involved university students, village children and the public who participated in its long-term tagging and in-situ egg incubation research where eggs are left untouched in their natural nests and allowed to incubate to full-term. This effort was started in 1993 as part of their conservation project located at Chagar Hutang Beach, Pulau Redang, Terengganu, Malaysia. Here, volunteers monitor every turtle that lands on the beach to nest, protect them, their eggs, and hatchlings.
Volunteers carry out duties that involve patrolling of the 350m stretch of beach at night, monitoring any nesting activities as they usually occur then and tag them as necessary. Basically, the data recording will be done for research purposes to enable SEATRU to effectively conserve these endangered creatures. One of the land predators of turtle eggs is the monitor lizard. Volunteers may get to enact the scene from Samurai as stick-wielding volunteers chase these four-legged creatures from the precious nests! None of the volunteers or the lizards are hurt in the process as any creature faced with a screaming opponent would naturally run for their lives. Friendships are often forged in the week-long programme.
Hundreds have taken part in this volunteer programme and contributed in some way or another to release more than half a million turtle hatchlings into the sea. Volunteers would have accessed one of the most beautiful spots of Pulau Redang. Long after they leave, the sparkling waters of Chagar Hutang, the galaxies at night, and the wonderful, gentle creatures that they have helped save from extinction and human exploitation would find its special place in their hearts for as long as they live.
Akin to the effort that is publicly supported, Reefball Foundation is a non-profit and international environmental NGO founded by Todd Barber in 1993, working to rehabilitate marine reefs. It had started with a mission to help restore and protect our world's ocean ecosystems through the development and use of natural looking and ecologically sound Reef Balls.
Reef Balls are state of the art designed artificial reefs modules. Reefs Around Malaysia (RAM) is non-profit campaign started by Wong Kaseng, adopting Reef Ball Foundations efforts, to put as many Reef Balls into Malaysian waters as possible. Reef Balls act as mooring buoys, submerged breakwaters, beach erosion control and also as snorkelling or diving reef. Being an instant shelter for fish, marine life aggregates almost immediately after deployment.
Reef Balls are designed so that over half of the weight is in the bottom near the sea floor. All sizes of Reef Balls have withstood, without movement, heavy tropical storms in as little as 7m of water without anchors. Reef Balls are stable because the opening in the top of the unit breaks up the lifting force of the hydrofoil effect common to dome shapes.
Mans activities and natural disasters have led to a reduction in our natural reef systems. Recreationally, growth in sports fishing, scuba diving, and boating has increased the pressures on these systems. Commercially, our seafood industry is dependent on developing the ocean to enable ever larger, yet sustainable, harvests. The loss of our natural systems, coupled with increased use, Compels us to do everything we can to save natural reefs. Even so, the natural reefs cannot rebuild themselves fast enough to meet human demands. Long lasting artificial reefs are useful tools for restoring our reef systems to a natural and productive balance.
Volunteers help with setting up moulds and pouring concrete, working as a diver from a boat or from shore during deployment, or get involved with coral transplanting, propagation, coral rescue or reef restoration work. To date, Sarawak State Government has deployed more than 3,000 Reef Balls into the waters of protected turtle nesting islands to deter netting and has successfully increased turtle nesting numbers. Tioman, Redang, Dayang, Payar, Langkawi, Selingan, Mabul & Mataking are some of the islands that have Reef Balls deployed in the last five years.
Reef Ball projects emphasise on-going research, public education, community involvement, and reefs that promote and support natural species diversity and population density some 500,000 Reef Balls have been deployed in over 3,500 projects worldwide.
Looking at these three ongoing efforts in Malaysia, these individuals have exemplified the giving of ones service for conservation through their dedicated cause. Volunteers who get a taste of their leadership in assisting the community would never forget their infectious enthusiasm.
Conservation can only happen, when individuals take stewardship in the place that they occupy on earth and volunteerism is like rental paid for that space.
For more info on REACH, SEATRU & RAM, go to
http://www.reach.org.my
http://www.umt.edu.my/seatru/
http://www.reefballasia.com
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