UMS EcoCampus Day to introduce traditional plants, medicines
KOTA KINABALU: The Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Heritage (FKSW) of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) held its very own EcoCampus Day on Wednesday, in its bid to introduce the state’s diverse collection of traditional plants and medicines to the citizens of UMS.
UMS Vice Chancellor Prof Datuk Dr D Kamarudin D Mudin asserted that such activity was vital in raising the awareness among the citizens of UMS, especially in the preservation of plants.
It is understood that the FKSW had planted herbal plants at its block, in conjunction with its inaugural EcoCampus Day.
“In this context, I was informed that the citizens of FKSW had opted to move towards the realization of this noble mission by planting six herbal plants at its main area.
“This herbal plant, which is known as Tuuwan-uwan (or Syzygium leucoxylon) by the Kadazandusun community is an important heritage to the people of Sabah,” Kamarudin said in his speech, which was read by the EcoCampus Management Centre director Prof Madya Dr How Siew Eng yesterday.
This particular EcoCampus Day was the brainchild of FKSW’s dean Prof Dr Ismail Ibrahim together with the members of the Unit Penyelidikan Warisan Borneo (Borneo Heritage Research Unit) and the Majlis Professor Negara UMS Chapter.
Kamarudin stressed that UMS Ecocampus’ aspiration that emphasizes on the relationship between nature, economy and the society must be appreciated by all the citizens of UMS.
The event also featured a talk from Julius Kulip, a fellow of the Borneo Heritage Research Unit from the Tropical Biology and Conservation Institute of UMS. It focused on the importance of herbal plants to humans.
Julius disclosed that scientists had finally managed to scientifically prove that the state’s herbal plants are beneficial to humans and animals.
“It is important for the UMS community to expand their knowledge on the importance of herbal plants in order to preserve the tradition, thus preventing it from extinction,” Julius said.
The plants in the whole of UMS were classified into categories, the ones that grew naturally there and the ones that were either planted there or brought from an outside source, he explained.
“There are over 115 species of herbal plants in UMS and 95 of these plants had grown here naturally,” he added.
Also present in the event were Borneo Heritage Research Unit chief Prof Madya Dr Low Kok On and UMS Tropical Biology and Conservation Institute (Academic and Research) deputy director Dr Sahana Harun.