Awareness talks mark Biodiversity Day in Sarawak

KUCHING: Sarawak Biodiversity Centre ( SBC) has lined up interesting public awareness talks on biodiversity on Biodiversity Day on May 18 and 19.

On Saturday ( May 18), three known experts in their respective fields will be talking about flowering plant species, fungi and orchids, SBC said in a press statement yesterday.

The talks will kick off at SBC premises at Semengoh at 1pm with Peter Boyce talking about flowering plant species found in Sarawak.

Boyce arrived in Sarawak in year 2002 after spending 15 years working at Kew Gardens. He has since spent the last 12 years in Malaysia and Thailand.

Boyce’s talk will be followed by a talk on ` Diversity of MacroFungi in Sarawak’ by Prof Dr Sepiah Muid of Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas) who specialises in plant pathology and mycology.

Sepiah will talk about the macro- fungi, otherwise known as mushrooms, in Sarawak.

The series of talks will conclude with a presentation on orchids by Prof Dr Maziah Mahmood of University Putra Malaysia.

Prof Dr Maziah’s field of expertise encompass plant biochemistry, plant biotechnology and plant tissue culture.

After 10 years of research on orchids, she has made a career of learning about them and working on fragrant orchids.

Maziah is a co- founder of Orchid Life, a BioNexus status company that produces horticultural products and services internationally.

On Sunday, public talks will kick off at 2pm with Oswald Braken Tisen, deputy general manager of Sarawak Forestry Corporation talking on Wildlife Conservation in Sarawak.

His presentation will be followed by an awareness talk on `Our Rivers and Biodiversity’ by Sarawak Rivers Board.

Each talk is estimated to be an hour long and those interested in attending are advised to register with Sarawak Biodiversity Centre by sending an email to biosar@ sbc.org.my or call 082- 610610 as seats are limited.