Greening a barren land
FRIM has successfully transformed a former tin mining area into a lush man-made forest.
“JUST imagine that less than 20 years ago, you could see as far as 3km from where you are standing,” said Dr Ang Lai Hoe, pointing ahead.
It was indeed something hard to picture, because we could hardly see beyond 100m due to the thick foliage around.
It was getting warm when we first arrived at the ex-tin mining area in Bidor, Perak, at about 10am.
Members of the media and ASEAN delegates of the seminar on “Reclamation, Rehabilitation and Restoration of Disturbed Sites” held in Kuala Lumpur last month were taken on a tour of the site recently, situated about 10km southwest of Bidortown.
The seminar, themed “Planting of National and IUCN Red List Species”, was organised by the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) with the support of the Korea Forest Service and Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI).
(The IUCN Red List Species refers to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of threatened plant and animal species).
Part of the programme was a visit to FRIM’s Tin Tailings Afforestation Centre (TTAC), which sits on a former tin mine in Bidor.
What was once barren land, unsuitable for vegetation to grow, has now been successfully rehabilitated with rainforest species. Pathways there are not tarred so as not to affect the growth of plants, especially roots.
Various fauna has slowly returned to the lush green space spanning 121.4ha (300 acres) – more than 70 bird species, and 25 mammals and other wildlife have been observed including migratory birds, hornbills, squirrels, wild boars, civets, moonrat, monkeys and snakes.
“I like to come here at night and just stand still and there will be a wild boar nearby,” shared Ang, TTAC coordinator, who has been with the project since the beginning.
It all started in 1996 when the Perak State Government leased the ex-mining land to FRIM for the establishment of a research station, also known as the FRIM Bidor Research Station.
The degraded area consisted of tin tailings – or waste from the mining industry – like slime and sand tailings largely covered by grass and sparsely colonised by several pioneer species. Pioneer species are hardy plants which were the first to grow on previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems.
Today the research station, also just referred to as the TTAC, has been successfully rehabilitated by FRIM with over 90 indigenous and exotic timber species. Overall, the site features 150 plant species in all, populated by about 1,500 plants per hectare.
In recognition of its success,