On Friday 6 February, 2015, Majilis Bandaraya Shah Alam (MBSA) invited Dr. Jean Weber - UPM, Prof. Abu Hasan - UITM, Dato' Shahoran - landscape architecture, Datin Nur Siti - public speaker, Ecoworrior - NGO, and nature enthusiast to visit Tunas Harapan Nursery to explore some potentially interesting trees to be introduced to green the Shah Alam city. The nursery is situated at Lot no 4606, Diamond Creeks, Behrang Ulu, Tanjong Malim - Perak. The Tunas Harapan Nursery once was known as Penawar Hutan Nursery is famous for its diversity of local forest trees. The major customers for the nursery are Singapore, Putrajaya, and also Malaysian Department of Forestry. The nursery was established in 1996 by James Kingham. Currently, the nursery is chaired by Richard James Kingham - the second son of James Kingham.
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The entrance gate is adorned by
Schizolobium parahybum (tower tree) and
Aleurites moluccanus (kemiri or buah keras or candle-nut).
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Some of the total fifteen visitors.
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Waiting for further instruction.
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Participants enter the visitor hall.
According to Richard, the nursery is situated on about 190 hectares and comprises about 1200 species which are essentially local.
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Mr. Tahir - Pengarah Jabatan Taman and Rekreasi (MBSA) and Datin Nur Siti.
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Prof. Abu Hasan from UITM with MBSA staffs. The offered trees are compiled into book-lists and can be viewed in albums.
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Mr Thahir- Pengarah Jabatan taman and Rekreasi (MBSA), Leong - Nature enthusiast, Datok Shahoran - Landscape architecture, Prof. Abu Hasan - UITM, DR. Jean Weber - UPM, Bernard Ng (next to Dr. Jean Weber) - Ecowarrior (NGO), and staffs of Jabatan Taman and Rekreasi (MBSA) at the main hall of the Tunas Harapan Nursery.
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Richard James Kingham is giving the story line of the nursery.
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One of nursery staff - Shila who has a big passion on plants and an amazing memory for scientific names.
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A 4WD vehicle is needed for exploring the site.
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Richard is explaining the trees diversity, their provenance, and method of cultivation. The trees behind are
Dryobalanops lanceolata
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Leong (in blue T-Shirt) - natur enthusiast and She Mei (with white cup) - Ecoworrior (NGO) are admiring the
Dryobalanops lanceolata.
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Dr. Jean Weber and some other participants are attending onto the tree transplanting method.
Penawar Hutan nursery is not a classic nursery as it provides local forest trees which are raised from the seeds. This approach is essential for the conservation of the country's endangered biodiversity. Indeed, the mass production of clones obtained by vegetative propagation which are commonly conducted by most nurseries lead to an impoverishment of the intra-specific genetic diversity. Clonal tree populations are therefore very fragile because they are unable to adapt to environmental changes such as climate variations or pest attacks.
Subsequently, Penawar Hutan Nursery has huge collection of trees ranging from the common fruit trees to the uncommon Myrtaceae species such as
Tristaniopsis whiteana or the most rare Sapindaceae species of genus
Dimocarpus those were collected from Sabah. Likewise, it has collection of ornamental plants to endangered species of Dipterocarpaceae.
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Flower of
Thunbergia erecta.
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Leaves of
Thunbergia erecta.
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Young leaves of
Flacortia inermis - Rukam.
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Mature leaves of
Flacortia inermis - Rukam.
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Ripe fruits of
Flacortia inermis - Rukam.
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Flower of
Syzygium jambos - Jambu mawar.
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Unripe fruits of
Syzygium jambos - Jambu mawar.
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Leaves base of
Fagraea auriculata.
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Overview of
Fagraea auriculata leaves.
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Leaf of
Dillenia sp - Simpoh air. The broaden petiole and dentate leaf margin are among the main characters of Dilleniaceae.
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Flower of
Dillenia suffruticosa - Simpoh air. This species is commonly as wilderness.
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Flower buds and exposed seeds of
Dillenia suffruticosa fruit.
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Leaves of
Tristaniopsis whiteana - uncommonly known member of guava family -Myrtaceae.
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Bark of
Tristaniopsis whiteana. Pealed old bark is accompanied by pale skin and smooth texture of the young bark are among the main characters for Myrtaceae.
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Leaves of
Ficus sp. I think Shila may help me for its species name.
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Fruit of
Ficus sp.
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Fruits of
Ficus sp come out only at the trunk base.
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Aerial root of
Dyospyros montana. The black color of wood was granted onto the family name - Ebenaceae.
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The venation of
Dyospyros montana.
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Leaves of
Dyospyros montana.
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Leaves of
Porteria obovata.
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Leaves of
Anisoptera scaphula.
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Stipula and the young leaf of
Dipterocarpus sp.
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Stipula and young leaf of
Dipterocarpus sp.
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Leaves of
Dipterocarpus sp.
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Leaves of
Shorea guiso.
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Leaves of
Shorea macrophylla.
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View of forested planting area.
There are some good practices applied by the managers of the nursery:
1. Compost is made from branches which use to fertilize the plants.
2. The fallen leaves are not collected. This policy prevents weeds to grow and contributes to long-term soil fertilization.
3. The plants were arranged following their natural habitat. Therefore, the plants needing shade were placed under the ones those demanding full sun. This arrangement reproduces a natural forest structure.