Articles for The Malaysian Naturalist
These articles were written by Angela Hijjas for The Malaysian Naturalist, the magazine of the Malaysian Nature Society.
Panagiotis Spiliotis04,2019Panagiotis Spiliotis (b.1991) is a Greek and Irish trained botanist and plant ecologist based in his hometown of Brussels. After graduating from his Master’s degree in plant taxonomy from the University of Edinburgh in 2015, took some time away from studies to pursue other interests and goals, and develop abilities and skills not often associated with academia, including landscaping, carpentry and sales of high end luxury chocolate. After three years of successful employment in different industries, he traveled to Malaysia to undertake a large botanically themed project here in Rimbun Dahan. Other than pure taxonomy and systematics, his main area of interest in his discipline is ex-situ conservation of endangered species, focusing on how botanic gardens and conservation sites can manage, sustain and maximise the positive impact they can have on fighting the ongoing crisis of extinction caused by anthropogenic habitat loss and the destruction of our biotope. He is a ...
Barred Eagle Owl08,2018Yesterday, our staff found this dying Barred Eagle Owl on the ground near the front compound. "The barred eagle-owl (Bubo sumatranus), also called the Malay eagle-owl, is a species of owl in the family Strigidae. It is a member of the large genus Bubo which is distributed on most of the world's continents. This relatively little-known species is found from the southern Malay Peninsula down a string of several of the larger southeast Asian islands to as far as Borneo." - wikipedia It looked like it ate a poisonous or poisoned animal and subsequently poisoned itself. We at Rimbun Dahan are against poisoning rodents (we choose to catch and humanely kill them) to avoid affecting their natural predators like the owl or other animals in the vicinity. It is also possible that this one accidentally ate a poisonous animal or snake. We do have several Barred Eagle Owl nests in Rimbun Dahan but ...
Kemian Hitam07,2018Our staff found some lumps of kemian hitam, a type of aromatic resin that came from the rotting wood of Canarium littorale or kedondong bulan which had been struck by lightning a while ago. Half of the tree was killed and rotting on the ground. The resin has a very nice fragrance when burned. According to the Internet it is also associated with occult practices: it may be used to summon "makhluk halus alam bawahan, Jin Tanah, Jin Pokok, Jin Batu dan yang sebangsa dengannya." A comment on our facebook post claims that kemian hitam is used in smoking and cleaning woven textile such as songket, limar and kelingkam by suspending the cloth on a rack of netting and smoking kemian beneath it. This method is thought to kill bugs that may feed on the textile as well as get rid of mold.
Dryobalanops aromatica06,2018Another species planted in the early 90s is Dryobalanops aromatica, common name kapur, now old enough to present the typical shaggy purple-brown bark.
Shorea materialis06,2018In April, we had a massive flowering of Shorea materialis, commonly called "balau pasir", on one of several huge trees planted in the early 90s. Now we have a crop of tens of thousands of seedlings carpeting the ground. Norsham Yaakob has already taken over a thousand to grow on at FRIM.
Snake Tales03,2015Rimbun Dahan can be paradise for snakes... or the last thing a snake ever sees. This month, one lucky python was hauled out of the hen house and taken away to a new home, but things didn't turn out so well for a cobra which strayed near the main house.
Monocled Cobra Killed by Dogs09,2013The Rimbun Dahan dogs cornered this small specimen in a drain and dispatched it, but not before it reared, displaying the diagnostic cobra's hood. The single circular marking on the back of the head identifies it as the Monocled Cobra, Naja naja kaouthia, a venomous snake which is fairly common, occuring in a range of habitats, including those impacted by humans, and usually feeding on rodents.
- Permaculture in the Tropics2002
by Angela Hijjas from The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 55 no. 1 Permaculture is a name coined and patented by the Australian visionary Bill Mollison. Mollison alerted Australians to the importance of protecting biodiversity and agricultural land. As well as promoting an organic, interlinked and labour saving agricultural approach, he also encourages gardeners to plant ...
- Tending the Garden2001
by Angela Hijjas Recently the Selangor Branch showed the new three hour BBC series by David Attenborough called 'State of the Planet', and I have been mulling over it ever since. The main issue he explores is the impact of humans on the global landscape of plants and animals and he ...
Gardening in the Forest2001by Angela Hijjas from The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 54 no. 4, 2001. To lay out a garden in the world's oldest tropical rainforest is an exciting and daunting prospect. The Nature and Education Research Centre at Endau Rompin was opened in March by the Chief Minister of Johor, and the new facilities required some ...
A Gardener's Review2001by Angela Hijjas From The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 54 no. 3, 2001. I was a rank beginner when I started writing on landscaping with indigenous species. Since then my interests have broadened, and my garden has become an obsession, but why did I choose indigenous, and how far am I in achieving my ...
Conservation for Children2001by Angela Hijjas Now that my children are adults, I look back on my record of creating awareness about conservation issues with them and realise that communicating knowledge about our environment is not necessarily automatic just because the parent is concerned. I generated one child as actively involved, joining me bird ...
Garden Colour2000by Angela Hijjas From The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 54 no. 2, 2000. As I have often noted in this column, Malaysian species are not known for colour, unless you are fortunate enough to see the huge Rafflesia in full bloom on the forest floor, or Bauhinia kockiana (left) enveloping a tree canopy on the ...
A Tropical Fragrant Garden2000by Angela Hijjas From The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 54 no. 1, 2000. Perfumed plants should be included in a naturalist’s indigenous garden to make up for the lack of colour in Malaysian species. Fragrance adds a delightfully unique character to a tropical garden, but the plant’s utilitarian ‘objective’ for creating perfume is ...
Neo-Colonisation1999by Angela Hijjas From The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 53 no. 3. For the naturalist gardener to transform a bare patch of ground to forest, one needs to simulate the natural processes of plant colonization. The inexperienced gardener who plants durian seedlings and expects the fruit exactly on cue seven or so years later ...
Palms1999by Angela Hijjas From The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 53 no. 1. Of all tropical plants, palms are the most mysterious. Their appearance indicates a primeval history that predates the usual trees and flowering shrubs that comprise the bulk of most garden planting. Their form and structure are exotic and offer the focal point ...
Tropical Water1999by Angela Hijjas From The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 52 no. 4. Water and its lack or excess has become a much debated topic in KL, where floods alternate with droughts, and taps droop to a drip when rains miss the catchment and fall in the city heat sink instead. I am responsible for ...
The World's Largest Garden Gnome1999by Angela Hijjas for The Malaysian Naturalist vol. 52 no. 3 For gardeners (and this is the MNS gardening column), the tropical rain forest presents an ideal of wild perfection whose luxuriant growth we try to emulate on our small plots. It provides the inspiration for the landscapes of our imagination, but ...
The Interactive Garden1999by Angela Hijjas From The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 52 no. 2. Gardening is essentially a manipulation of the natural environment. We elect to save or eliminate, plant and nourish or neglect, and the result is a man made garden. For the naturalist, there is the added objective of nurturing as much of nature ...
Plant Indigenous1998by Angela Hijjas With the accelerated loss of forest habitats gardeners can try to make a difference to the survival of birds and other small creatures by selecting indigenous species to enrich urban habitats. Most Malaysians only have small gardens or make do with a few pots on a balcony, so ...
Gardening's Current Affairs1998by Angela Hijjas from The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 52 no. 1, March 1998 After six years, parts of my garden are beginning to fulfill imagined promises: a wider variety of birds and insects come part and parcel with more species of plants and the growing trees stretch the canopy to greater heights, ...
A Sense of Place in the Landscape1997by Angela Hijjas from The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 51 no. 3&4 The new facilities at Kuala Selangor Nature Park were opened with some fanfare last month, complete with the attendance of the Minister for Housing and Local Government, Dato Dr. Ting Chew Peh. The function also served to launch Hari Landskep, and ...
Taman Sari1997by Angela Hijjas for The Malaysian Naturalist, vol. 51 no. 2, December 1997. The name 'Taman Sari' evokes the fragrance and grace of a lush Javanese garden, with bees probing for nectar in masses of flowers. The first Sultan of Jogjakarta, Mangkubumi, the 'guardian of the earth,' chose the name for the ...
Transitional Landscapes1997by Angela Hijjas for The Malaysian Naturalist vol. 50 no. 3 April 1997 As an enthusiast of indigenous gardening, I am always interested in what everyone else plants. Tropical gardens range from the pseudo-jungle of the 'Balinese' style (masses of spectacular sub-tropical species) to the 'Bandaraya' style of intricate baroque detail, with ...
The Gardening Lifeline1996by Angela Hijjas from The Malaysian Naturalist vol. 50 no. 1, December 1996 Some of us share a compulsion to garden and find great tranquility as we perform the apparently mindless tasks of watering and weeding. Gardening fulfills a desire to beautify our surroundings by rearranging things but there is more to it ...
Sustainable Architecture1996by Angela Hijjas Recently I was asked by a local architecture magazine to write about my house as an example of sustainable architecture. No investigation on the merits of this proposal was suggested, so I duly considered the salient points, knowing full well the outcome. If my home is considered a ...
Letters to the Editor
[This page is still being populated. These links below are still on the way.]
- Unsustainable Logging of Temengor Lags Behind International Precedent (15 August 2006)
- Could Forests Worsen Global Warming? (The Sunday Star, 15 January 2006)
- Proposal to Transform Paya Indah into Illegally-Traded Protected Species Sanctuary (The Star, 1 March 2005)
- Protecting the Environment Strengthens our Culture
- Crisis in Captive Breeding for Sumatran Rhinos