In Honor of Earth Day: Celebrating the Ulu Geroh Ecotourism Park in Perak, Malaysia
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Sustainability requires making every decision with the future in mind. It is our relationship with the world around us - creating economic prosperity and social value while contributing to the preservation of our planet. Each year, beginning in 1970, we celebrate Earth Day on April 22. Earth Day Network, the non-profit organization that grew out of the original Earth Day, seeks to grow and diversify the environmental movement worldwide and mobilize it as the most effective vehicle for promoting a healthy, sustainable planet.
Today, Earth Day Network reaches more than 17,000 organizations in 174 countries, and Earth Day is the only event celebrated simultaneously around the world by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. This Earth Day, we at The Dow Chemical Company would like to celebrate the Ulu Geroh Ecotourism Park in Malaysia, a project supported by Dow Malaysia.
Malaysia: Home to the Rafflesia
About a 90-minute drive from Malaysia’s bustling capital city of Kuala Lumpur lies the former tin-mining town of Gopeng. A further 30-minute drive through rubber plantations, traditional Malay villages, fruit farms and oil palm groves leads to the small village of Ulu Geroh in Perak, Malaysia. This village is home to the Rafflesia, found only in the tropical rainforests of South Asian countries, it is the largest flower in the world that is both endangered and threatened.
With the help of the state government, Malaysian Nature Society, United Nations Development Program and Dow Malaysia, the indigenous Semai community in Ulu Geroh has converted the natural habitat of the Rafflesia flower into an ecotourism area. The development of the ecotourism park has protected the Rafflesia, though this has not always been the case.
Development of the Ulu Geroh Rafflesia Conservation Area
The indigenous Semai community has historically made a living from the Rafflesia flower and the Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterfly, another protected species. Without realizing the environmental impact, the Rafflesia flowers were harvested and sold as a medicinal plant mostly to the Malays, and the butterflies were sold to middlemen as souvenirs to tourists.
In 1998, members of the Malaysian Nature Society, who had been monitoring the flower and butterfly colonies, discovered that their populations were quickly declining due to over harvesting. In response, the Malaysian Nature Society embarked on a program to save the Rafflesia and the Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterfly, while also creating a new, supplementary source of income from ecotourism for the Semai community.
With a grant from the United Nations Development Program Small Grants Program, greater awareness of the natural environment was created among the Semai people. While protecting the Rafflesia and the butterflies, the locals were able to continue harvesting forest products such as rattan, bamboo, herbs, fruits and handicraft materials. This shift in behavior not only preserved the traditional knowledge and life the way the Semai people knew it, but also fostered ethnic pride around their culture, identity and native traditions.
Dow Malaysia Provides Additional Support
To further encourage the community’s self-sufficiency and independence, Dow Malaysia got involved, supporting continued education and improvements to infrastructure.
“The Ulu Geroh ecotourism project aligns very well with Dow’s Sustainability Goals,” said Willie Tang, Country Manager for Dow Malaysia. “Dow is committed to continually improving communities in which we live and work.”
Dow’s sponsorship funded language training, education on the Rafflesia and Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing butterflies, first aid, computers, nature guiding skills and administration. Three members of the Semai community who were trained as nature guides received Green Badge Certificates, the recognition awarded to professional nature guides by the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism. Additionally, a Visitor Information Center was rebuilt, with murals painted by Dow employee volunteers.
“I am proud of what our Semai community has achieved so far,” said En. Ahha from the Chairman of the SEMAI or Sahabat Ekopelancongan Memulihara Alam Indah which means Friends of Ecotourism and Conserving Beautiful Nature, the local Semai group dedicated to the cause. . “When we heard that Dow Chemical was sponsoring our training and visitor center, we were surprised that a large company would support this project in a remote area with very low publicity.”
The Ulu Geroh Ecotourism Park is now a nature attraction in Malaysia that welcomes visitors from around the world. It is both a living example that man and nature can co-exist in harmony, as well as a testimony to Dow’s commitment and support.