A trail less travelled

Golden Whiskered Barbet spotted at the park. — Photo by THUM CHIA CHIEH

WELCOME to Bukit Panchor, the only state park in Penang. If this fact surprises you, you’re not alone.

Given its wondrous landscape, an iconic hill and even a popular retro eco-theme park in the state, it would be surprising that Penang houses merely one state park.

In reality, there are numerous public parks in the state, but they are run by different authorities.

For example, the Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang is maintained by Perhilitan, the federal department in charge of wildlife and national parks, while the ever-popular Penang City Park (formerly Youth Park) falls under the purview of Penang Island City Council.

Bukit Panchor State Park remains the only park run directly by Penang’s Forestry Department.

Gazetted as a permanent forest reserve in 1963, the 445ha area located some 10km from Nibong Tebal town on Penang mainland was elevated to a state park in 2008.

Penang Green Council (PGC) programme and project officer Ahmad Uzeir Ahmad Murshid said the park was a hidden gem.

“I personally did not know about this place for a long time,” he said during PGC’s “Let’s Sembang and Explore 2.0” programme held at the park.

PGC teamed up with Langur Project Penang (LPP) – an outreach research and conservation group – to hold an introductory environmental programme for adults.

Ahmad Uzeir said LPP suggested Bukit Panchor as the venue for the programme.

According to LPP founder and head Yap Jo Leen, the habitat in Bukit Panchor is more rural than other eco-tourism sites in the state, like Penang Botanic Gardens.

“Animal sightings may be more scarce in Bukit Panchor as the animals move deeper into the forest at certain times of the day and are generally less used to human contact,” said Yap.

Off the trail

After hiking at a relaxed pace for over an hour with short stops to inspect interesting sights – fresh wild boar hoof tracks or an abandoned trapdoor spider’s nest – it was time for the programme’s participants to finally leave the trail to do some vegetation plotting.

“It’s going to be fun,” assured Yap, a primate specialist and environment educator.

The three groups comprising four members each were given a compass and a long measuring tape.

The groups managed to plot a rough 4m by 4m square and list down the parameters of the plot that included the number of trees in the area, their size and abundance of undergrowth.

Yap explained that vegetation plotting was an essential tool for doing research on animals and figuring out which areas wildlife flocked to at different times of the day or in special circumstances.

This is the first step in understanding their needs as well as their preferences.

Participants also tried their hand at using a densimeter to measure canopy cover and a rangefinder to measure distances to faraway trees, before resuming their hike up the hill.

Some 1.8km from the start, they reached the final destination for the day – a rest area at a fork in the trail.

“The left trail, marked with ‘008’, leads up to Kepala Angin – the peak – that is actually right on the border of Penang and Kedah.

“To the right, there are two trails: one that leads up to the Sungai Kechil trail and another to a bat cave.

“These routes are a bit complicated so it’s good to have a GPS device or an offline map if you head up there,” Yap elaborated.

Curious creepy crawlies

The dozen participants who signed up for the forest exploration session shared an affinity for nature.

They kept an eye out and an ear open for interesting wildlife, looked up in awe at the towering red meranti trees and even happily climbed over a fallen tree that blocked the entire path.

However, one main concern was the predatory leeches that call the trails of Bukit Panchor home.

Warned in advance of the blood-loving parasites, most came armed with salt, leech socks up to the knee and insect repellent.

Nevertheless, the tenacious leeches managed to wriggle into tiny slits in shoes and climb up to the exposed flesh between socks and pants.

Though the first few bites caused ripples of concern, the group calmed down as they moved at a steady pace among the rich flora.

They observed big bertam palm plants, an area propagating the pinang angin shrub – a little-known species endemic to peninsular Malaysia – and scooped up spiral-shaped lithocarpus or mempening fruits from the forest floor for closer inspection.

Goh Yun Qiang, 30, said the “Let’s Sembang” session was a good way for people to gain more specific knowledge of nature.

“Usually when I go hiking, my aim is only to get to the top. And after I reach the top, I’ll just come down.

“But today, I had a different experience. We saw things in more detail along the way,” he said.

Goh, a Nibong Tebal native, said the park was immensely popular in the past.

The man-made garden and water play area in the park were a big draw for families before a virus outbreak that was linked to the water, he said.

Now, a signboard at the park warns people against getting wet as pathogens may exist in the raw river water that flows through the park.

The restriction to the water area has led to the unfortunate result of the state park being almost deserted.

Ahmad Uzeir finds this a pity as the area is well-maintained with a truly diverse landscape.

“This place is really nice and family-friendly.

“It’s very accessible and the tracks are all cleared.

“The trail is not difficult and even in the afternoon, it’s shady,” he said.

Well-equipped with facilities and a solid camping ground, Bukit Panchor remains Nibong Tebal’s best-kept nature secret that all should explore at least once, notwithstanding the leeches.