11 new orchid species found in Sabah

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s reputation as a biodiversity hotspot is again reaffirmed with the discovery of 11 new orchid species.

Naturalist and Sabah-based publisher Datuk C.L. Chan said the new species were described by Peter O’ Byrne, a world authority on Borneo orchids, during his ongoing research.

“These species were found in various parts of Sabah, including Kinabalu Park,” he said.

The new species, which are from the Dipodium family, were described and reported in the Malesian Orchid Journal published by Chan once every two years.

One of the new species, Dipodium chanii, was named after Chan himself while another, Dipodium lambii, was named after Datuk Anthony Lamb.

Lamb, a British botanist, began working in Sabah 54 years ago and was instrumental in setting up the renowned Tenom Agriculture Centre.

“The continuous discoveries of new species of orchids as well as insects indicate the wealth of our biodiversity and why preserving it should be a priority,” said Chan.

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Borneo Orchids – huge flowering diversity

ORCHID live in all continents of the world except Antarctica. They are found in deserts, in grasslands, in swamps, in the mountains or in the lowland rain forests. Their flowers range in size from little more than a pin-head to huge inflorescences more than a metre in length.

They live as epiphytes in the tops of the trees, as small plants in the leaf litter on the forest floor or as tall stems coming up from the ground. Some species have lost their leaves entirely, photosynthesising by their roots, others exist on the decaying leaves and twigs of the forest floor as mushrooms do, and some have even gone underground!

Largest Family of Flowering Plants in the World!

There is no other family of flowering plants that has such a huge diversity in its flowers and lifestyle and worldwide there are more than twenty-five thousand species of orchids – the largest family of flowering plants in the whole world!

World Hotspot of Diversity About 1,700 wild orchids are found on the island of Borneo. One thousand three hundred of these are found in Sabah and almost 900 of those species live on Mt. Kinabalu. This makes the Kinabalu Park, covering 754 sq kms, one of the richest places for orchid diversity, per unit area, in the entire world!

To give these figures some perspective, the whole of the continent of Europe, (an area of almost 9 million sq. kms, and more than 100 times the size of Sabah), has fewer orchids, (875), than are found in the Kinabalu Park alone! No wonder Mt Kinabalu is one of the top hotspots for plant diversity, (not just orchids), on this planet!

Over 100 New Species of Orchids in Borneo!

What’s more, over one hundred NEW species of orchids, just for Borneo, have been discovered and described within the last ten years!

Borneo Orchid Society Twenty years ago, the Borneo Orchid Society was formed by a group of enthusiasts keen to know more about Borneo’s orchids and keen to encourage more interest in this group of wonderful plants that have driven men almost mad with desire!

They decided that one of the ways in which they could this was to hold regular orchid shows. Orchid shows cost money however, and, as it happens, the last show was in 2010.

This year though, there is another show, so if you didn’t get the chance to see it on Friday or Saturday, make the time to pop along to the KK Community Hall behind the Sabah Tourism office for a lovely display of colour and form – this is the last day!

Insect Pollinators Evolved with the Orchids Orchids are amazing not just for the number of species, but for the variety of shape and form in their flowers.

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Sabah planning more agrotourism events next year

A MALAYSIAN International Native Orchid Show and a Garden Landscape Festival have been planned to be held here and at the Sabah Agriculture Park in Tenom, respectively, in October next year, as part of the effort to promote agrotourism.

Assistant Agriculture and Food Industry Minister, Datuk Bobbey Suan, said the two events, which are currently in the planning stages, will further enhance the State's agrotourism development and its trickle effect will benefit the tourism sector in general.

Replying to Gum-Gum Assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Edris during the question-and- answer session, Bobbey said the Ministry is well aware of the agrotourism potential and has made it one of its development priorities to promote and encourage this as part of product diversification.

He said among the various agrotourism products that have been developed by the Ministry through its departments and agencies include Sabah Agriculture Park which was developed by the Agriculture Department, Tagal System developed throughout Sabah under the Fisheries Department, Wetland Agro-Tourism Development at Weston Wetland Park in Weston by Ko-Nelayan, Keningau Livestock Farm by the Department of Veterinary Services and Animal Industries (Dovsai), as well as various other agricultural activities like mushroom industry in Mesilau, goat rearing in Papar and bee farming in Matunggong which have already been developed as part of agro-tourism packages.

Each of these agrotourism products developed by the Ministry offers a variety of activities that can attract tourists, he said, adding Sabah Agriculture Park in Lagud Sebrang, Tenom held three annual events which have already been included in the Sabah Tourism Board calendar, namely the Anniversary Carnival held every March, Flowers Festival every August and Baa...ke Taman kita every December.

For promotional purposes, he said, the park is also actively participating in exhibitions held at the State, national and international levels, like the Harvest Festival, Kalimaran Festival, Farmers, Breeders and Fishermen's Day, Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Exhibition (Maha) in Serdang, Selangor, Sabah International Expo 2012 and Singapore International Orchid Conference 2011.

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Preparation for first Tenom Orchid Festival at Sabah Agricultural Park

TENOM: Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen yesterday announced a total of RM300,000 aid to Sabah Agricultural Park (TPS) to organize the first Tenom Orchid Festival next year and to upgrade signboards to identify the plants in the park.

Speaking to reporters during her visit to the park yesterday, Ng said TPS has the potential to be in the world map for having more than 250 native orchids which can only be found in Sabah and Borneo.

“We have the potential here, and we only need to be more focused on the orchids because orchid lovers from throughout the world are looking for something different which they cannot find elsewhere.

“TPS should think of the festival name, and discuss with the ministry to bring local music to attract more tourists here to promote this place.

“The festival will be held next year and we will see the response from there,” said Ng who allocated RM100,000 for the festival.

Another RM200,000 was allocated for the upgrading of signboards in the park to make them readable and informative for the visitors.

She said the RM200,000 allocation was only a start, and TPS was encouraged to have a special park for native orchids to allow researchers and orchid lovers to enjoy their visit there.

TPS is one of the largest agriculture parks in Malaysia and boasts a background of truly natural landscape with the lush greenery of the Crocker Range. The park is knowledge and recreational oriented as well as an ideal environment for nature-based activities that makes this park a worthy holiday destination.

Ng said since the park has two chalets with only two rooms and a hostel which can accommodate only 88 persons, local hotel players should have the initiative to build more budget and clean hotels with a rating system to allow tourists to have a choice.

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Kota Kinabalu unveils Zero Kilometre landmark

KOTA KINABALU: The city unveiled another landmark yesterday in the form of a Zero Kilometre (0KM) plaque which is the first in the country, in front of the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) building.

The plaque bears an illustration of Mount Kinabalu and the Borneo Orchid, which is Kota Kinabalu’s official flower with a motif surrounding the design known as the Nantapuan, a traditional Murut pattern.

Made of bronze, it also includes the four cardinal points to help with directions.

The design of the plaque was the work of the Landscape Department of the City Hall and financed by the STB and City Hall.

The idea for the 0KM mark was suggested by the Sabah Institute of Surveyors Malaysia (ISM) in conjunction with its 50th anniversary.

Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman was represented by Minister of Tourism, Culture & Environment Datuk Masidi Manjun at the unveiling ceremony yesterday.

Musa commended the City Hall, STB and ISM for the collaboration and was happy to note another addition to the array of tourism products in Kota Kinabalu.

“It is important to make sure that all our services are of quality and we must from time to time, continue to improve them so that tourists are happy with their visit to the State and Kota Kinabalu,” he said in his speech read out by Masidi.

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Flower trails to be made Sabah tourism product

KOTA KINABALU: Tourism Malaysia is working with the Sabah Tourism Board (STB) to start developing flower trails in Sabah as the next major tourism product, where exotic orchids here will play a major part.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said Sabah had the necessary strength with at least 1,200 orchid species flourishing at its rainforests here, while the move was also part of Tourism Malaysia’s efforts to develop recreation parks and nature trails as tourism attractions in the country.

“We are now working on these trails by looking at the directory of trails, trail packages, and other important aspects such as training for specialised flower trail guides.

“So together with the Tourism Ministry’s product development division, we hope to present it to the world at the International Tourism Exhibition in Berlin in March next year,” she told reporters after launching the Orchid Seminar and Workshop here yesterday.

The seminar and workshop was held in conjunction with The Borneo Orchid Show held from Oct 1-5 here.

There is an estimated 1,600 species of orchids in Borneo, where 1,200 of them are found in Sabah, with 860 species in Mount Kinabalu alone.

According to Ng, the flower trails product was one of their strategies to attract high-yield, longer-staying tourists.

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Sabah adopts rare and valuable Slipper Orchid as official orchid

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has adopted the rare and valuable Slipper Orchid as its official orchid.

Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman named the orchid when launching the five-day Borneo Orchid Show at the Suria Sabah mall here yesterday.

“I hope we will take this opportunity to learn more about this particular species of orchid, and strive to keep its habitat intact,” he said.

Commonly known as the Sumazau Orchid, the Slipper Orchid (Paphiodilum rothschildianum) has petals that resemble the hand gestures made in a Kadazandusun traditional dance.

Musa said it was appropriate for the Slipper Orchid to be named Sabah’s official orchid as it was picked as the most popular species in the Borneo Orchid Show in 2007.

He said more research was needed on the seemingly endless varieties of Sabah orchids, noting that the state was home to at least half the orchids found in Borneo.

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New species of orchid found at Mount Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu: A new species of orchid was discovered recently on Mount Kinabalu and the Crocker Range.

This species, Dendrobium datinconnieae, has been named in honour of Datin Connie Wong Mui Yun, a Director of Kota Kinabalu-based Natural History Publications, which has been responsible for many authoritative books on the biodiversity of Sabah and the Malesian region.

It also publishes the bi-annual Malesian Orchid Journal.

This unusually outstanding species of Dendrobium was also described in the most recent issue of Malesian Orchid Journal by botanist Jeffrey Wood, Curator of the Orchid Herbarium at the world-renowned Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London.

The stems of this beautiful epiphytic species attain 35cm in length, the short inflorescences bearing three to five large yellow flowers usually borne on the older, pendulous leafless growths.

A much rarer, orange-flowered form is only found in the Sayap area of Kinabalu Park.

Nearly 1,000 species of native orchid have been recorded in Sabah - which is about two-thirds of the entire orchid flora of Borneo. More than 800 species are found on Mount Kinabalu alone, 90 of which are endemic to the mountain.

The richness of Sabah's orchid flora is reflected in the continual emergence of new species, and taxonomists in renowned botanical institutions in Europe have been systematically describing them over the past two decades.

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Sabah to be world’s orchid destination

KOTA KINABALU: The Borneo Orchid Show will position Malaysia and Sabah in particular, as the orchid destination of the world.

Datuk Seri Tengku Zainal Adlin, the president of the Borneo Orchid Society Sabah (BOSS), said the show from Oct 1 to 5 would showcase the jewels of orchids in Sabah, which are endemic to the state.

The event, he said, would coincide and would be among the main highlights for the World Tourism Conference that would also take place in the city from October 4 to 7 this year.

It is jointly organised by Kota Kinabalu City Hall (KKCH), BOSS and Sabah Tourism and Tourism Malaysia.

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Sabah has more than 1,000 species of orchids

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is blessed with more than 1,000 species of orchids growing in the wild and is also famous for its Slipper and Butterfly orchids.

Yet ironically, Sabah remains a net importer of cut orchid flowers with florists and hotels displaying blooms that were likely to have originated from the peninsula, said Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Yahya Hussin at the launch of the four-day orchid exhibition held at Star City here yesterday.

Hence, the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC) master plan has called for the acceleration of the State agriculture sector through an emphasis on high-value and high-potential products such as aquaculture, non-timber products and horticulture, which includes orchid cultivation, he said.

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