Mission Accomplished!
With a little help from our friends, Paddle for Nature completes an epic adventure around the Peninsular Malaysia coastlineIT IS 10AM and the sun is beating down hard on the heads of those awaiting the arrival of the Paddle for Nature kayak at Dataran Lang, Kuah, on the idyllic island of Langkawi. The beautiful weather is a bonus on this day, 12th March 2015, at the end of the extraordinary solo kayak adventure run by the Malaysian Nature Society for marine conservation.
The past six months have seen clear days and still waters, but also rain, squalls and rough seas, as the kayak circumnavigated the coastline of Peninsular Malaysia to raise awareness about the importance of our seas and waters. And as the bright yellow kayak comes into view, paddled by 20-year-old Che Zahiruddin Che Othman, it is the culmination of a journey that could not have happened without the support of Paddle for Nature’s fans and friends. They are here, too: Google Malaysia, who supported the idea from the get-go, making Paddle for Nature the first in the world to carry the Google Street View Trekker on a kayak; the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, which not only endorsed the project but got involved in some of its activities; and the media, who helped publicise this effort. Of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) representatives, there is relief on the faces of Faedzul Rahman, head of the Paddle for Nature project, and Balu Perumal, MNS Head of Conservation, that the kayak and paddler have safely arrived after a slow – and tortuous – crawl from Kelantan’s border with Thailand, some 2,300km away; and expressions of delight on a job well done from MNS President Henry Goh and Chairman of the Langkawi MNS Branch Eric Sinnayah. |
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A Big Hurrah
Slowly, the kayak slides through the aquamarine waters surrounding Dataran Lang and spotting the crowd, Che Zahiruddin, better known as Ajai, waves his paddle over his head, much like how an aeroplane dips its wings to acknowledge an audience. He does a circuit along the square, taking in the easily identifiable statue of Langkawi’s famed Brahminy kite, while the Street View Trekker fires off shot after shot with its 15 cameras, adding to the massive amount of imagery Paddle for Nature has recorded of the coastline.
Finally, the paddler heads to a small spit of sand next to the square, the final moments of his journey captured for posterity by a phalanx of photographers, professional and amateur. A couple of strong strokes later and the 14ft sea kayak crests a wave and beaches itself on the shore, and Ajai is besieged by newsmen wanting the best shot and soundbite.
Slowly, the kayak slides through the aquamarine waters surrounding Dataran Lang and spotting the crowd, Che Zahiruddin, better known as Ajai, waves his paddle over his head, much like how an aeroplane dips its wings to acknowledge an audience. He does a circuit along the square, taking in the easily identifiable statue of Langkawi’s famed Brahminy kite, while the Street View Trekker fires off shot after shot with its 15 cameras, adding to the massive amount of imagery Paddle for Nature has recorded of the coastline.
Finally, the paddler heads to a small spit of sand next to the square, the final moments of his journey captured for posterity by a phalanx of photographers, professional and amateur. A couple of strong strokes later and the 14ft sea kayak crests a wave and beaches itself on the shore, and Ajai is besieged by newsmen wanting the best shot and soundbite.
The success of the adventure was not merely in the kayaking, says Faedzul Rahman, who has since left MNS for greener pastures. A few people have managed to kayak around Peninsular Malaysia, some even in record time, but what made Paddle for Nature unique, he says, was the contribution of various parties throughout the journey.
“When Google Malaysia came on board, the adventure became news-worthy, as it was the first time the Google Street View Trekker was fitted on a kayak. Add to that the fact that the kayak could visit spots along the coastline that are otherwise inaccessible, and what we offered was the opportunity to record images of our coastline in great detail,” he says. “This imagery will assist the authorities in ensuring that our coastline and our waters are protected in the future.”
“When Google Malaysia came on board, the adventure became news-worthy, as it was the first time the Google Street View Trekker was fitted on a kayak. Add to that the fact that the kayak could visit spots along the coastline that are otherwise inaccessible, and what we offered was the opportunity to record images of our coastline in great detail,” he says. “This imagery will assist the authorities in ensuring that our coastline and our waters are protected in the future.”
Paddle for Nature also benefited from being endorsed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE), which tasked its departments, specifically the Marine Parks Department and Forestry Department, to assist during the journey. The keepers of the county’s marine parks were ready to help Paddle for Nature make its planned ocean crossings, first to the islands of Perhentian and Redang and then to Tioman, but in the end, bad weather and time constraints caused the cancellation of these open-sea challenges.
The paddlers and crew did, however, green the earth, thanks to the Forestry Department, which had set a target of planting 5,000 trees in five locations around the peninsula in tandem with the kayak journey. Noting that the effects of pollution and destruction on land contribute a great deal to damage suffered by the oceans and its inhabitants, MNS’s Balu Perumal says the planting of rhu and mangroves along the coast with the Forestry Department was a step towards creating awareness about the benefits of these conservation efforts, no matter how small. “You could plant a hundred saplings as a group, or a thousand as part of a corporate exercise, and they will help protect the Earth in various ways. The great part about our exercise is that we capitalised on the expertise of the Forestry Department on where and how to plant these saplings, for greater effect and future survival of these plants,” he says. The tree-planting events took place in Cherating, Pahang; Pontian, Johor; Sg Haji Dorani, Sabak Bernam, Selangor; Kuala Sepetang, Perak; and Langkawi, involving the respective State Forestry Departments as well as the private sector and members of the public. |
Protecting Our Marine Heritage
Not to mangle the Beatles’ song or anything, but Paddle for Nature’s journey truly could not have happened without “a little help from our friends”, especially those from the public sphere. From those who helped plant trees or clicked “like” on social media, to volunteer paddlers and crew, greeting committees, event organisers, fund donors and disseminators of information, every little bit helped in the project’s aim to create awareness about the importance of Malaysia’s marine heritage. It is indeed sad that the ocean, mankind’s biggest ecosystem and food source, is being ignored to the extent that degradation to the coastal ecosystems and ocean resources is at an alarming level. Being the sink for everything from greenhouse gasses to plastic bottles and baby diapers, the ocean and marine ecosystem is seriously under threat. Malaysia, surrounded as it is by the sea, is especially vulnerable to the effects of ocean pollution, as this has proven to be devastating to marine life, reducing the fruit of the ocean that end up on our tables and hurting those who rely on the sea for their livelihoods. Thus Paddle for Nature had set out from Pengkalan Kubor, Kelantan on 9th September 2014, at the same time documenting our coastal landscape and highlighting the importance of protecting our coastal resources to the public in a series of public events, throughout its journey. |
These included meet-and-greet events in Teluk Cempedak, Kuantan; Johor’s Tanjung Piai; Port Dickson; Sepang Gold Coast; Kuala Selangor and Langkawi, as well as awareness exercises in Puchong, Sunway, Mid Valley Megamall and Dataran Merdeka and a visit to a school in Sabak Bernam. And public support was encouraging, with people volunteering to assist in our cause, stopping by to listen and donate and greeting the arrival of the kayak in their area.
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Nation of Heroes
The support garnered, though tiny relative to the nation’s population, shows that Malaysians are willing to get behind a good cause, and they are, in fact, some of the “local heroes” Paddle for Nature sought to find. MNS, being an organisation based on members and volunteers, believes there are many people out there doing their bit for Mother Nature quite under the radar, and it decided that meeting these conservationists should be one of the kayak journey’s aims. “We met quite a number of individuals and outfits working on conservation in a variety of ways, and they responded well to our effort in raising awareness about the marine environment,” says Balu. “We also tried to return the favour by highlighting their cause on our social media platforms.” These heroes included lecturers and students of higher learning institutions on the East Coast, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu; organisations that promote sustainable living from the sea; turtle sanctuaries; eco-tourism operators; protectors of mangrove forests; and wetlands warriors. “Conservation work is sometimes thankless, so we made it a point to visit some of these individuals and organisations to recognise what they have been doing, and some of them have been going strong for decades,” Balu adds. “It is hoped that we have given them a boost to continue their important work, and perhaps they will be able to participate in or help promote activities under the Paddle for Nature banner in the future.” |
Of course, some mention must be made of the other heroes, the volunteers who gave up their time and worked their muscles paddling the kayak, or spent days or weeks chasing after the seagoing vessel and arranging logistics as part of the ground crew. Paddle for Nature started with keen water sportsman Hari Raju at the helm, who made his way along the 500km coastline from Pengkalan Kubor, Kelantan to Pekan Pahang. When the journey picked up again in southeastern Johor, it was with Che Zahiruddin as the main paddler, and short stints taken over by MNS members and friends, including former president Maketab Mohamed, junior officer Sze Ming Hui and his twin Sze Yung Hui, project head Faedzul Rahman, businessman Shamsul Fitri and teachers Hashimi Ismail and Mohamed Shahrizan Abdul Aziz in the final 1,000km to Langkawi.
And here under the shadow of the huge Brahminy kite in the idyllic and ecologically important archipelago of islands off Penisular Malaysia’s northwest shore, the interviews are over, pictures taken and thanks given. Kayak and ground vehicle are at rest, to be packed for the long drive back out of Langkawi to MNS headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. There are sighs of pleasure, on an adventure successfully executed and, to be honest, for a much-deserved rest after the six-month slog.
However, Paddle for Nature’s epic circumnavigation of the Peninsular Malaysia coastline should only be the beginning of MNS’s marine protection ideology, says Balu. The Head of Conservation already has ideas percolating on how to expand the platform in the years to come, capitalising on public awareness created during this one journey. “Threats to our marine ecosystem will continue as development progresses and population pressures build, and it is up to us to continue talking about it and pushing for action to safeguard our oceans,” he says. “It is the only way to protect our lives and health on land, and keep Mother Nature at her greenest.”
However, Paddle for Nature’s epic circumnavigation of the Peninsular Malaysia coastline should only be the beginning of MNS’s marine protection ideology, says Balu. The Head of Conservation already has ideas percolating on how to expand the platform in the years to come, capitalising on public awareness created during this one journey. “Threats to our marine ecosystem will continue as development progresses and population pressures build, and it is up to us to continue talking about it and pushing for action to safeguard our oceans,” he says. “It is the only way to protect our lives and health on land, and keep Mother Nature at her greenest.”